Do The LA Rams really hate the annual NFL Draft?

Homegrown team

On their 2021, Super Bowl-winning roster, the LA Rams were well represented by players that they had originally drafted. Of the 53-man squad, 25 were draftees, graded, assessed, and handpicked by the Rams. That means 47.17 percent of the NFL champions, or almost half of the team, were acquired through picks in the draft actually made by the Rams.

But that is only part of the story. Another eight players were signed by this team as undrafted rookie free agents, and eventually earned their way to the active roster. There were also another four players on injured reserve.  12 more players who got their start with the LA Rams organization.

In other words, they turned those picks into capital. Valuable capital. This flies in the face of popular perception, of a team that offloads draft picks like they’re shares in a capsizing company. Or worse yet, like they are sandbags that serve as unwanted ballast for a sinking hot air balloon.

There wouldn’t be a Super Bowl win for the current team without those crucial picks. As a matter of fact, since Sean Mcvay took over the head coaching position in 2017, the team has called 45 players to the stage on draft night. In that same period of time, only five teams have made more.

In a recent episode of NFL’s Draft House featuring the Rams, Mcvay and General Manager Les Snead riff on the view from their chosen abode.

(per the video above)

"‘You know what, this view’s worthy of a first-round pick’- LA Rams GM Les Snead smirks, setting up the punch line. ‘I’m not quite sure how you would know what a first-round pick view looks like’, LA Rams HC Sean McVay smirks back, ‘considering we’ve never had one since we’ve been together.’"

Very funny stuff. But therein lay real the reason for that now-classic ‘F*** Them Picks’ meme.

It isn’t that the Rams haven’t had any picks of late, it’s that, under Mcvay these last five years, they haven’t had any first-round picks. Only 14 of those aforementioned 45 picks came in the first three rounds, a total of 31.1 percent. This year, they hold the 104th pick overall, not making their first selection until the third round.  The LA Rams will be the last NFL team to make a selection in the 2022 NFL Draft.

They are due back in the first round in 2024, though whether that actually materializes is anybody’s guess. ‘F*** Them Picks’? Forget those first-round picks, more likely.