Lions, Patriots, Browns and Packers enjoying LA Rams 2022 struggles

Even as the LA Rams struggle this season, the Detroit Lions, New England Patriots, Cleveland Browns, and Green Bay Packers are enjoying the show. No, they are not just trolling the LA Rams organization. You see, all four teams have a vested interest in the LA Rams’ 2023 NFL Draft picks, and the worse the Rams play this year, the more valuable those picks become on draft day.

What do I mean?

Well, each year the NFL allows seven draft picks to each team, one in each round. As you know, the LA Rams have not hesitated to trade any available draft picks for players in the past. It just so happens that the Lions, Patriots, Browns, and Packers hold the title of one of the LA Rams draft picks in the 2023 NFL Draft.

Future draft picks used to improve the present-day roster

As the LA Rams compete throughout the 2022 NFL season, their record of wins and losses not only determines the chance to compete in the NFL Playoffs but becomes the basis of setting the order of when NFL teams select in the next NFL Draft.  To infuse a competitive edge, the best NFL teams choose last. Conversely, the teams with the worst regular season records pick first.

Normally, that gives bad teams a chance to improve their roster rather quickly and compete for a playoff berth the following season. Unfortunately, that really does not apply to the LA Rams this season. In their zest to improve the 2021 Rams roster, the Rams liberally traded away draft picks for players, two of whom are no longer on the Rams roster.

While the exchange for OLB Von Miller was made with 2022 NFL Draft picks, the Rams’ acquisition of both QB Matthew Stafford and RB Sony Michel impacted their 2023 NFL Draft as well.

How so? Let’s examine the Rams traded picks:

Rams 2023 NFL Draft pick status

Round 1 – TRADED. The LA Rams had traded their 2023 first-round pick to the Detroit Lions for quarterback Matthew Stafford.

Round 2– The Rams hold their second-round pick.
Round 3 – The Rams hold their third-round pick.
Round 4 – TRADED. The Rams have traded away their fourth-round pick as the final compensation for acquiring running back Sony Michel from the New England Patriots.

Round 5 – TRADED- The Rams traded their fifth-round pick to the Cleveland Browns for DB Troy Hill.

Round 6 – The Rams hold their sixth-round pick.

LA Rams traded picks

Round 6 – ACQUIRED VIA TRADE: The Rams have acquired a 2023 sixth-round pick from the Tennessee Titans in exchange for wide receiver Robert Woods

Round 6 – ACQUIRED VIA TRADE: The Rams have traded for the right to swap their 2023 seventh-round pick for the Green Bay Packers’ sixth-round pick

Round 7 – TRADED. The Rams traded away their seventh-round pick for the Green Bay Packers’ sixth-round pick (see above).

Round 7 – ACQUIRED VIA TRADE: The LA Rams will receive the Detroit Lions 2023 seventh-round draft pick as part of the exchange which sent DL Michael Brockers to the Lions.

Now let’s examine the appreciation in value from their 2022 NFL Draft to the currently projected draft position of these LA Rams draft picks.

LA Rams traded picks

The Detroit Lions own the LA Rams’ first-round pick, currently estimated to fall as the 11th overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft per Tankathon.com as of November 11, 2022. That position makes the pick worth 1250 points per the 2023 NFL Draft pick value by Drafttek.com. Compare that value to the 590 value assigned to the LA Rams’ first-round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, and you can see that the Lions have benefitted significantly from the Rams’ struggles this season.

In terms of draft pick value, the difference of 660 value points is the equivalent of the Lions getting the 28th and 32nd overall picks from the Rams in 2023.  While that may not be where the Rams pick ultimately ends up, it currently shows tremendous appreciation in pick value for the Lions, a team that clearly has a need to improve the roster.

But what of other picks? Let’s examine other draft picks that were traded along the way.

Other picks

The New England Patriots acquired the Rams’ fourth-round draft pick in the exchange that sent RB Sony Michel to the Rams. That pick is currently projected to fall as the 114th overall pick, versus the 135th overall pick that the Rams held in the 2022 NFL Draft.  The difference in those picks’ values is an estimated 27.5 value points or the equivalent of a fifth-round pick.

Thanks to the 2022 trade for defensive back Troy Hill, the Cleveland Browns own the LA Rams’ fifth-round pick, currently projected to fall as the 150th overall pick in the draft. The difference in appreciated value of that pick with the last pick in round five equated to a seventh-round pick. Perhaps not great, but enough to add one more player to the Browns roster if the value is there.

Finally, the Green Bay Packers surrendered their sixth-round pick to the LA Rams for punter Corey Bojorquez and the Rams’ 2023 seventh-round pick. That may not seem like much but on draft day a savvy NFL general manager could parlay that extra appreciated value into an extra pick or an upgrade for a future pick.

But what about the LA Rams picks? Let’s revisit where the Rams are picking right now:

Projected LA Rams 2023 NFL Draft picks

Thanks to plenty of trades by the Rams’ front office, the Rams’ complement of draft picks for the 2023 NFL Draft needs a bit of sorting out.

The basic estimated tally for the 2023 NFL Draft is as follows:

• First round – 0 (none)
• Second round – 1 (one), pick 45
• Third round – 1 (one), pick 76
• Fourth-round – 0 (zero)
• Fifth-round – 0 (zero)
• Sixth-round – 3 (three), picks 186, 188, 197
• Seventh-round – 1 (one), pick 229
• Total 2023 NFL Draft picks– 6  (Six)

But after factoring in an estimated four compensatory draft picks, the Rams’ draft day looks like this:

The final estimated tally for the 2023 NFL Draft is as follows:

• First round – 0 (none)
• Second round – 1 (one), pick 45
• Third round – 1 (one), pick 76
• Fourth-round – 0 (zero)
• Fifth-round – 2 (two), picks 171, 173
• Sixth-round – 4 (four), picks 186, 188, 197, 211
• Seventh-round – 2 (two), pick 229, 254
• Total 2023 NFL Draft picks– 10 (Ten)

That may not be the strongest draft pick assortment in the 2023 NFL Draft, but it should be enough to restock the shelves with talented prospects. The Rams last picked that early in the NFL Draft in 2017, when the team selected tight end Gerald Everett with the 44th overall pick.

The 2023 draft class could be exactly what the Rams need

The Rams have the potential to select two starters in the 2023 NFL Draft, and then add a formidable amount of depth to the roster. Will it be enough to get the LA Rams back on track? Not if the team tries to find a tiny but swift wide receiver again.

But the number and potential value of the projected Rams draft picks create one of the best chances to truly restock the roster since 2017, and with the Rams’ need to reformulate their roster-building strategy, perhaps it comes at the best time in the team’s history of GM Les Snead and HC Sean McVay.

Can the LA Rams draft well enough in 2023 to make the struggles of 2022 seem like a distant memory? I, for one, believe that the team certainly can. We’ll begin to peer into that 2023 NFL Draft in upcoming articles now that the NFL Trade Deadline is behind the team.

But don’t look for the Rams to draft offensive linemen en masse in 2023. They did not do so in 2020, and that strategy turned out very well.