Former Rams legend points out what many already suspect about Rams draft

The Los Angeles Rams' current ammo box of picks in the upcoming 2025 NFL Draft is not structured to exploit the strengths of the upcoming draft. Nor is it structured to exploit the strengths of Rams GM Les Snead, whose wonderful wizardry continues to pump NFL starters into the Rams roster from Day 3 of the NFL drafts in recent years. Perhaps even more astonishingly, the general manager has found true elite offensive weapons in the 2022 and 2023 NFL Drafts in Round 5.

They are running back Kyren Williams and wide receiver Puka Nacua, respectively.

The Rams did not land a 1000+ year offensive performer in the 2024 NFL Draft, but the team did manage to select six rookie on Day 3 of the draft. They are:

• Washington State OLB Brennan Jackson | Round 5
• Clemson DT Tyler Davis | Round 6
• Stanford K Joshua Karty | Round 6
• Texas WR Jordan Whittington | Round 6
• Arkansas C Beaux Limmer | Round 6
• Kansas State OL KT Leveston | Round 7

All six players are with the team, have opportunities to earn significant roles on the Rams roster in 2025, and fit the Rams culture quite well. The team did get starting production out of Arkansas center Beaux Limmer and placekicker Joshua Karty. That confirms the ability of the Rams front office to find NFL starting-caliber talent throughout the three-day draft event.

While rookie WR Jordan Whittington did not break a 1000+ receiving yard barrier in 2024, he did catch 78.6 percent of the passes thrown to him (22 of 28) for 293 yards and 14 first downs. He did no better because he simply did not get more work. He was buried on the Rams depth chart behind veteran WR Cooper Kupp, Puka Nacua, Demarcus Robinson, and Tutu Atwell.

By virtue of the team parting ways with both Cooper Kupp and Demarcus Robinson (and Tyler Johnson), Whittington finds himself in a more favorable position behind Puka Nacua, Davante Adams, and Tutu Atwell. Based on past offensive configurations, Whittington may find himself involved in the offense more often than Atwell this season, despite Atwell's $10 million price tag.

But what of the next crop of rookies?

Gaps in Rams draft selection could prove problematic

There is no need to set a high bar of expectations for the Rams front office based on when the team will step up to the NFL draft podium to announce its selections. There are challenges in when the Rams have an opportunity to make selections every season. And those challenges are multiplied many-fold as soon as players begin to hear their names called out during the three-day draft event.

For a team that has seldom stepped up to the podium on Day 1 of any draft since hiring HC Sean McVay, the 2025 NFL Draft places the Rams in "draft purgatory" on Day 1. The pick is too valuable to aim for any sort of developmental prospect, but too low in the draft to get a surefire plug-and-play prospect.

Many draft analysts view the lack of elite talent in this year's draft, as well as the abundance of NFL-starting caliber talent as giveing teams with picks on Day 3 as the teams with the best chance of emerging with impact players. But the Rams have one pick in Round 1. Then, the team must be patient for two more rounds of selection until the team returns in Round 3 to make two more selections. It's likely that many rookie prospects who intrigue the Rams will be chosen and off the board in that gap between picks.

The proliferation of online NFL draft simulators and the persistent popularity of Fantasy Football has given NFL fans unimaginable access into the challenges of creating a successful NFL roster. But these innovations are only popular because they are immensely entertaining. To become so attractive, both forms have dummy-downed the meticulous and grueling attention to details that make the NFL general manager's role so challenging and controversial.

In the real world, free agents do not simply sign for the most money. They frequently instruct their agents to negotiate with teams that are likely to find success. Or less frequently, if the player knows another player or coach on that team. If you doubt that fact, you have not been following the quarterback saga of the New York Giants in 2025. But it's just as challenging in the annual draft as well. The Rams may wish to trade back in Round 1 of the 2025 NFL Draft. But they can only do so if a corresponding team wishes to trade up, and is willing to compensate the Rams with fair compensation to do so.

That does not happen as often as we'd like.

2025 NFL Draft Pick Summary

We have tracked the trades and gyrations of the Rams' 2025 NFL Draft picks, revealing the team aiming at the draft armed with eight draft selections. They are:

• Round 1 (26th overall)
• Round 3 (90th overall
• Round 3 (101st overall) (comp pick)
• Round 4 (127th overall)
• Round 6 (190th overall) (via Falcons)
• Round 6 (195th overall) (via Steelers)
• Round 6 (201st overall) 
• Round 6 (202nd overall) (via Bears (originally from Texans))

The Rams do not have a pick in Round 2 (traded to the Carolina Panthers in order to move up to select DT Braden FIske) nor Round 5 (traded to the Pittsburgh Steelers for IOL Kevin Dotson and a Round 6 pick). Will that prove to be problematic? Perhaps. It does create huge intermissions for the team between the 26th and 90th overall picks, as well as between the 127th and 190th overall picks.

Legendary Rams quarterback Jim Everett remains plugged into the Rams state of the union, and recently commented on the Rams draft situation. Everett weighed in to voice his expectation for the Rams to trade back in Round 1 with the goal of picking up a selection in Round 2 pick and Round 5. Here is his reasoning:

His logic is sound. The Rams would love to address filling in the gaps between selections. But it's a strategy that is based on whiteboard Xs and Os. On draft day, do the Rams entertain offers to trade back if TE Colston Loveland falls to them at 26? Does any trade partner step up with fair compensation if the Rams run into a lull in the draft where the team simply doesn't have remaining options on the draft board that excite any NFL team?

As much as I respect and appreciate the wizardry of Rams GM Les Snead on draft day, even he cannot change water into wine. Snead will always be limited to the prospects remaining on the board when the team makes its selections, and to trades that are offered up or accepted by other NFL teams.

I expect with the lack of consensus in the 2025 NFL Draft after the first handful of prospects are selected will drive huge numbers of vigorous trade activity on draft day. Entering the draft, there is a consensus that Miami quarterback Cam Ward is the top quarterback. But there is no consensus over any of the remaining quarterback prospects in this year's draft. How many of these rookie quarterback prospects will hear their names called out in Round 1:

• Colorado QB Shedeur Sanders
• Mississippi QB Jaxson Dart
• Louisville QB Tyler Shough
• Texas QB Quinn Ewers
• Alabama QB Jalen Milroe
• Syracuse QB Kyler McCord
• Oregon QB Dillon Gabriel

Some NFL draft analysts have tossed the Rams into the quarterback market, even suggesting that the Rams will shop for a young quarterback in Round 1. It makes sense for the team to add a successor for veteran QB Matthew Stafford to the roster this year. If and when the Rams must face a season without Stafford is not the right time to draft his successor. But when should the team aim for his successor? Is burying a Round 1 rookie quarterback on the depth chart a wise strategy in a year that seems to have the Rams oh-so-close to competing in Super Bowl LX?

That's what makes draft day drama so fun.

Rams pick at 26th overall should be a popular trade target

What happens if Jim Everett is correct, and the Rams are eager to trade back to pick up a pick in Round 2 and Round 5. Will there be a market for the Rams Round 1 pick at the 26th overall? Yes. As it happens, the Rams sitting near the end of Round 1 is an affordable option for any NFL Playoff team who may be selecting after the Rams. So what makes the Rams selection at 26 such a solid landing spot for other teams?

The established order for Round 1 at and after the Rams select at 26 are:

• Los Angeles Rams - 26
• Baltimore Ravens - 27
• Detroit Lions - 28
• Washinton Commanders - 29
• Buffalo Bills - 30
• Kansas City Chiefs - 31
• Philadelphia Eagles - 32

Almost everyone expects the Baltimore Ravens to select the best pass rusher when they step up to the podium at the 27th overall pick. Any team that wants to get their pass rusher will want to leapfrog the Ravens at 27, which places them in the market for the Rams' pick at 26. That applies to many rookie prospects who enter the draft with a projected selection early in Round 1 but who may fall to the Rams at 26.

But what about the quarterback market?

NFL.com's Dan Parr lists the top five draft needs for all 32 NFL teams. He cites the teams that need a quarterback entering the 2025 NFL Draft as:

• Tennessee Titans - 1, 35
• Cleveland Browns - 2, 33
• New York Giants - 3, 34
• New Orleans Saints - 9, 40
• Pittsburgh Steelers - 21, 83

Of course, there are not five consensus Round 1 quarterback prospects, and there are many elite prospects among the Top 10 rookie prospects. So it's very likely that teams like the Cleveland Browns and or the New York Giants defer their need for quarterback with their Round 1 pick, with an eye on trading back into the bottom of Round 1 to pick up one of the remaining quarterbacks.

Many draft analysts expect the Browns to pick up Penn State outside linebacker Abdul Carter with the second overall pick. That could compel them to trade back into Round 1 for a quarterback to retain the coveted fifth-year option of that quarterback's rookie contract. The same could apply to the Giants, a team that could opt to pick up incredibly talented CB/WR Travis Hunter. The Saints could move along a similar trek, opting to claim a top non-QB rookie prospect with the ninth overall pick, but trading back into Round 1 to get a rookie QB prospect.

So why would the Rams entertain offers to allow another team to claim a top quarterback prospect in Round 1, even as the team may be in the same market? It all depends on how much of a priority the team places on the rookie quarterback prospects remaining on the draft board at 26. With little consensus over who is and is not Round 1 worthy, the Rams may not be nearly as interested in a prospect as another team. It's that deviation of NFL talent assessment that creates the win-win mandate to create a draft day trade.

Had the Carolina Panthers loved Florida State defensive tackle Braden Fiske, they would never have agreed to trade back to allow the Rams to select him. The Rams had the bonus of his teammate, OLB Jared Verse, already on the roster, which created more value for Fiske on the Rams roster than any other NFL team.

Ultimately, getting an NFL draft rookie class 'right,' is not nearly as easy as it may appear. That is why I hold Rams GM Les Snead in such high regard. He never seems to struggle. The Rams moves may not make immediate sense, but his rookie selections offer a cascade of immediate impact players as well as solid depth.

Will the team trade back in Round 1 of the 2025 NFL Draft? It makes plenty of sense to do so. But it will depend on the specific scenario awaiting the Rams at the 26th overall pick. All we can really say for now is that the 2025 NFL Draft will have plenty of drama, will keep all of us guessing throughout the three-day event, and will result in a fresh rookie class eager to contribute to the Rams roster this season.

Best of all, Jim Everett approves

Elaborating on what someone is sharing with the limits of characters on social media is risky business. I admit that I do not always get it right. But the immediate feedback from Jim Everett confirms what we've shared in this tale.

Jim Everett is a great follow on social media. Not only is he amazingly generous with his NFL insights, but he actively engages in the forum with fans and bloggers regarding his take about the Rams status and strategy.

Anticipation is building. Are you ready for the draft? As always, thanks for reading.

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