Grading every Rams 2025 draft pick (with 1 bold prediction for each)

The Los Angeles Rams are closer than not to contending for a Super Bowl LX appearance. Of course, many other teams believe that they will be in the hunt as well. But as it always happens this time of year, optimism for success is at its peak.

With the first snap of the football to open the 2025 NFL season, the Rams and every other NFL team will find out whether their off-season rubber hits the football field pavement. The Rams were close to winning it all last season. All their offseason moves were meant to get them closer to that goal.

As well as the Rams had drafted in both 2023 and 2024, that past success made their 2025 draft strategy all the more tedious and complicated. In the past, the team had a wide-open roster that was ripe for any elite rookies to jump into and make their presence felt right out of the gate. But the Rams roster in 2025 does not have the same opportunity for a rookie like WR Puka Nacua, OLB Jared Verse, C Beaux Limmer, or even undrafted rookies like ILB Omar Speights or DB Jaylen McCollough.

Rookies in this year's class have more crucial roles. They are the rotational players - the backbone that is often forgotten when handing out accolades for a sensational season. They do not get All-Pro or Pro Bowl honors. The NFL does not have an NBA equivalent to a sixth-man award.. But to win it all, the entire roster must contribute.

And with the goal in mind of reinforcing, not reinventing, the Rams roster in 2025, I believe that Rams GM Les Snead may have outdone himself. Here's why:

Let's talk about picks, baby.

The LA Rams entered the 2025 NFL Draft with eight picks, five of which fell on Day 3. While I did not openly state in articles, the quantity and location of picks did not align with the Rams' roster needs. In short, the team's only true needs in this draft were inside linebacker and a true starting cornerback.

This is how the Rams were armed as they entered the draft:

2025 Rams Draft Pick (Original)

• 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))

Rams draft picks in 2026 (Original)

The Rams were originally projected to have eight picks in the 2026 NFL Draft. They are:

• Round 1
• Round 2
• Round 3
• Round 4
• Round 5
• Round 5 (via Tennessee Titans)
• (Conditionally traded to Titans)
• Round 6 (via Houston Texans)
• (Traded away Round 7 pick to Texans
• Round 7 (via Baltimore Ravens)

The Rams entered the draft with eight picks, but made three trades.

• TRADE 1: The first trade sent the Round 1 (26) and Round 3 (101) to the Atlanta Falcons for Round 2 (46) and Round 7 (242) picks, plus a Round 1 pick in the 2026 NFL Draft.
• TRADE 2: The team next traded two picks, in Round 4 (127) and Round 6 (190), to the Indianapolis Colts for their Round 4 (117) pick.
• TRADE 3: Finally, the Rams traded Round 6 picks (201 and 202) to the Minnesota Vikings for a Round 5 pick (172).

Why were the Rams so actively trading in this draft? Consider the swell of talent in this rookie class, and compare it to when the majority of Rams picks were scheduled to fall. With the best value of this draft falling across late Round 1 through Round 5, the Rams wanted to convert their abundant supply of Round 6 picks (that fell beyond where the best supply of rookie talent might occur) to the more secure Round 5. And so, in three trades, the Rams' new arsenal of draft picks aligned much more closely to where talented rookies could be found.

Here is the summary of the Rams final picks:

2025 Rams Draft Picks (Updated)

• Round 2 (46th overall)
• Round 3 (90th overall
• Round 4 (117th overall)
• Round 5 (148th overall)
• Round 5 (172nd overall)
• Round 7 (242nd overall) 

2026 Rams Draft Picks (Updated)

While the Rams did not anticipate trades from teams, the expectation of being flooded with trade offers from other NFL teams was not naive. The distribution of rookies in this draft was such that it practically begged NFL teams who picked early to grab an elite rookie to jump back into Round 1 to ensure that those same teams could get a second vital contributor on Day 1.

Nobody could have foreseen the desperation of the Atlanta Falcons to give up a 2026 NFL Draft Round 1 pick as well as their Round 2 pick to pry the Rams' Round 1 pick from them.

The Rams project to have seven picks in the 2026 NFL Draft. They are:

• Round 1 (via Atlanta)
• Round 1
• Round 2
• Round 3
• Round 5
• Round 5 
• Round 7

Unless the Atlanta Falcons win the NFC South Division, the Falcons' Round 1 pick in 2026 will flirt with the Top 10 and will almost certainly land among the Top 15 picks that year. But enough about picks. Let's dive into the Rams' draft selections.

So who did the Rams select?