Ideal Rams mock draft lands elite TE Colston Loveland in huge offensive haul

The Rams finally get their elite tight end, and a whole lot more

Sean McVay, Los Angeles Rams
Sean McVay, Los Angeles Rams | Norm Hall/GettyImages
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Rams may need to choreograph their 2025 NFL Draft strategy

The LA Rams were a successful team in 2024. Not only did the Rams win the NFC West Division, but the team advanced to the Divisional Round of the 2025 NFL Playoffs. That showed progress by the team but comes at a cost. Due to the team's success in the postseason, their Round 1 pick will show up as the 26th overall pick in Round 1 of the 2025 NFL Draft.

Per Tankathon.com, the Rams full complement of draft picks are as follows:

  • Round 1 - 26
  • Round 3 - 90
  • Round 3 - 100
  • Round 4 - 125
  • Round 6 - 191
  • Round 6 - 202
  • Round 6 - 203

Despite the same regular season record as 2023, that places the Rams seven selections later in this draft than just one year ago.

Two things stand out from this arrangement. The LA Rams have just one pick in Rounds 1 and 2. The second selection for the team does not occur until late on Day 2 with the 90th overall pick. The second 'gap' in the team's selection is the absence of the team in Round 5, a round that has historically been quite rewarding for the team.

At first glance, it appears that the Rams front office may be lured into trading back from Round 1 into an early selection in Round 2, particularly if that option yields them multiple picks that appear in Rounds 2, 5, and 7. As of right now, there is a growing sense that the strength of the 2025 NFL Draft will fall on Day 2, and perhaps carry over to Round 4 on Day 3.

The thing is, the Rams are a bit contrarian in terms of the overall consensus of what other teams are doing in the draft. The Rams did not select a cornerback in the 2024 NFL Draft, despite the abundance of top-tier defensive backs. In fact, the Rams did not shop for many rookies on the offensive side of the football. Instead, the team constructed a young and intimidating defense by marrying the rookies from the 2023 and 2024 drafts together

What are the Rams overall needs in the 2025 NFL Draft?

The LA Rams may be an NFL Playoff caliber team, but there are many areas that this team can be seeking in the 2025 NFL draft. The team will be hard hit by expiring contracts in the following positions:

  1. Offensive tackle (Alaric Jackson, Joe Noteboom)
  2. Nose tackle (Bobby Brown III, Neville Gallimore)
  3. Wide receiver (Demarcus Robinson, Tutu Atwell, Tyler Johnson)
  4. Inside linebacker (Christian Rozeboom, Troy Reeder, Jake Hummel)
  5. Interior offensive lineman (Dylan McMahon, Conor McDermott)
  6. Backup quarterback (Jimmy Garoppolo)

Of course, the team does have sufficient cap space to extend several key players before the draft arrives. Based on the team's 2024 free agency signings, I would not consider the roster complete simply based on veteran extensions or new free agency signings. As such, we have a thorough examination of team needs for the draft.

Must haves (in no particular order):

  • Tight end
  • Quarterback
  • Offensive tackle
  • Explosive playmaker (RB/TE/WR)
  • Nose Tackle
  • Shutdown CB
  • Inside linebacker

Bold print indicates a projected surplus of talent in the 2025 NFL Draft.

Great to add:

  • Wide Receiver
  • Power Back
  • Center
  • Edge Rusher
  • Defensive linemen
  • Versatile defensive back
  • Offensive linemen
  • Return specialist

Any NFL Draft is merely one of several methods to add talent to the roster, and recent drafts have shown that the Rams are quite adept at finding true NFL-caliber talent, even as late as Day 3. But the Rams are not wizards. They can only select from the prospects remaining on the draft board.

To emulate the limiting effects of other teams selecting, I used Pro Football Network's online draft simulator. The advantages of this are to ensure that my own bias of wanting certain players to be available for the Rams are negated. The disadvantages of this are their early draft boards often do not resemble how rookie prospects are ultimately graded by NFL teams.

All set? Let's draft some new Rams . . .

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