LA Rams post Week 8 mock draft sets team up to win for years to come

2025 NFL Draft - Day 2

The LA Rams have done well on Day 2 in the pass two NFL Drafts, and with the willingness to trade back to add a Round 2 selection in the 2025 NFL Draft, you are well within your rights to expect similar results in the upcoming NFL Draft.

Round 2 Pick 33:

Whether the team is replacing LT Alaric Jackson by not extending his contract for the 2025 NFL season, or simply adding a definitive successor to venerable veteran RT Rob Havenstein, the front office cannot ignore the need to add a high-value rookie offensive tackle. Right now, Arizona rookie prospect OT Jonah Savaiinaea checks all the boxes.

Talented offensive tackles do not last long on the draft board, and the challenge facing the Rams front office is exactly when to target an offensive tackle. In this scenario, the Rams getting an early Round 2 pick allows the team to select a quarterback in Round 1, followed by a true successor offensive tackle to compete right away in his rookie season.

Standing 6-foot-5 and weighing 336 pounds, Savaiinaea fits the team's currently offensive lineman direction of getting huge powerful blockers. Jonah Savaiinaea has amazing agility and a nearly quarterback-level of football iQ. Thanks to a diverse college book of business, Savaiinaea instantly arrives with the expertise to slide into competition at four of five offensive linemen positions (he has not played offensive center). With that, even if the team opts to re-sign Jackson and stick with Havenstein, he still has a meaningful role to play on the team.

Offensive linemen have not been as rapidly developing recently as in the past. The team has yet to get ideal production out of Warren McClendon and Logan Bruss, two young offensive linemen who were counted on to inherit larger roles on the offensive line, but who have yet to demonstrate an ability to handle the pressure of competing in even a temporary starting role.

To fill future needs, the team needs to invest in a starting caliber offensive tackle, and Jonah Savaiinaea is that guy. While not perfect, his deficiencies are all coachable, and he is likely to be a long-term solution for the team at a position of growing need.