Latest Rams mock draft proves offensive reboot is doable via the 2025 NFL Draft

As the Los Angeles Rams must do a lot of work this offseason simply to ensure that the right veterans return at the right price for the team, there is a sense of growing momentum. After all, the Rams front office has clobbered the draft competition in the past, and as such the team oozes confidence as they pivot to the 2025 NFL Draft.

And there are many reasons to believe that this team can and will have a very successful effort in the 2025 NFL Draft as well.

The key is that any early Rams mock draft must make assumptions about the team. Where will the team focus in the 2025 NFL Free Agency market? Who will the team extend? Who will the team part ways with? Without knowing that, mocking rookie prospects is akin to being blindfolded and throwing darts at a dart board.

Still, there is some strategy behind the exercise. The Rams have a finite supply of salary cap space, expiring contracts, and logical fits among projected free agents. While we do not know the exact needs of the Rams roster as the team pivots to the 2025 NFL Draft, we have a better beachhead of reasoning that guesswork.

Will the team extend LT Alaric Jackson? Will the team manage to coerce veteran QB Matthew Stafford back for the 2025 and 2025 NFL seasons? Will the team manage to divert the exodus of four wide receivers who are either knowingly being traded or are no longer under contract in 2025?

While there is no perceivable pattern or straight path to reforming a contender just yet, don't seel the Rams front office short. General Manager Les Snead has been in a far more difficult situation and emerged with a playoff team from the ashes of no picks or salary cap space. Snead knows how to build a winner, and Head Coach Sean McVay knows how to coach a winner. All that remains is putting the right players on the Rams roster to make it all possible.

Let's apply what we know to the upcoming 2025 NFL Draft, and see how likely it is that the team reboots an offense that has suffered slow decline in recent years.

Round 1 - Michigan TE Colston Loveland

When it comes to the 26th overall pick of the 2025 NFL Draft, it's hard to believe that the Rams look at any position that is not the tight end. While many NFL Draft analysts continue to link the team to an offensive tackle in Round 1, the Rams have blown past other perceived needs in past drafts to target a tight end in both 2023 and 2024. In fact, the Rams were so enamored with the top tight end in those respective drafts that they tried (and failed) to trade up to get one.

The Rams will not need to trade up in this draft, thanks to the quality of tight ends available. While that could tempt the team to look at the position in later rounds, or even to take the opposite approach and trade back, I cannot see the team passing up Michigan tight end Colston Loveland.

And any player who makes Good Morning Football host Peter Schrager's Top 10 rookie prospect list is someone who you know the Rams will covet at the 26th overall pick.

Due to the bottleneck of tight end talent in this draft, one of the top-tier talents are bound to fall to the Rams at the 26th overall pick. The thing is, will the Rams jump on the rare opportunity, or yield an elite tight end to another NFL team in the hope of multiplying their number of picks and still getting a quality tight end later in the draft?

In this mock draft, the Rams leap on the chance to reunite Colston Loveland with his former teammate, RB Blake Corum. While not a well rounded as other rookie tight end prospects, Loveland is an elite route-runner and pass catcher, which makes him a fitting successor as a big slot receiver option for the Rams offense in 2025.

Loveland is a versatile offensive weapon who needn't be the focal point of an offense. But he is ever-ready to contribute and does so in a big way. He is a likable athlete who loves the game, is coachable, and who will leave everything on the football field. A true successor to both Tyler Higbee and Cooper Kupp, Loveland is the missing piece in the Rams offense that Coach McVay has sought for years.

Standing 6-foot-5 and weighing 245 pounds, he arrives and instantly competes for playing time among tight ends who all seem to struggle to earn their spot in this offense. Loveland won't struggle. Neither will the Rams in deciding to select him in Round 1.

Round 3 - Rutgers OT Hollin Pierce

While the Rams do not land their franchise offensive tackle in Round 1, look no further than Rutger's powerful offensive tackle Hollin Pierce to bolster this team's physicality in the trenches. Standing 6-foot-7 and weighing 342 pounds, Pierce is a giant redwood who is just as sturdy and formidable. And he brings uncanny versatility, able to slide in at either left or right tackle.

While I don't know that he can take over for Alaric Jackson at left tackle (can any rookie?), I love the potential he brings to instantly take over for the vital swing-tackle role vacated by veteran OT Joe Noteboom in this offense. And that rookie season of competing to be ready in the on-deck circle will be more than enough opportunity to position himself for a larger role in 2026.

Round 3 - Texas QB Quinn Ewers

Regardless of who the Rams manage to start at quarterback in 2025, the team needs to do a much better job of creating a succession plan. Selecting Texas pocket-passer quarterback Quinn Ewers finally puts that issue to bed for the next four seasons. Standing 6-foot-2 and weighing 205 pounds, Ewers brings an NFL-ready frame to the quarterback room and instant competition with Stetson Bennett for his standing on the team's depth chart.

When it comes to reuniting players, look no further than the Rams reuniting Ewers with his former wide receiver Jordan Whittington. And that connection could be very valuable in aiding Ewers' to flourish in his first NFL training camp. Ewers flashes elite skills, but lacks the consistency at the position to hear his name called out in Round 1. Still, the upside is there, and with the right coaching, he can master his craft in the NFL. I think that the Rams have that right coaching. I love Ewers upside, and love the idea of the Rams not being forced to rush him onto the football field in 2025.

Round 4 - Oklahoma LB Danny Stutsman

If the LA Rams truly value the inside linebacker position, then Oklahoma's inside linebacker Danny Stutsman is the ideal selection in Round 4 for the team. He has the size of an edge rusher, standing 6-foot-4 and tipping the scales at 243 pounds, but he is the heart and soul of any defense he takes the football field with.

What I love about Stutsman in this Rams defense is that he 'feels' like a deliberate manifestation of Chris Shula's basic defensive philosophy. Stutsman possesses the agility of a cat, the elusiveness of a fallen leaf on a windy day, and the power of a wrecking ball taking down a brick wall. He is more than an orange pylon, as he sees everything in front of him, quickly recognizes play designs, and hits the hole in time to meet the running back head on. He not only stuffs runs, but his size and wingspan make him a natural obstacle on crossing routes. Stutsman can offer solid man or zone coverage, a must to excel in the NFL.

In four seasons with Oklahoma, Stutsman recorded three interceptions and broke up eight passes.

Best of all, his specialty is special teams. He is a nightmare when covering kickoffs and punts, racing to the football and shedding would-be blockers like raindrops on a duck's back. He adds to the Rams roster in too many ways to resist..

Round 6 - Missouri WR Theo Wease Jr,

While you may be disappointed to find the Rams failing to address the wide receiver position sooner, keep in mind that the front office found BYU WR Puka Nacua in Round 5 of the 2023 NFL Draft, and Texas WR Jordan Whittington in Round 6 of the 2024 NFL Draft. So selecting Missouri wide receiver Theo Wease Jr. in Round 6 of the 2025 NFL Draft is not exactly starting off on the wrong foot.

Wease was a four-year player for Oklahoma before transferring to Missouri and playing for the Tigers for two more seasons. But Wease polished his hands and route-running abilities in those final two seasons of NCAA competition. Born in 2001, the 6-foot-2, 202-pound wide receiver out of Allen, TX enters the NFL with a bit more maturity. But that is exactly what the Rams are looking for at the position.

Wease may have perfected his route-running and soft hands, but he will need more coaching to improve his blocking ability. He will get plenty of that with the Rams in training camp. In Round 6, the Rams are looking for high upside. Theo Wease brings that, and so much more.

Round 6 - Florida DT Cam Jackson

The depth at defensive tackle creates some zany draft opportunities, and the fall of massive Florida nose tackle Cam Jackson is one of the draft event's bigger mysteries. Standing 6-foot-6 and weighing 339 pounds, Jackson has the power and body mass to eclipse the sun for the opposing offensive center. He has the power to match his size, creating the equivalent of a concrete barrier that fights back.

His Herculean upper body and grip strength allows him to toss blockers aside. He has the ability to crank up his bull rush and collapse the pocket, forcing the quarterback into one of the Rams aggressive and relentless edge rushers. Like any prospect selected on Day 3, Cam Jackson simply needs to find more consistency in his production. He also needs to develop a better arsenal of pass rush moves to allow him to translate that power into pressure.

As is, Cam Jackson arrives as a tremendous blocker gobbler who can give the defense solid run support. But he can be so much more.

Round 6 - Oklahoma State OT Dalton Cooper

When it comes to finding a starting offensive lineman in the second half of Day 3 in an NFL Draft, the odds may not be great. But as far as successfully finding a starter on Day 3, an NFL team's best odds lies in the offensive line. And for the LA Rams specifically, the team's starting left tackle Alaric Jackson never heard his name called out in an NFL Draft, despite projections of his selection as early as Round 4.

So 6-foot-5, 312-pound offensive tackle Dalton Cooper out of Oklahoma State has a real shot of earning his spot on the Rams roster. If he nails his first NFL training camp, he could earn a significant role with the team. In similar fashion to Alaric Jackson, Dalton Cooper brings an ocean of experience to the NFL. He has 36 career starts at left tackle, including 3,800 total snaps played, with over 2,300 offensive snaps as a pass blocker. Some analysts claim that he has zero QB sacks allowed.

Cooper played at right tackle in the East-West Shrine Bowl, but his one-on-one work leading up to the game was not his finest performance. Still, he stands 6-foot-5, weighs 312 pounds, and brings five years of starting offensive tackle experience of five years of collegiate football to the NFL.

His draft profile defends his Day 3 projection, even if it does describe a raw rookie prospect who will need NFL-level coaching to optimize his NFL career. Still, the Rams may not extend Alaric Jackson. Right now, the team will need depth at offensive tackle, and Dalton Cooper has the upside to make investing a Day 3 pick worth the effort.

Recap

• Round 1 - TE Colston Loveland
• Round 3 - OT Hollin Pierce
• Round 3 - QB Quinn Ewers
• Round 4 - LB Danny Stufsman
• Round 6 - WR Theo Wease Jr.
• Round 6 - NT Cam Jackson
• Round 6 - OT Dalton Cooper

With seven picks, the Rams land a QB, TE, WR, and two OTs fo the offensive side of the football, while bolstering the defense with a NT and LB. For how the Rams roster appears to be headed right now, this new group of rookies not only re-energize the team, but adds all the necessary pieces to reboot the offense for 2025.

As always, thanks for reading.

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