Let's dive deep into the LA Rams draft needs for this offseason, and why

The LA Rams front office is already quite active in creating priorities at positions that this team must consider addressing in the offseason. The Rams finished the season with a record of 10-7, were 1-1 in the 2025 NFL Playoffs, but were anything but a consistent team. Of course, injuries and youth can explain much of the inconsistent performance. But the team had many cracks that even HC Sean McVay and an accomplished coaching staff could not overcome.

The thing is, even with this Rams roster advancing to the Divisional Round of the 2025 NFL Playoffs, this was not a perfect team. The defense needed time to gel under new defensive coordinator Chris Shula. Special teams was inconsistent, as changing rules and young players forced ST Coordinator Chase Blackburn to place his focus on many fronts.

But the biggest surprise was the inability of the Rams offense to piggy-back on 2023's success to springboard into 2024 with much better productivity. If the defense did not get its act together when it did to finish out the season, the Rams may not had the opportunity to compete in postseason. But as 31 of 32 teams must eventually do, the front office must dissect and examine each player, position, and positional group of the team to investigate and strategize how to improve for 2025.

Offseason strategy is a difficult task to master. One move impacts options with all other moves. What do I mean? Committing salary cap dollars to one player eliminates spending that money elsewhere for another player at another position. And we continue to be reminded by the results of investing in extensions, free agents, and rookies that the team is not always successful. For every successful extension like IOL Kevin Dotson, there is a miss like the failure to connect with ILB Ernest Jones.

You can apply the same hit or miss opportunity to any player or position, and turn the dial to past, present, or future. The risks and rewards remain the same. No matter which option the team chooses, they will bring a level of uncertainty that is unavoidable. The best way to negate that uncertainty is to embrace it, and use a duplicitous pattern of addressing positions on the team to ensure the likelihood of getting it right.

Rams GM Les Snead is a master craftsman who does not get nearly enough respect and applause for the job that he continues to do for this team. Assembling an NFL Championship team is not just paying top dollar for top-tier talent. There is a matter of choreographing contracts to ensure that the team is not decimated by expiring contracts all at once.

There is a need to blend veteran experience to remain consistent, with the youthful passion and energy of young players who still exhibit their love for the game in each play. There is a symphony at stake each season, as the front office must blend the skillsets of players and hope for the spontaneous combustion of chemistry, communication, and best of all, friendship.

The LA Rams have been incredibly adept at finding the right players who are the right fit for this team in NFL drafts recently. Can the team leverage that success to be equally effective in the 2025 NFL Draft? Let's start by examining which positions might be the greatest need for the team next season.

Offense

The top priority for the Rams roster this offseason in the 2025 NFL Draft has to be the offense. In 2023, the front office balanced the draft between offense and defense. In 2024, the front office invested in the offense during the NFL Free Agency market, while pivoting to the defense for much of the draft. The team's efforts to upgrade the offense into a powerhouse this past season fell far short of the mark.

You can't decry the front office for a lack of effort. The Rams went overboard on spending for players on the offensive side of the football. The Rams spent more than any other team on offensive players, and the least of any other team on defensive players. The money truly did not equate to productivity. So the team must look at other ways to enhance the offense.

Tight end

In 2023, the Rams reportedly tried to trade into Round 1 to select Utah rookie TE Dalton Kincaid. I was stunned by the news, as I did not have tight ends as a position that would interest the team in that draft. I considered the chance for the Rams to target Georgia TE Brock Bowers in the 2024 NFL Draft, but I gave the scenario a thumbs down. The Rams' offense had not shown much history in routing the plays through the hands of a tight end. But the experience of 2024 has modified my stance.

Tyler Higbee's return proved that the Rams can get plenty of oomph out of the right tight end, something that was absent in all of 2024 until Higbee's return. But Higbee is aging and coming off injuries. The 2025 NFL Draft is loaded with quality tight ends. Yes, even an old dog like me can learn new tricks. It's time for the front office to scratch that tight-end itch.

Quarterback

Matthew Stafford is 37 years old, is suffering injuries at an ever-increasing frequency, struggles to perform to his normal level of production, and has developed a bit of streakiness in his level of week-to-week production. Right now, he has the team hanging while he decides whether or not he wants to return to play in 2025. Beyond that, he is unlikely to return unless his salary demands are satisfied, and that includes a Brink's truck laden with guaranteed salary cap dollars.

His indecision has backed the team into a corner.

Veteran quarterback Matthew Stafford can and should be the starter for this team in 2025. But the team has to take the quarterback succession plan far more seriously as well. Both statements can be true at the same time. And that means that the Rams cannot gloss over the quarterback position any longer.

Currently, the Rams roster holds Matthew Stafford and Stetson Bennett in 2025. Stafford is uncertain what his status will be when the team regroups next season. I shudder to think that this team could be forced to scramble for a veteran quarterback in free agency if Stafford decides to retire or simply to hold out for guaranteed money. And yes, his holdout for the right price is almost a certainty right now.

I love the upside of young quarterback Stetson Bennett. Many fans do not appreciate his future potential. Even if Bennett proves to be a worthy NFL starter, the team is shy of at least one if not two or three quarterbacks for the 2025 training camp. The team could lure back veteran QB Jimmy Garoppolo just in case, but even if successful in doing so, the team needs a young talented throwing arm to compete with Bennett.

In any scenario now with Stafford returning to start in 2025, the Rams need to have a young quarterback in the on-deck circle getting warmed up to take over. The 2025 NFL Draft is an ideal spot to find him.

Offensive tackle

There is a resounding theme that surfaces repeatedly in this 2025 NFL Draft. Despite the fact that the team has consistently boasted a very young roster since purging highly-paid veterans during and after the 2022 NFL season, the team must now address identifying and adding players who can take over for the team's remaining aging veterans. One such veteran who is getting up in years is starting right tackle Rob Havenstein.

Just as the team needs to put the successor to QB Matthew Stafford on the roster from the 2025 NFL Draft, the team needs to select the successor to RT Rob Havenstein from the same draft class. The reasons are not surprisingly similar. RT Rob Havenstein will be 33 years old and has suited up for just 25 of the team's 34 game over the past two seasons. His availability is trending in the wrong direction and there are no reasons to hope for it to reverse in 2025.

The team is unlikely to extend swing tackle Joe Noteboom. While I hope the team re-signs starting left tackle Alaric Jackson, there is no true successor for his starting role on the Rams roster either. The team added LG Steve Avila in 2023, and C Beux Limmer in 2024. Now the team must get a top-tier offensive tackle in the mix in 2025. The team needn't break the back chasing the top offensive tackle in the draft. But a reliable prospect who can be coached into the role by mid-season is a must.

Wide Receiver

The LA Rams offense struggled in 2024. Since 2021, veteran wide receiver Cooper Kupp has suited up for 33 of 51 games. In just his second season, rookie star wide receiver Puka Nacua suited up for just 11 of 17 games. The team risks losing WRs Tutu Atwell, Tyler Johnson, and Demarcus Robinson. So at the moment, the team's wide receiver room is facing significant upheaval.

The team may extend one wide receiver. But even if that happens, the need to ramp up the number of wide receivers for training camp is unavoidable. The team signed just two wide receivers to Reserve/Future contracts in Drake Stoops and Quintez Cephus. So the opportunity and need to draft a wide receiver may never have been greater.

The team drafted WR Puka Nacua in Round 5 of the 2023 NFL Draft. The team drafted WR Jordan Whittington in Round 6 of the 2024 NFL Draft. I cannot see the team repeating that strategy in this draft. This team has saturated the big, tough, physical, contested-catch category of wide receiver. Now it's time for the offense to break the mold and introduce explosive play-making, insane speed, unstoppable height, or some other unique feature that will give defensive backs headaches in coverage.

The Rams wide receiver room is stuck in a rut. Time to break the mold.

Running back

The Rams return three running backs for 2025. They are RB Kyren Williams, Blake Corum, and Cody Schrader. They all stand between 5-foot-8 and 5-foot-9. All three running backs weigh between 202 and 214 pounds. And all three run the 40-yard dash from 4.53 to 4.65 seconds. The homogeny of the Rams running back room throughout the 2024 NFL season provided a seamless transition from one player to another.

The problem is, opposing defenses did not have to change their preparation to face any of the Rams runners. That's a problem, an oversight in strategy for a team that has prided itself in innovation and thinking outside the box.

Without blazing speed at running back, the team simply did not have the same dangerous rushing offense like the Philadelphia Eagles or the Baltimore Ravens. Without a big bruising power back, the team simply could not pound the rock and wear down opposing defenses. The Rams offense relied heavily upon a physical offensive line, and hoped that no defender would run down Kyren Williams. But time and time again, one did.

The Rams get plenty of production out of the offense on the ground. But the lack of variability is a thorn in the side of this team. In drafting Michigan rookie RB Blake Corum, the team simply cloned RB Kyren Williams. And in deciding whether to hand the football off to the original or the clone, the Rams opted to focus getting carries to Williams. By season's end, rookie Blake Corum carried the football 58 times for 207 yards and 0 touchdowns. Featured running back Kyren Williams carried the football 315 times for 1,299 yards and 14 touchdowns. He also fumbled the football five times.

Whether the offense needs to get swifter, bigger, or more powerful at the running back position in not as important as the team needing to offer up something different in terms of speed, timing, and style of rushing. The Rams rusing offense has devolved into the AC/DC or Bachman Turner Overdive of the NFL. No matter which song is playing, they all start to sound the same after a while.

The Rams need to offer something in the ground game that is different from all of the others. When the front office attempted to add that north-south power running back option, the team tried it for a year, and then let that player walk by season's end. The team needs to revisit speed or power for their next running back. Much like the wide receiver position, the team's insistence on fielding the same running back in three roster spots has given the edge to opposing defenses.

Defense

It's more challenging to consider the way the team's defense rallied over the course of the 2024 NFL season and poke holes in the roster. Yes, the team struggled at times. Yes, the defense did not charge out of the gates to unparalleled success. But this was a very young defense playing for a newbie defensive coordinator. Much of the early struggles of the defense can be explained by the unfamiliarity of Chris Shula with his defensive philosophy.

New players, new units, and new strategies were all theories until the defense stepped foot onto the football field. From the opening kickoff in Week 1, Shula learned what did and did not work and made adjustments to compensate. By mid-season, Shula had a pretty good idea of who did and did not fit the defense. By season's end, Shula had a pretty good handle on how to optimize his defense.

Now, with one season under his belt, he has a solid vision of the type of players needed to unlock the full capabilities of his defensive philosophy.

Cornerback

The most difficult position to fill in Shula's defense in 2024 was the cornerback position. Even the team's front office defaulted by addressing the secondary with veteran defensive backs. Ensuring that the team had seasoned veterans with experience in pass coverage allowed Shula and his positional coach to improvise and experiment with coverage options, allowing veterans with sufficient NFL experience to provide real-time feedback to the coaching staff with tips and suggestions to improve the plays.

The team lost DB Derion Kendrick for the season and DB Darious WIlliams for a month before Week 1. Shula opted to start the still-recovering veteran Tre'Davious White, which proved to be a complete disaster for the team. Ultimately, the team signed former starting CB Ahkello Witherspoon, and his presence along with CB Darious WIlliams and Cobie Durant helped to solidify the team's pass defense.

The team added former Washington Commanders CB Emmanuel Forbes late in the season, and risks losing only Ahkello Witherspoon to an expired contract. While I do not see the defense hopelessly paralyzed without addressing the cornerback position in the 2025 NFL Draft, for continuity's sake, the team needs to get a talented cornerback onboard if the plan is top consistently compete in the postseason.

Inside linebacker

The LA Rams screwed the pooch when the team opted to trade projected starting inside linebacker Ernest Jones IV at point blank range of the start to the 2024 NFL season. That forced the team to scramble in a hurry to backfill the vacated starting inside linebacker role. The best the team could come up with at the time was to pair up veteran ILBs Troy Reeder and Christian Rozeboom. The optics for that tandem were horrific, but the team failed to address their struggles until Reeder was injured mid season. The team promoted undrafted LSU rookie ILB Omar Speights to start, and he quickly showcased his run-stuffing forte.

The thing is, the team reacted to the inside linebacker position all season, rather than address it proactively.

Still, the team's success at addressing the pass rush over the past two drafts should encourage the front office to attempt bolstering production across the defense. Assuming that the team projects Speights as the starter for 2025 (it should), then the team merely has to seek an inside linebacker who boasts both physicality and pass coverage skills. That is a tough combination to find in an NFL Draft, but is not impossible to find.

Should the Rams manage to find a staring ILB for the future, the Rams defense has an opportunity to dominate in the NFL for years to come.

Nose tackle

Even without the expiration of contracts, the team was exposed in the NFL playoffs at the nose tackle position. Of course, every NFL defense was exposed when RB Saquon Barkley suited up in the Philadelphia Eagles backfield. But the front office cannot simply shrug its shoulders and call it a day. The personnel executives must seek players who can stuff the run, even before the team's expiring contracts are factored in.

But this team is projected to lose both NT Bobby Brown III and NT Larrell Murchison to free agency. Historically, the team has addressed vacancies at the nose tackle position via the NFL Draft. Thankfully, defensive talent is abundant in the 2025 NFL Draft. Initial reports (next slide) tout the most plentiful positional talent in this year's draft will be found at defensive tackle, tight end, and running back positions.

I don't think that it's any mere coincidence that the team projects to lose two defensive tackles to free agency in a year with abundant talent at the position in the draft. I expect the team to add multiple DTs during and after the 2025 NFL Draft.

Edge rusher

You many question the logic of the team addressing the edge rusher position after finding two starters at the position in consecutive drafts. Well, the team is slated to lose versatile DT/OLB Michael Hoecht to free agency, the team has not gotten significant production out of OLB Keir Thomas, Nick Hampton, or Brennan Jackson, and the team has no obvious player on the roster to step into a significant rotational role in 2025.

I'm not suggesting that the team will not extend Hoecht (should happen). But the team needs to keep talent flowing to the roster, and the 2025 NFL Draft is the most logical source for that talent. This young defensive front has elevated it's performance in the 2025 NFL Playoffs to record 16 quarterback sacks in just two games. Those sacks came against some of the best offensive lines this season.

Let's keep the pressure on opposing quarterbacks (pun intended). The Rams pass rush needs a rapid rotation to stay fresh and avoid soft-tissue injuries. I expect that the team can coax some defensive snaps out of carry-over players. But more competition is always a plus. The front office has done an incredible job of late selecting NFL caliber edge rushers. Hopefully, Les Snead will keep striking while the iron is hot.

Summary

The challenge with any NFL Draft is not just when picks are slated to send the team to the podium. It's not even simply talent availablity. The greatest challenge in any NFL draft is whether or not the right talent-tier at the right position is on the draft board when the Rams are scheduled to make their selections. The consideration of trading up depends on the interest of the team is selecting a specific player, and whether or not the team can find a willing trade partner to trade back.

The consideration of trading back depends on the lack of desirable talent present on the draft board when the team makes its scheduled selection, and the quality of offers by other teams to trade places with the Rams for that spot. In truth, I cannot envision the team not having targeted prospects on the draft board on either Days 1 or 2. Perhaps the team may entertain the option of trading back to add picks on Day 3.

The thing is, the 2025 NFL Draft offers an ample supply of talent at positions of need by this team this year. Just check out this report:

So we have covered plenty of ground. With just seven picks on the docket as the team prepares to enter the 2025 NFL Draft, there are physical limits as to how many positions the team can address on Draft Day. But without any indication of how the team will approach this offseason via the 2025 NFL Free Agency market, or even extensions of current players, here are my projected needs for the team in this year's 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

Whether or not the team addresses these positions will depend on who is on the draft board when the team makes selections. The need to address specific positions is also dependent upon how the team reforms the Rams roster in the offseason leading up to the draft.

We have plenty of topics to discuss and consider in the meantime. As always, thank you so much for reading.

More Rams Draft, News, Rumors, and Analysis