Post Trade LA Rams mock draft reloads defense for 2023

The LA Rams may have plenty of needs on the roster, and those needs will unlikely all be met with the now eleven picks that the LA Rams are projected to have in the 2023 NFL Draft. In fact, with each day that passes, the list of 'needs,' for this Rams roster seems to grow. But the Rams have the fortunate position of being in the right place in the draft for Day 2, and with so many very good but not elite or great players projected in the 2023 NFL Draft class, the Rams may be very well served just to sit and collect the best of the bunch that falls to them in the draft. Best of all, three picks in the Top 100 could all land desperately needed starters.

We all have our preferences, players who we feel so passionately about that the mere presence of them on the draft board within ten positions of the Rams' next selection will drive some of us to deep disappointment if the Rams do not package picks to move up to grab THAT guy. But I don't know if that happens in this draft. This is a draft with about 10 elites, and then a talent level that plateaus all the way through Round 3. In short, the Rams have an opportunity to choose some starters.

Stay put and let's see what happens

The LA Rams roster needs are simply too numerous to sacrifice an opportunity to get better at multiple positions in the belief that the team will get better at one position. And the track record of the NFL Draft proves that there is no such thing as a sure thing. So our passionate pleas aside, can the Rams get better while getting younger in this draft? With their current strategy, that is clearly the plan. In fact, it's their only path now.

Better yet, I think that the Rams can pull it off successfully as well. This is a loaded draft, and the chances improve for roster upgrades if the Rams attack positional needs with multiple draft picks, much like the strategy used by the Rams in the 2020 NFL Draft when the team chose both Terrell Burgess and Jordan Fuller to compete for the team's safety position.

What the LA Rams may lack in terms of top-tier draft picks is, in my opinion, not as much of a handicap as you may think. I've tried various 2023 NFL Draft online mock simulators, and the results are very similar in that there are more highly regarded picks in this draft class than picks to claim them. That means that the LA Rams, a team that has had success late in the draft in the past, could have similar success in this draft as well. Perhaps even better success than you may expect.