VIII: 2013 - First round WR Tavon Austin (8th overall)
When the St. Louis Rams drafted the 5-foot-8 179-pound speedster name Tavon Austin with the eighth overall pick of the 2013 NFL Draft, the team was investing in more than a wide receiver. Tavon Austin was the forefather of the RB/WR role that we now know San Francisco 49ers WR/RB Deebo Samuels to hold. But Austin was far more. He was a receiver, a rusher, and a deadly special team return specialist.
He played five of his nine NFL seasons for the Rams. He put up 1,689 receiving yards, 1,238 rushing yards, 1,324 punt return yards, and 451 kickoff return yards over the course of his career. He also combined for 24 touchdowns in horns. His best season for the Rams was 2015. He only played one season for the LA Rams under HC Sean McVay before being traded to the Dallas Cowboys for a sixth-round pick in the 2018 NFL Draft.
VII: 2010- First round QB Sam Bradford (1st overall)
Not every quarterback chosen with the first overall pick is a guaranteed success. When the St. Louis Rams selected their new 6-foot-4, 224-pound quarterback Sam Bradford out of Oklahoma with the first overall pick of the 2010 NFL Draft, the hope was that he might pan out to be the long-term solution for the team at the quarterback position.
Bradford was not a bad quarterback per se. He simply never lived up to the hype of being the first quarterback off the board, and the first player selected in the 2010 NFL Draft. His rookie season was fine, as he completed 60.0 percent of his passes for 3,512 yards, 18 touchdowns and 15 interceptions. But he did not improve very much from that rookie season, suffering injuries in 2013 that limited him to just seven games, and missing the 2014 NFL season altogether.
In March 2015, the Rams traded Bradford to the Philadelphia Eagles plus a 2015 fifth-round pick, in exchange for Eagles quarterback Nick Foles, a 2015 fourth-round pick, and a 2016 second-round pick. Bradford would continue to compete in the NFL for four more seasons.