Ranking the LA Rams' last 10 first-round draft picks

IV: 2016 - First round QB Jared Goff (1st overall)

It's difficult to accept that a rookie quarterback could lead his team to a Super Bowl just three seasons after joining the team, but that is where QB Jared Goff lands. Jared Goff is a 6-foot-4 217-pound pocket passer who has amazing durability. He possesses enough mobility to threaten to move the chains if he pulls the football down and takes off. In five seasons as the Rams quarterback, he has completed 63.4 percent of his passes for 18,171 yards, 107 touchdowns, and 55 interceptions.

Goff was good enough to follow the offensive script written by HC Sean McVay. But if and when the play broke down, he was limited to the options that his head coach has pre-scripted for him. When things went well, things were fine. But when things did not go well, the offense sputtered. Utiimately, the Rams and Goff parted ways after the team lost in the Divisional Round of the 2021 NFL Playoffs to the Green Bay Packers. The Rams traded Goff and a package of picks to the Detroit Lions for QB Matthew Stafford.

Goff was a solid quarterback. But the team simply needed a veteran quarterback to align with the other All-Pro players on the roster.

III: 2015 - First round RB Todd Gurley (10th overall)

If LA Rams running back Todd Gurley had remained healthy for 10 seasons or so, the history of the team may have included more than one Super Bowl victory. Gurley was an all-purpose offensive weapon that truly has not had an equal. Standing 6-foot-1 and weighing 224 pounds, Gurley stood as tall as Rams 1000 yard receivers Cooper Kupp and Robert Woods. But he used his muscular 224 pound frame to power into and through would-be tacklers.

Despite playing just five season in the Horns, Gurley was a three-time NFL All-Pro. He averaged rushing 1,080 yards and 11.6 rushing touchdowns per season. As a receiver, he averaged an additional 418 yards and 2.4 touchdowns per season.

In so many ways, Todd Gurley was the ultimate offensive weapon. Unfortunately, his star burned too brightly to last beyond six seasons.