When was the last time the LA Rams had the 36th overall pick in an NFL Draft?

If the LA Rams stand pat in Round 2 of the 2023 NFL Draft, the Rams will make the sixth pick of that round, and the 36th overall pick of the draft. The fact is that the LA Rams have never had a pick this soon in any NFL Draft since hiring Sean McVay as the LA Rams head coach.

That opened up an entirely new area of thought and discussion. If the Rams have never had a pick this valuable for Sean McVay, what has the history been for the Rams franchise and the 36th overall pick in the history of the franchise? To review the history of the LA Rams draft experience with the 36th overall pick, I had to consult Pro Football Reference.com's history of the Rams drafts. Once that was accomplished, it was simply a matter of scrolling down and reviewing the occasions of the Rams' selection at the 36th overall pick.

1983 NFL Draft - Pick 36

In 1983, the LA Rams chose LB Mike Wilcher with the 36th overall pick in the 1983 NFL Draft out of North Carolina. The 6-foot-3 238-pound Wilcher would go on to play eight seasons for the Rams and finish off by playing his final season with the San Diego Chargers. Over that period, he would play in 122 regular season games for the Rams, and start in 94 of those contests. He would also appear in 10 NFL Playoff games for the Rams, and start in eight of those games.

While the NFL did not track tackles, we do not that Wilcher recorded 38.5 quarterback sacks over his career. He was one of the unsung heroes of the Rams 3-4 defense, the brainchild of Rams DC Fritz Shurmur. There is an excellent article detailing his entire NFL career with embedded photos available simply by clicking this link here.

In 1990, Robinson fired DC Shurmur and hired a new defensive coordinator named Jeff Fisher who installed a 4-3 defense. That spelled the end of Wilcher's career with the Rams.

1953 NFL Draft - Pick 36

In 1953, the LA Rams chose OL Bob Fry with the 36th overall pick in the 1953 NFL Draft out of the University of Kentucky. His size seems relatively small compared to modern-era offensive linemen, as he stood 6-foot-4 but only weighed 238 pounds. He played almost exclusively as the offensive left tackle for the LA Rams in his five seasons with the team. He would continue on in his NFL Career, competing for the Dallas Cowboys for another five seasons.

He competed in and started 60 games for the LA Rams. He continued to start for the Cowboys, But in his final season in Dallas, be would miss two games altogether, and would only start in five of the other 12 games.

Curiously, despite playing as an offensive tackle, he had good speed, and was used to return two kickoffs for the Rams in 1958, gaining 23 yards.

Curiously, the records for the NFL Draft history of the Rams franchise extends all the way back to 1937. But the Rams have only made an NFL Draft selection with the 36th overall pick just two times before. Hopefully, with any luck, this years 36th overall selection will proved to become a durable starter for the Rams for many years to come.