Rams GM Les Snead loves rookies who 'play Frogger at a faster pace'

What can Los Angeles Rams GM Les Snead share about his draft strategy? Quite a bit, it seems. Each year, he seems to reveal one more tidbit that we can put in our tool chest for future drafts. Perhaps one of the greatest reveals was the element of passion for football that rookie prospects bring to the NFL. That pretty much defined the Rams' draft classes from 2023 and 2024.

If passion became the team's North Star, then the next rookie attribute is the compass needle. In a recent episode of The Rich Eisen Show podcast, Rams GM Les Snead shared a great deal about his draft strategy, and you can catch it all first hand below:

One of the most interesting new morsels shared by Snead in the podcast was the fact that Snead looks for players who transfer to bigger football programs from smaller schools, all the while maintaining a solid level of production. Since the team settled for just six rookies during the three-day 2025 NFL Draft event, how many satisfied that condition?

Let's take a look:

• TE Terrance Ferguson | 4 years Oregon
• OLB Josaiah Stewart | 2 years Coastal Carolina - 2 years Michigan
• RB Jarquez Hunter | 4 years Auburn
• DT Ty Hamilton | 5 years Ohio State
• LB Chris "Pooh" Paul Jr. | 3 years Arkansas - 1 year Mississippi
• WR Konata Mumpfield | 1 year Akron - 3 years Pittsburgh

As you can see, the Rams split their selections right down the middle between players who transferred and those who did not. Of course, in the grand scheme of the annual NFL Draft, not every position and every draft pick will have options for players who transferred. The Rams wanted to address some position depth and succession with rookies in this draft. And those positions may not have offered competitive prospects who made the jump from one college team to another.

So why does Snead prefer players who transfer? As Snead describes it, it's like a player of the video game Frogger. In that game, the player is a frog who attempts to safely get from one side of the road to the other. After crossing the road, the frog must then cross a stream by hopping on floating logs and the backs of turtles. The further into the game the player gets, the faster the objects move.

If you have never played the game, it can be quite frustrating at faster speeds as you level up.

Snead's analogy to Frogger is rather insightful. By focusing on players who successfully transfer, he checks off several key boxes. First, a player who takes on higher competition is passionate, loves the game of football, and is confident in his abilities to compete on a larger stage. But the transition proves that rookie prospects can adapt to a faster pace and a more intense level of competition.

While I never saw Frogger as an analogy for a successful strategy for the NFL Draft, the way Les Snead uses it is an ideal explanation. Now it's simply a matter of time before we see whether the Frogger strategy for the draft pans out.

As always, thanks for reading.

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