Rams send unmistakable message to these 5 players with NFL Draft choices

The Los Angeles Rams entered the 2025 NFL Draft with few roster holes and eight picks to use in addressing those needs. But the team emerged from the three-day event with six rookies, questions over the cornerback position, and a smoldering jubilation of anticipating the 2026 NFL Draft. But the buzz so far seems to be remarkably subdued over the rookies selected for the roster.

Let's change that.

Some fans were discouraged by the lack of star power and starters from the rookie class. But that was the entire draft class, save a few elite players chosen early in the draft. And it doesn't take into account the fact that with each of the past two phenomenal drafts, there simply are no longer opportunities for just any ole rookie to come aboard and play lights out. The Rams drafted players who are already lights out.

I break down the entire Rams draft class here, and it's worth a read. It breaks down the selections, why they are a fit for this team, and what to realistically expect. But what about players who will be in direct competition with incoming rookies? Who will successfully fend off challenges to their workload, and who will need to accept a less challenging workload in the future? That's what we are here to find out:

(5) - OLB Keir Thomas

It may shock you to realize that veteran outside linebacker Keir Thomas is the senior statesman at outside linebacker for the team. But that is the reality after the team parted ways with Michael Hoecht. No positional group has transformed so quickly and dramatically as this team's outside linebacker depth chart. And more changes are likely coming.

Entering his fourth season, it's now or never for Keir Thomas. Based on his lack of production, I don't think it's particularly cruel to name Thomas as the odd player out when the Rams pare down the roster to the 53-man active roster. The selection of Michigan OLB Josaiah Stewart was likely intended to fill the void of former OLB Michael Hoecht. But Stewart resets the clock at the position as well. He has the next four seasons to showcase his stuff. Time is almost up for Thomas to do the same.

With this addition, I suspect this his time may be up already.

(4) - LB Troy Reeder

The Rams (re)-signed veteran ILB Troy Reeder late in free agency, suggesting that draft projections may not have ensured that the Rams front office was secure in the likelihood of getting the right fit for the team. But Mississippi ILB Chris Paul Jr. is an ideal fit for the Rams, particularly if the team does the wise choice and commits to ILB Omar Speights as the starter for 2025.

Whether or not Reeder stays on to fill the backup linebacker role and contribute to special teams, Reeder's presumed role as a starting inside linebacker is very much in question. Chris Paul Jr. is not the same size as Reeder, but he has a tenacity and fierceness that very much matches the burning fury in Omar Speights.

(3) - DT Tyler Davis

While defensive lineman Tyler Davis was a limited rotational player for the team in 2024, his light workload was not a punitive measure because coaches did not like him. The Rams have ample opportunity for someone to step up. And that opportunity simply was not met to everyone's satisfaction. The Rams lost both NT Bobby Brown III and Neville Gallimore. In response, the team landed a huge impact nose tackle in Poona Ford.

But as soon as the Rams selected Ohio State defensive tackle Ty Hamilton. At 6-foot-3 and 299 pounds, Hamilton has the size and power to be an immediate rotational impact player. So, if nothing changes, what opportunity does that leave for Tyler Davis in 2025? Perhaps not much more than 2024.

If Davis earns more playing time, great. But if he does not, the Rams defense will not suffer.

(2) - TE Colby Parkinson

The best years for Rams tight ends were the period when the team could toggle between TE Gerald Everett and Tyler Higbee. Everett is gone. Higbee is getting long in the tooth and coming off a serious Injury. And free agent tight end Colby Parkinson was not the player on the football field that the Rams hoped he might become.

The Rams lost TE Hunter Long to free agency. So the initial thought of how Terrance Ferguson fits on the Rams roster can be thoughtlessly explained as the rookie player who will fill that void. Well, until you compare the two players. Long was a blocking tight end who caught the occasional pass. Rookie Terrance Ferguson is the pass-catching tight end who throws the occasional block. If you examine who was intended to be that pass-catching tight end in 2024, that was Colby Parkinson.

With a disappointing season out of Parkinson and the selection of Ferguson, it's clear that tight end Colby Parkinson has been served notice. Why not Davis Allen? Financially, Davis Allen is far more economical. Functionally, Davis Allen faced competition from Hunter Long, the other blocking tight end. Feguson fills the Gerald Everett role in the Rams' offense in 2025. That means that the Rams likely view Colby Parkinson as the odd man out in 2025.

(1) - RB Kyren Williams

After the 2023 NFL season ended, the overtures made by the Rams toward ILB Ernest Jones led everyone to believe that extending him was one of the team's top priorities in the offseason. When the season started, Ernest Jones was gone. So it goes in the NFL. Things change quickly. And right now, running back Kyren Williams finds himself named a priority for an extension.

Don't let yourself get emotionally invested in the outcome of contract negotiations between the team and the player. Sure, the Rams have gotten incredible production out of the running back position. But for the past two seasons, the team has fed the football exclusively to Williams. Other NFL teams have found a more productive formula to put up yards and points on the scoreboard. The Rams, stuck in that one running back rut, have fallen way behind.

If Kyren Williams demands a contract higher than the Rams are comfortable in paying, then the selection of running back Jarquez Hunter places him on financial notice to soften his salary demands. And rightfully so. Williams regressed in 2024, both in yards per carry and in ball security. It's simply not the best timing to invest in him. Add to that the fact that Jarquez Hunter runs through tackles and is much faster. But he can only perform if given the opportunity.

If negotiations were going well, or if the Rams were convinced that Williams would sign within the budget, I don't see the Rams selecting Jarquez Hunter there. But, he was their top offensive player on the draft board in Day 3, which says a great deal about the Rams' strategy.

The Rams now have five running backs on the roster. And if Williams is unwilling to give the Rams a home-team discount, it could be the beginning of the end of Kyren Williams' time with the Rams.

As always, thanks for reading.