Rams young players dominate because the team has mastered this simple task

The Los Angeles Rams may have known this fact about how to succeed in the annual NFL Draft all along. But since winning Super Bowl LVI after the 2021 NFL season, plus falling to a record of 5-12 in 2022, the team has stumbled into a way to leverage that insight into getting more out of the draft than other NFL teams, and certainly far more out of the draft than expected.

How well have the Rams drafted?

In the 2022 NFL Draft, the Rams used eight selections. The team stepped up to the podium for the very first time in Round 3 of the 2022 NFL Draft to make the 104th overall pick. The team selected Wisconsin IOL Logan Bruss, a young man who suffered a devastating injury and has since been released from the team.

Tough way to start that rookie class, right? Well, buckle up. From that 2022 NFL Draft, the team found:

• CB Cobie Durant - starter (Round 4, 142nd overall)
• RB Kyren Williams - starter (Round 5, 164th overall)
• S Quentin Lake - starter (Round 6, 211th overall)
• CB Derion Kendrick - rotational player (Round 6, 212th overall)
• OT A.J. Arcuri - reserve offensive tackle (Round 7, 261st overall)

Some may argue that the Rams roster was so depleted that the opportunities for less talented rookies to make an impact were easy. In essence, a blind monkey and a dart board would have sufficed just as well.

I disagree wholeheartedly. The Rams front office was under tremendous pressure to get it right, and the team was limited to drafting on Day 3. While other teams were simply mailing it in at that point, the Rams' scouting department and front office personnel executives discovered that vetting rookie prospects on Day 3 can make a huge difference. You can only use the picks you have.

But the early chemistry between Cobie Durant and Quentin Lake as they did the NFL podcast circuit hinted at something more. Rams rookies who truly enjoy one another's company and form bonds of friendship work harder, play harder, and find success faster.

Was it that simple? Could it be a basic principle that military forces have known and used for decades? Is the secret to finding success as simple as forging one team out of many individuals?

Hmmm.

It's about brotherhood

The US Armed Forces know that the secret to winning armed conflicts is converting many individuals into one cohesive team is simply a matter of creating a common enemy who seems all-powerful. Basic military training is designed to push the body and mind to a breaking point, but not to break an individual's spirit. Humans collectively form bonds to confront and overcome common threats.

It's why many military veterans refer to friendships formed while serving as brothers and sisters in arms. And it's not simply a figure of speech.

Rams rookies face similar circumstances. Young men arrived in the NFL with common goals of making the team and enjoying a long NFL career. But of the 90 players who compete in training camp, they all know that 37 will be released. That is just under a 60 percent success rate. For rookies, that failure rate is nearly 85 percent.

So yes, they face tremendous pressure and must beat huge odds stacked against them. It's a huge common threat that all young players must face. And that leads us back to the bonds of friendship forged in those circumstances become more than casual friendships. A brotherhood is formed:

This was the theme of Behind the Grind: Episode 1. You might think that the way the season ended on a loss in a hostile stadium in a snowstorm would set the team back. But it was one more element to forge an even stronger bond.

The loss of Braden Fiske in the midst of the Divisional Round game against the Philadelphia Eagles was a huge loss for the team. Thankfully, the Rams roster allowed for the team to absorb the loss of Fiske. But Fiske's absence from finishing out the game only serves to motivate him even more in 2025.

The BTG episode transitions to DL Kobie Turner hosting teammates IOL Steve Avila and TE Davis Allen and their families. They talked about Kobie Turner's wedding, and the fact that teammates were groomsmen in the wedding ceremony.

This entire episode is about building a family, not just in the traditional sense of spouses and children, but bonds forged among NFL teammates. It's such a simple matter—friendship—that it can be missed quite easily. And yet, you cannot ignore the tremendous impact that friendships forged on the Rams roster among players

Friendships forged now last a lifetime. But it's because they are forged in the trials and fires where so much is at risk. These friendships are forged like steel. And it's those metallic bonds that endure, not just through training camp, but throughout a player's NFL career.

As always, thanks for reading.

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