The Los Angeles Rams are uniquely positioned among NFL teams as one that has one eye focused on the present and one eye gazing off into the distant future. Unlike past versions of the Rams roster that seemed to mortgage future prosperity to claim as many elite players who could win now, this Rams iteration has star players who can elevate their games to match the brightest lights and the biggest stages, while still managing to bank enough for the next season.
And the season after that.
You can thank the ability of the Rams front office who, pushed to the brink of disaster after a 2022 NFL season that crashed down to a 5-12 record, forced the team to pivot from entrusting players to prospects. And you can say what you want about the team in 2023 and 2024, but the rookie draft classes from those two years have fueled a resurgence in the team's fortunes.
And this year, the expects to get similar results form the rookie class of 2025.
So it's the draft, and not necessarily the deal-making, that has delivered this team from the ashes of that 2022 season.
Can the Rams front office continue its torrid success at finding gems in the annual three-day draft event? The draft is filled with players who were selected far too soon, and those who fell far too far. While some continue to cite the science behind the process, the draft results continue to make the case that the event is anything but a certainty.
Even if the myriad of professional and amateur NFL draft analysts reach a consensus as to who should hear their names called out among the earliest rookie prospects on Day 1 of the NFL Draft, those early selections do not always pan out, while those rookies who fall out of a coveted Top-10 selection can often find unexpected success.
The LA Rams selected Florida State outside linebacker Jared Verse as the 19th overall rookie taken in Round 1 of the 2024 NFL Draft, and he emerged as the Defensive Rookie of the Year last season. But he was not even the first player targeted by the Rams in Round 1.
So a successful draft class takes a lot of work, some objective scientific method, some subjective art and feel for the draft, and perhaps more luck than anyone is willing to admit.
The Rams training camp is not quite arrived, and yet the team appears to have a fine blend of veteran leadership and young talented players throughout the roster. The team has already been challenged to transition from now-retired All-Pro defensive lineman Aaron Donald. The team is undertaking the transition from All-Pro wide receiver Cooper Kupp this year.
With the selection of rookie tight end Terrance Ferguson, the team has bet on the Oregon rookie to lead the team to a future without veteran TE Tyler Higbee.
Soon, the team will need to transition away from veteran QB Matthew Stafford and RT Rob Havenstein. We were able to address those needs with [**our first 2026 Rams mock draft**](https://ramblinfan.com/a-way-too-early-2026-rams-mock-draft-that-lands-rans-rookie-qb-garrett-nussmeier-01jyws29j2v5). But the reception from fans over Garrett Nussmeier was not as warm as hoped. So, we recalibrated and rolled the dice one more time. How did we do? Click on the next slide to find out.