Knowing when to hold them has never come easily for the Los Angeles Rams and GM Les Snead. This team enters every offseason on a mission to get better, and with such a lofty goal, sometimes Les Snead and the front office struggle to achieve a better mousetrap. As such, anything and everything is on the table. Oftentimes, this team found better places to spend Round 1 picks in an NFL draft than the event itself.
So the team became very good at finding the right rookies for the right fit in all rounds of the NFL draft. It may not have been what the team wanted to do. But survival strategies have a way of appearing out of necessity. The Rams did not use a Round 1 pick in NFL drafts between 2017 to 2023.
So, the willingness of the team to part ways with picks in Rounds 1 and 3 in the 2025 NFL Draft was not necessarily long odds when proposed by the Atlanta Falcons. That is particularly true when a Round 2 and 7 picks were combined with a Round 1 pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. In a draft class that GM Les Snead described in baseball terms,the Rams traded back from the 26th overall pick to the 46th overall pick
What did the Rams GM say about the draft?
I loved the anomaly that Snead made about this draft. At 16:14, he said:
"The way the draft is, the way the players are, the board is, we're probably going to have to hit a single. We're going to have to steal second. We're going to get bunted over to third. And we're going to get a sacrifice fly to score.
The way it was all going, it was going to be one of those grind-it-out drafts. And then, with the advent of the trade, it will allow us to next year to be maybe a draft where we might hit a home run or two."
Rams GM Les Snead
And so, the Rams knew before the 2025 NFL Draft began that this was going to be about small incremental moves to improve the team.
Some fans protested the Rams' draft as a draft that did not hit on any obvious starters. While still early in the offseason, even it true that was always the plan. The Rams roster simply did not have the needs to take a shot and bringing in rookie who instantly start. At the same time, this team has a number of aging veterans who need understudies now, and someone to take up the mantle later.
That appears to be what this draft was all about.
We had graded the Rams' rookie selections quickly after the picks were made. And we will look at them again throughout training camp. But as we learn more and peel back the layers of this 2025 Rams roster, we know that this team has over a third of the roster on expiring contracts. Many backups in 2025 will find themselves promoted to starters in 2026.
The Rams' 2023 and 2024 NFL Drafts were very successful. But the roster of the team for both of those events was porous and in need of immediate help. So rookies who were selected were instantly in line for starting roles and playing time. Opportunities to flourish on the team were everywhere.
But in this draft, those opportunities do not readily exist. Of course, competition in training camp could open some doors for rookies. But this is not a team that truly has plug-and-play openings in the roster. So the front office had to temper projecting rookies for niche roles and future roster needs. While that may not scratch an immediate gratification itch, it was a superb strategy. And with the good-not-great talent level consensus of draft analysts about the rookie class of 2025, the Rams found a way to leverage the strength of this draft to fit their needs perfectly.
This draft certainly ensured that the team had sufficient talent to take on starting roles in 2026. And it even comes with a bonus of two Round 1 picks in the 2026 NFL Draft as well.
As always, thanks for reading.
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