The 2023 NFL Draft will finally take place this week, with Day 1 kicking off on Thursday night. For the Los Angeles Rams, though, they will be on the outside looking in as their first selection won’t be until Day 2 as they currently own the No. 36 overall pick in the second round.
In total, the Rams have 11 picks they’ll have at their disposal, which is tied with the Green Bay Packers, New England Patriots and San Francisco 49ers for second-most. With Los Angeles letting most of their free agents walk in the offseason and cutting bait with several high-profile veterans, they’ll really need to be wise when it comes to their picks.
The Rams will have three picks on Day 2, but then have sizable gap between No. 77 overall and their next pick, which is No. 167 overall in the fifth round. When asked about the long wait in between picks, general manager Les Snead admitted that he and the organization could look to either trade up or down to fill that gap, via Stu Jackson of TheRams.com:
“I think a lot of people on our staff would love for us to, at some point, move back to cover some of that gap and get in between our 77th pick and (our) first pick in the fifth round,” Snead said. “That’s still to be determined. That’s definitely always an option.”
With L.A. needing to address several holes on their roster, namely cornerback, safety, defensive line, offensive line and most importantly edge rusher, Snead might be best served moving back from some of their Day 2 picks and accumulating more selections in the process. The Rams went through a lot of trouble to clean up their cap sheet, so it’s imperative that they add as many talented young players on cheap contracts as possible.
However, moving up might make some sense if a highly-touted prospect unexpectedly falls to them. The defense could definitely use another pass rusher as they’ve got raw players at the position currently, so perhaps that would be in consideration for them.
Regardless, L.A. will have their fair share of players to choose from that will hopefully turn into their next era of football.
Sean McVay calls decision to move on from veterans inevitable
Fans were saddened to see cornerstone players like Jalen Ramsey and Leonard Floyd off the team in the offseason. While Sean McVay probably didn’t want to see those veterans go, he admitted that the decision was inevitable due to how the roster was built.
