The Los Angeles Rams’ aggressiveness will be felt in the 2020 NFL Draft, not because they’re expected to move up and down the board (which they might), but because of their limited picks available.
As it stands right now, they’re without first- and fifth-round picks because of their trades for Jalen Ramsey and Dante Fowler Jr. in the last two years. That gives them just three picks in the first five rounds, and only two in the top 100.
They’re not unfamiliar with a lack of draft picks, going three years in a row without making a first-round selection. Les Snead’s willingness to depart with draft picks has helped shape the Rams’ current roster, and even without first-rounders, they’ve landed players such as Cooper Kupp, John Johnson, Gerald Everett and Taylor Rapp.
The challenge with having limited draft capital is balancing taking risks and playing it safe. Snead discussed the Rams’ approach at the combine Tuesday, saying it’s probably better to take safer prospects with only a couple top 100 picks, but there’s always the temptation to take a boom-or-bust player if he falls.
“When you have less draft picks, you have to run that equation,” Snead said. “Do you just get a solid, sound pick because you have less picks in the mutual fund? So it’s probably better to just go solid, sound. But you could always be tempted if someone fell that is more boom or bust because you’re saying he’s got some element of better skills than where you would be picking them but something causes them to fall. But that becomes a volatile investment that you’ve got to weigh.”
Snead said the Rams have their initial draft board set with only minor tweaks left to be made. Players can move up or down the board based on medial checks, interviews and athletic testing at the combine, but the Rams are starting to get an idea of who might be there when they go on the clock at No. 52 overall.
“Now you can ultimately start determining who probably has a chance at 50, who doesn’t, which positions are maybe thin, and if they are thin, maybe you do need to ensure that through free agency,” Snead said. “That’s the part of the process we’re in, is matching our draft board with the free agent board and being realistic where you might be able to pick players and if you don’t pick them at 50, who might still be available in the third round and that gets a lot harder.”
Free agency will change a lot for the Rams’ approach to the draft. If they can re-sign Cory Littleton but lose Dante Fowler Jr., it’ll make edge rusher a higher priority than inside linebacker – and vice versa if the opposite happens. If Michael Brockers doesn’t return, defensive end becomes a glaring hole.
Snead knows how important it is to go into the draft with the majority of the team’s holes patched up. He doesn’t want to get to late-April and have a pressing need at any position, because that will pigeonhole the Rams to that spot when they go on the clock.
“When you go into the draft starting in the second round, you really don’t want to go into the draft with a hole, a screaming need,” said Sneed. “You probably need to ensure that position before you get to this point so that you can be prudent in the draft, not say that you’re going to automatically take a specific position with your first pick, considering you have 50 players and 49 of them go.”
Finding a Day 1 starter at No. 52 will be a challenge, but if the Rams can shore up their roster ahead of time in free agency, they may not need one. That was the case last year and it led to the team selecting Taylor Rapp in the second round – a pick that some viewed as a “luxury” selection with Eric Weddle and John Johnson already on the roster.
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