The Los Angeles Rams are still 20 picks away from making their first selection in the 2020 NFL Draft, but they have to feel good about how the board fell in Round 1. There was the expected run on wide receivers and offensive tackles, but there’s a host of pass rushers and interior offensive linemen still available on Day 2.
General manager Les Snead spoke to the media after the first round ended and said nothing really surprised him from the first round, adding that many of the players the Rams studied a lot are still on the board.
“Nothing really, really changed today because normally where we’re picking, being a little bit later in the second round, even if somebody from this round would have fallen into early twos (second round), they were going to have to drop probably eight to 10 spots before you can make a move to go get them,” Snead said. “The players that we’ve targeted, the players that we researched a lot are still there, but what does make it interesting is we’re still 20 or so picks away. A lot of good football players are going to come off before we pick.”
The Rams don’t pick until No. 52 and 57, so they have some waiting still to do. But there’s always the possibility of going up and getting a player who drops further than expected. The Rams will weigh that option, but they also see the benefit of sitting and waiting to address multiple positions five picks apart.
“It’s a simple math formula, obviously the further you go up, the more picks you have to give. So, it’s one of those, is someone valuable enough to make you give up one of your third rounds, or do you wait a little bit and maybe give up the fourth-rounder?” he said. “It’s really probably some sort of algebra formula on if you move up, you’re sacrificing – I call it multiple players for maybe less players. We all know that every now and then there’s a player that’s definitely worth it. So, we will certainly monitor it and try to determine whether it’s best to attack or sit back and wait and take who’s there. But when you do wait, I think the strategy has to be when you’re 52 (overall), 57 (overall), you’re probably not waiting for one position, you definitely have to have multiple positions in the mix to probably make the best decision.”
The second round will surely be exciting, especially with the Rams and their two picks joining the fun. Day 2 of the draft begins at 7 p.m. ET on Friday night.