Rams top-300 fits big board: Ranking the best fits in 2025 NFL Draft

The NFL Draft is just over a week away and at this point in the process, teams like the Los Angeles Rams are putting together the final touches to their big boards. It’s almost time to trust your scouting process and hope that everything goes well on the weekend of April 24.

One of the biggest changes that I made to my draft process this year was attempting to align it with the Rams’ process. This draft season, I’ve done the most pre-draft work in my short career. Between trips to Mobile and Indianapolis for the Senior Bowl and Combine, interviews with players, and conversations with people around the league, I feel like I have a solid grasp on the strengths of this draft class. In addition to all of the data that I keep, I also believe I have a pretty good grasp on what the Rams look for at each position.

An aspect of the NFL Draft that tends to get lost is that every team’s big board looks significantly different from each other. For example, in addition to rankings, teams tend to place players in buckets. These buckets differ from team to team. During Hard Knocks last season, the New York Giants draft board was released. The Giants color-coded specific players that represented character traits as well as potential injury and size concerns.

One of the big changes that I’ve made this year is placing players into “buckets”. The Athletic’s Jourdan Rodrigue wrote a piece called ‘Finding Rams,’ which outlined this bucketing process. Said Rodrigue,

“On his screen, which the scouts cannot see, Snead manipulates what he calls “the call sheet” as they discuss prospects. The sheet looks like a series of rectangles that split players by position into different buckets. There are no round-by-roun d grades, only four overall tiers into which players are then “bucketed.” By mid-April, all draft-eligible players are split into nine buckets based on the Rams’ finished evaluations, which include the medical and character checks completed in March and, for some, notes from Sugarman’s visits. The buckets aren’t always “rankings” — some are lateral to others.”

Those buckets are broken up into nine different categories which are:

• Bucket 1: Math Changer, Total Package
• Bucket 2: Reliable Starter
• Bucket 3: Math Changing Starter, Range of Caution Flags
• Bucket 4: Impactful Contributor, Clean Profile
• Bucket 5: Talented Enough to Contribute, Less Predictable
• Bucket 6: Trustworthy, but Less Talented
• Bucket 7: Late IQ or PQ
• Bucket 8: Major Concerns, Off Board, or Reconsider After Draft
• Bucket 9: Likely Drafted, Not a Rams Fit

I recently went through this bucketing process for every position outside of quarterback. Those breakdowns can all be found below:

Where one team may have a player ranked inside the top-50, another may not have that player ranked or have them potentially ranked outside the top-100. Teams also tend to only keep a big board of 175-200 draftable players.

With all of that said, I tailored my big board completely based on how a player would fit within the Rams based on past traits, testing, etc. that they have prioritized in the past. These traits were all weighted, given a score, and then added together for a cumulative grade.

This is why you’ll see a player like Ozzy Trapilo so high on this list. While Trapilo may be seen as a third round player by the consensus, he is a great fit for the Rams and should be rated as such. In the tables below, you’ll see each player, the cumulative grade, what buckets they were placed in, and then generally what round the consensus sees that player being drafted.

Players 1-50

Players with a cumulative grade over 8.5 are players who I would consider exceptional fits. There is a reason why Malaki Starks has been featured in several of my mock drafts and it’s because his fit on the Rams defense is exceptional. He is the number one player on my board because of the versatility and physicality that he brings. The Rams secondary is missing that type of player. Rounding out the top-10 are both Josh Simmons and Jihaad Campbell. It’s unlikely that the Rams take Campbell, but Simmons could be an option as an heir to Rob Havenstein. Simmons brings a zone-based athleticism and technical footwork that make him a great fit.

Speaking of potential Havenstein heirs, there may not be an offensive lineman who I like more in this draft as a Rams fit than Ozzy Trapilo. Trapilo compares well to Havenstein and is simply a smart player with good footwork. Despite being 6’8, 316 pounds, he moves very well for his size. He also brings left and right tackle versatility. It is also worth noting players like Trey Amos, Maxwell Hairston, and Jacob Parrish in this range. All three would be great fits for the Rams defense.

Players 51-100

The two Iowa State wide receivers come in here with Jaylin Noel at 57 and Jayden Higgins at 79. With that said, both players are great fits for the Rams offense and have a connection to current passing game coordinator Nate Scheelhaase. Noel and Higgins are great route runners while Higgins might be slightly more versatile. Despite his smaller frame, Noel can get after it as a run blocker. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see the Rams draft either player.

Also in this area are the two Kansas cornerbacks in Mello Dotson and Cobee Bryant. If you checked out the cornerbacks edition of Snead’s Snacks, you’ll know that Bryant is probably the slightly better fit. Bryant brings an alpha dog mentality and has good ball skills with plenty of instinctive reps on tape. Bryant is an elite competitor as well. They’ll be two names to watch on draft night.

Players 101-150

The Rams met with Shemar Turner and it’s easy to see why they’d be interested. Athletically, he compares with Braden Fiske. From a traits perspective, he has some Sebastian Joseph-Day in his game. If there is a defensive lineman that the Rams take, it could be Turner. He ended up in buckets two and three. Turner has a hot motor, is explosive, and has a lot of the intangibles that the Rams look for in their defensive linemen.

Additionally, this is a group with a lot of tight end. It may be surprising to see Harold Fannin Jr. in this range, but there are some serious questions when it comes to his development. He’s an awkward runner with the ball and lacks some of the physicality that you would want in a tight end to block. Thomas Fidone has dealt with injuries, but he’s a great late-round fit at the position. Fidone is a player with a lot of upside. Conyers is an older prospect, but his projection in a McVay style offense makes a lot of sense.

Players 151-200

One thing worth noting here is that players graded under a 7.5 are players that I don’t necessarily see as great fits. That doesn’t mean that the Rams won’t draft them or sign them as undrafted free agents. However, the top-191 are players with “draftable” grades. We also have our first quarterback and only quarterback with a draftable grade in Shedeur Sanders. Put simply, this is not a good quarterback class.

It’s also easy to understand here why the Rams brought back Troy Reeder. It’s very possible that the Rams like the linebackers in this group and most of these players are going to be drafted on day three. Jack Kiser is someone that has been tabbed as a fit since early in the process. The same can be said about Cody Lindenberg and Carson Bruener. All of these players are good fits in the Rams defense, but likely not selected until day three and therefore not projected day-one starters.

Players 201-250

Two players in this group that graded out much lower than I would have expected were CJ West and Kyle McCord. This isn’t to say that the Rams won’t draft either player, but they finished much lower than I would have anticipated. Barryn Sorrel can be added to that list as well. While Brashard Smith brings a fun skillset, he may not be the best fit in the Rams offense. He’s not as fine-tuned as a runner and lacks in pass protection which McVay values.

Seeing players like Nic Scourton and Tyleik Williams is a testament to the process. While they are both highly regarded players, they aren’t Rams fits and therefore come out in this range rather than the top-50. It’s possible that the Rams have neither player on their board.

Players 251-300

You may notice that two big name quarterbacks did not make this list in Jalen Milroe and Will Howard. Both players just missed with Howard at 302 and Milroe at 305. Howard’s issue is that he has slow eyes, below average anticipation, and sluggish mechanics. That’s just not going to work in a McVay offense. While Milroe shows creation ability, he struggles against pressure, has inconsistent accuracy, and can’t play on time. Those are also serious concerns for a McVay style offense.

Elijah Roberts is a player in this area that I really like as someone that can play anywhere along the defensive front. Unfortunately, he’s just not a fit. The same can be said about Pat Bryant who showed a lot of flashes. Hollin Pierce is in this area. While Pierce has a lot of raw talent and the versatility to play on the left or right side, his movement skills in zone are lacking and he has a huge developmental curve.