10 takeaways from the Rams 2025 draft class

After months of waiting, the Los Angeles Rams wrapped up the 2025 NFL Draft over the weekend. General manager Les Snead finished the weekend with six selections, featuring tight end Terrance Ferguson and linebacker Chris Paul Jr. While not the most exciting class, the Rams did a lot of good things in the draft. Here are my ten takeaways.

1. Rams Make Moves for the Now and Later

Heading into the NFL Draft, the thought was that that the best option for the Rams was to move down from 26. However, once the Rams did so, moving down 20 places, and somehow picking up an extra first round pick, that feeling began to change. The Rams passed on players like Malaki Starks and Jihaad Campbell and the narrative seemed to become that this was a team that was punting on 2025.

At the end of the day, the NFL Draft was never about 2025. As I wrote earlier in April, the goal of this draft was far different than the goal of the last two. This was no longer a team trying to quickly rebuild, but rather supplement the current group. The Rams draft provides upside for the now with players like Terrance Ferguson and Josiah Stewart, but trading back and picking up an extra first round selection allows them to have one foot in the future as well. The Rams tendency before the last two drafts was to select players at positions of need the following year. It appears they’ve gone back to that with this draft class.

2. Sean McVay Finally Gets His Tight End

Over the last two years, it became very clear that Rams head coach Sean McVay wanted a tight end. They tried to trade up in 2023 to the backend of the first round for Dalton Kincaid. Last year they tried to move up for tight end Brock Bowers. After moving on from Cooper Kupp, it felt like the Rams may want to replace him with a more traditional “F tight end”. It seems like McVay wants to get back to more of his 12 personnel roots. As McVay said following the Ferguson pick,

“The more that you can present and be multiple with a variety of blocking surfaces, some different personnel groupings [the better]. What that means, I think it allows us to be more versatile. We still have to put the work in but there’s a vision. Terrance will provide us the opportunity to have some different things come to life potentially.”

While tight end wasn’t the preferred position of choice from many, this always felt like the way that the Rams would want to go. This was a deep tight end class with talented pass-catchers at the top. Out of 12 personnel last season, the Rams ranked fourth in EPA per pass. We’ll see what impact Ferguson has as a rookie, but there is a plan with this pick.

3. Rams must have faith they can land Jalen Ramsey

Coming into the draft, the biggest need for the Rams was at cornerback. This was a secondary that ranked 28th in EPA per pass and 26th in yards per pass. They allowed the sixth-most passing touchdowns. It’s true that they improved over the second half of the season, but they went from very bad to average at best.

During the draft, there was a report from NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport that the Rams had interest in a Jalen Ramsey reunion. At this point, the Rams may be putting their eggs in that basket. There’s no doubt that Ramsey would also be open to a reunion. It’s possible that the Rams could also be higher on Emmanuel Forbes. The two sides will need to figure out compensation from a pick and salary standpoint with Ramsey. With that said, it’s the only thing that makes sense as to why the Rams didn’t take a cornerback at all.

4. Not taking a tackle is a big miscalculation

Multiple things can be true when it comes to the Rams offensive line. It’s possible to be optimistic about the Rams offensive tackle depth. AJ Arcuri has the size while Warren McClendon has been a rollercoaster at times. At the same time, it is fair to acknowledge that this group is very unproven.

Obviously a rookie doesn’t change the unproven aspect of that. However, McClendon gave up two or more sacks and five or more pressures in two out of his five starts last year. Arcuri gave up seven pressures and was a reason for the Week 1 loss to the Detroit Lions. The best option may be to bring back Joe Noteboom or potentially sign a reclamation project in Jedrick Wills or Andre Dillard. The Rams could also keep an eye on the trade market. Even if the Rams have confidence in McClendon and Arcuri, adding competition there or simply more depth would have made sense.

5. Josaiah Stewart is bad news for current edge depth

After opting not to bring back Michael Hoecht, there were some questions on how the Rams planned to replace him. Brennan Jackson was selected on day three last year and fit the body type and versatility. However, Jackson didn’t get a lot of playing time as a rookie, even in a rotation. Nick Hampton was a promising fit out of Appalachian State in 2023, but hasn’t seen the field and been hurt. He also doesn’t have the size or versatility to fill that role. Said McVay after the draft,

“There’s a similar system in regard to what they’ve been doing and what he’s been doing at Michigan. You see a versatile skill set to be able to rush, to be able to cover.”

The most important aspect of Stewart’s game is the intangibles. Like Hoecht, his motor runs at one speed and that is red hot all the time. The energy that he is going to bring to the defense is what they lost in Hoecht. It would not be surprising to see Stewart leapfrog Hampton and Jackson on the depth chart and have an immediate role in the defense, even in a rotation.

6. Kyren Williams extension is far from guaranteed

Prior to the draft, there was some discussion regarding a Kyren Williams extension. Despite some confidence in signing Williams to an extension, that has since moved to both sides being far apart on a number.

It’s likely that the Rams do want Williams back. However, the Rams also aren’t going to pay him $14-million per year. The Rams drafted Blake Corum who was a Kyren Williams clone last year. They then added Hunter to add more variety to the running back room and bring some 4.4 speed. This is beginning to take a similar shape as the Ernest Jones situation last year. It shouldn’t be expected for the Rams to trade Williams. However, a contract extension isn’t as guaranteed as it may have seemed two months ago.

7. Jarquez Hunter a course correction from Blake Corum pick

The Blake Corum selection last year in the third round never made sense. While Corum was a good player and likely fit the scheme, taking a running back in the third round was an overreaction to Williams being hurt the year before. The Rams added much of the same at running back and that showed in 2024 with the lack of explosiveness.

One year later, and the Rams once again used a top-120 pick on a running back, trading up to do so. This doesn’t necessarily mean that the Rams don’t have confidence in Corum. However, it does mean that there is some awareness that the running back room needed something else. Having two guys with a similar skill set is great for depth, but in practice, the Rams needed something different.

8. Les Snead shows conviction on day three

Out of the four Rams draft picks on day three, Les Snead traded up for three of them. The Rams were originally set to have eight selection in the draft, and ended up with six. Said Snead after the draft,

“I think it was based on our roster, how the board was going and players that you really were convicted could come in and contribute, whatever the vision for the role was. It was starting to get thin so we said, ‘You know what? Instead of waiting and let the draft happen to you, let’s go attack the draft.’ When you do that, you have to give up some picks but we thought that was the more appropriate thing to do as this thing evolved over the course of the each round.”

After the Rams selected Hunter, ESPN’s Peter Schrager reported that following a zoom call with Hunter before the draft with Sean McVay and Sneed, they immediately said, “that’s our guy if he’s still there on day three.” The Rams moved up 10 spots to get him. They also moved up for Ty Hamilton and Chris Paul Jr. That type of conviction when it comes to this front office typically has ended well.

9. It was a long wait, but Rams got the right guy at linebacker

There was some optimism that if Campbell was available at the 26 that the Rams would take him because he was the best linebacker in the class. However, this is a Rams front office that doesn’t value the linebacker position. With each passing selection, that became more clear and it almost seemed like the Rams may not address the position at all.

With the 172nd overall pick, the Rams traded up for linebacker Chris Paul Jr. It was a great value pick that late in the draft. While Paul is undersized at just 222-pounds with 29-inch arms, he was a solid tackler and can hold his own in coverage. Paul fits in well with what the Rams target at linebacker from a traits standpoint. It was a long wait, but it’s hard not to be excited about this one.

10. Rams draft class not exciting, but matches current team build

The 2025 draft class wasn’t the most exciting one and probably won’t line up with the success of ‘23 or ‘24. However, the Rams were able to add some solid pieces. Everything Snead did over the weekend fits and lines up with where the current team build is right now.

Many looked at this draft as ‘how can these players get the Rams over the hump’. That’s likely not how the Rams viewed it. To expect a rookie to be the missing piece and get the Rams over the hump was always unrealistic. As mentioned earlier, this is a team that needed to supplement the current roster and fill future needs. That’s not to say that a rookie can’t have an impact. However, the current draft was more about 2026 than 2025 and that was the correct approach.