Philly Front Office

“Fuck them picks” read the shirt famously worn by Rams GM Les Snead at the Rams Super Bowl parade a few years ago. Before new Philly Enemy #1 Jared Verse was drafted this year, the Rams last first round pick was Jared Goff in 2016. That’s pretty crazy. So, if it wasn’t the first round, where did all these guys come from?

Trade

The shirt was mainly about trading for Matt Stafford. In 2021 the Rams sent Jared Goff, a 3rd round pick in the 2021 draft and 2022 and 2023 first rounders to the Lions for Stafford. The Rams won the Super Bowl and the Lions ended up with a starting QB, WR, RB, and TE out of the deal. Both are still in the playoffs. This seems to have worked out for everyone. You would think there would be more guys on this team acquired via trade, but the starters list is limited to just Stafford and right guard Kevin Dotson.

Wait, so where did all their picks go? Well, they traded a few back in the day to move up in the draft to pick Goff #1 overall (remember that draft???). They traded another first for Brandon Cooks, 2 more Jalen Ramsey, and simply traded out of pick #31 another year. Nearly the whole team the Eagles will face on Sunday was acquired via the draft, just not in the first round.

Draft

Despite the shirt, it isn’t like the Rams haven’t drafted anyone. Quite the opposite. The Rams have been one of the savvier drafting teams in the league the last few years and it allowed them to rebuild fairly quickly after they sank post-Super Bowl and after losing Aaron Donald to an early retirement. Despite having less access to top end talent, there is one advantage to not drafting in the first round: money. First round picks can make more than double that of second rounders (and exponentially more than everyone else. Bill Belichick always liked to trade out of the first round because he believed there wasn’t much difference in talent between late first rounders and second rounders, so why not go for the cheaper option? The Rams have used this to their advantage, allowing them to effectively manage the $36m in dead money they have on their books (mostly to Aaron Donald) this season.

On offense, the Rams boast 8 homegrown starters drafted outside the first round (or signed as undrafted free agents): RB Kyren Williams (5th), WR Puka Nacua (5th), WR Cooper Kupp (3rd), TE Tyler Higbee (4th), LT Aleric Jackson (UD), G Steve Avila (2nd), C Beaux Limmer (6th), and RT Rob Havenstein (2nd). In fact, Matt Stafford is the only Rams offensive starter drafted in the first round. For comparison, the Eagles have 5 with 5 others drafted in the second round.

On defense, they have a still impressive 7 homegrown starters drafted after the first round (or signed as undrafted free agents): DT Braden Fiske (2nd), NT Bobby Brown III (4th), DE Kobie Turner (3rd), LB Byron Young (3rd), LB Christian Rozeboom (UD), LB Omar Speights (UD), and S Kamren Kinchens (3rd). Jared Verse is the only first round starter. It should be mentioned that all of their specialists are home grown as well with a 6th round pick as the highest investment. The Eagles have 7 homegrown starters on defense (8 if you count Cooper DeJean (9 if you count Nakobe Dean)) but only 3 Georgia boys and Quinyon Mitchell were drafted in the first round.

Free Agency

Despite Los Angeles being an attractive free agent market, this Rams team has only worked the fringes in their signings of WR Demarcus Robinson and DBs Karen Curl and Ahkello Witherspoon. This is more by circumstance than philosophy though. The Rams were an expensive roster for years. Aaron Donald’s retirement and everyone who went elsewhere after the Super Bowl left the team with huge dead money figures. They just did not have the resources to play in the deep end of free agency. This will all change next season though as they will have significant cap space for the first time in years. Though it all hinges on Stafford, this team is ascending rather than on its last legs.

Just because the Rams do not have many first round picks playing on Sunday does not mean they do not have talent. They have one of the top receiving duos in the league and coaches who know how to get the best out of everyone. Despite the Eagles gashing them a few weeks ago, the Rams’ defense just pulverized the Vikings. It should be a good game on Sunday, but GO BIRDS!!!