Turf Show Times
When do the Rams plan to take a quarterback, and more
After months of anticipation, the 2025 NFL Draft is only a week away. You’ve read countless mock drafts and wondered what decisions the Los Angeles Rams will make. Soon we will have answers and real picks to analyze.
These are the five questions I have for the Rams and what they are planning ahead of next week’s draft:
Matthew Stafford won’t be around forever. Even at times this offseason it was tough to see how the team would put the toothpaste back in the tube after allowing the veteran to meet with the New York Giants and Las Vegas Raiders. Sean McVay recently commented that the quarterback could retire as soon as next season.
So will the Rams use an early pick to get a young player in their building and groom them to take over as soon as 2026? Such a move would come with tradeoffs for a team that made a strong playoff run a year ago.
Or will LA simply kick the can down the road knowing that in a year they could bring back Jimmy Garoppolo or another veteran as a starter and figure things out until they are able to secure a more permanent solution.
This is one of the biggest questions looming over the franchise and their future success. There are no hopes of contention without a franchise QB under center, and that could result in wasted seasons in the career primes of Puka Nacua, Jared Verse, Braden Fiske, and others.
Corner is one of the few positions on the roster that could be immediately upgraded through the draft, and generally speaking most playoff teams only have a few holes on their depth charts. None of Darious Williams, Cobie Durant, Ahekllo Witherspoon, nor Derion Kendrick are guaranteed starting jobs or a spot on the roster in 2026.
In short, the Rams need to at least prepare for what seems to be sizeable turnover at corner next offseason. An early pick could also find a path to playing time sooner than later.
Does LA feel that they have plenty of options—sort of a quantity over quality approach—and that corner isn’t a pressing need in this draft?
Havenstein is 32 and will be 33 in time for the 2025 season. That’s not exactly old for a premier tackle in the NFL, though injuries seem to occur more frequently for him at this stage of his career. For reference, Trent Williams of the San Francisco 49ers is 36, Lane Johnson of the Philadelphia Eagles is 34.
The complicated aspect of this question is that Havenstein is slated to be a free agent in 2026. If the Rams want to bring him back, it would require a new contract across that starts...
