Turf Show Times
Over the past few seasons, the Los Angeles Rams have dominated the draft, finding players like Jared Verse, Kobie Turner, and Puka Nacua among others. These are all players that the Rams will be able to build around moving forward.
While the Rams have experienced a lot of immediate production from draft classes in recent years, that hasn’t been the case with the 2025 class. As I wrote prior to the draft,
“This is no longer a team building a roster, but rather one trying to supplement a roster. To be clear, this isn’t to say that the Rams don’t need impactful contributors…At the same time, it’s not the primary goal overall and this isn’t a class where teams are going to find four or five immediate starters like the last two years…Instead of looking for a player that can come in and start right away, the focus might shift to a player that can provide immediate depth and then take over in a year.”
That’s generally exactly what the Rams have gotten out of their current draft class. Their highest draft pick has been inactive in two games and there best contributors have been contributing depth. Here’s a breakdown of the Rams 2025 draft class:
Earlier this week, Dane Brugler of The Athletic put out his “All-Rookie Team” after four games. This isn’t necessarily a true All-Rookie team, but rather a check-in after four games of which rookie or making immediate contributions. The only Rams player mentioned in the article was linebacker Shaun Dolac who has played solely on special teams. Dolac has been the sixth-highest graded special teams player this season via Pro Football Focus.
With that said, Josaiah Stewart was likely a snub on Brugler’s list. While it certainly wasn’t intended and there are a lot of worthy players, Stewart has been the best Rams draft pick from the 2025 class. He’s been an important depth piece behind Jared Verse and Byron Young as the third edge rusher. Stewart has taken on some of the Michael Hoecht things as the Rams line him up as the wide 9 and also over the center in the “joker” role, dropping him into coverage.
It may only be 13 coverage snaps, but Stewart has the fifth-highest coverage grade via PFF. According to PFF’s pass rush productivity metric, Stewart is tied for second with Abdul Carter and behind only James Pearce Jr. He’s one of 14 rookie defensive linemen and edge rushers with five or more pressures. In true pass sets, Stewart has a win rate of 13.6 percent...
