Turf Show Times
The two things that have been abundantly clear about the immediate impact of the 2025 draft on the Rams are that their first pick is a healthy scratch and the tackles that they passed on to trade down would be upgrades over their current starters and probably long-term solutions for years to come. Josh Simmons was one of the players consistently mocked to the Rams before the draft — maybe the most popular mock pick for L.A. all year — but they opted to trade down with the Falcons instead.
On the bright side, the Rams have two first round picks next year. On the other hand, aren’t they just going to need to draft a tackle anyway? If that player isn’t as good as Simmons, someone who has been standing out for the Kansas City Chiefs at left tackle already, it’s a decision that could haunt L.A. unless they make amends with both their next first round pick and have an eventual emergence of Terrance Ferguson.
Do you think the Rams should have drafted Simmons and do you want them to prioritize offensive line help in the first round next year over every other position?
The Rams were picking 26th, but accepted Atlanta’s trade over to move down to 46 because Les Snead acquired the Falcons first round pick in 2026. That’s great, although right now the Falcons are 2-2 and that pick could really be anything; Atlanta’s been the least consistent team in the NFL, beating two 2024 playoff teams but also losing 30-0 to the PANTHERS.
The Falcons traded up to get edge rusher James Pearce, someone who the Rams most certainly weren’t targeting, but they still passed on 20 prospects by moving down. Among them were three offensive linemen:
The fact that the Rams drafted Ferguson right ahead of tackle Aireontae Ersery going to the Texans signifies that maybe Snead never really had his eye on Conerly or Simmons. That doesn’t mean he shouldn’t have though.
Simmons is drawing a lot of early season hype as a huge steal for the Kansas City Chiefs, but Conerly has held his own as Washington’s right tackle. That’s a good rookie first round tackle for either end of the offensive line, which the Rams may have been able to use to supplant over-the-hill veteran Rob Havenstein, in-and-out left tackle A.J. Jackson, or simply slid someone inside to address a need at guard. If the Rams have one of the worst offensive lines in the NFL, as some have speculated, certainly Conerly or Simmons could not have hurt.
(Savaiinaea has been widely panned, but to be fair he’s 21 and plays for an awful team.)
Now all of this conversation could be tabled if the Rams had drafted Tyler Warren or Emeka Egbuka — or maybe even Jaxson Dart as a player for the future — (none of...
