How Does Rams Draft Class Compare to NFC West Rivals?

The Los Angeles Rams have spent the last few seasons nailing their draft classes, turning a rebuilding team into a legitimate Super Bowl contender within three years. Their young roster has helped rejuvenate the franchise after a 5-12 season in 2022 that made many question their long-term prospects.

Head coach Sean McVay and general manager Les Snead have been the head of this turnaround and are hoping this year's draft class can present them another opportunity to push themselves deeper into the postseason. However, the NFC West remains competitive and the Rams division rivals offered some strong classes themselves.

Let's take a look at how the Rams compare to each division opponenet and whether they have the edge entering the season.

Arizona Cardinals

The Cardinals had about as solid of a rookie class as you'd want. They started out with talented defensive lineman Walter Nolen at No. 16 followed by blue-chip cornerback Will Johnson in the second round. It turned into a defensive-heavy draft for Arizona with six of their seven selections being defenders on all three levels.

I'm a fan of the Jordan Burch and Kitan Crawford choices. The Oregon edge rusher and Nevada defensive back should find themselves in roles fairly quickly while the Ohio State duo, linebacker Cody Simon and cornerback Denzel Burke provide depth at their respective positions. Overall, the Cardinals made their defense better and landed the second-best player in the draft in the second round.

The edge? Cardinals.

San Francisco 49ers

This draft was all over the place, which reaches and quality value choices scattered through the 49ers 11 selections. Mykel Williams will likely turn out into a great choice due to hie talent, ceiling, and being coached by high-end defensive coordinator Robert Saleh. Nose tackle Alfred Collins in the second round is a home-run choice and helps their run defense almost immediately.

Outside of that, the only good value selection was running back Jordan James, who could be a fun change-of-pace runner in Kyle Shanahan's offense behind Christian McCaffrey. As with a typical John Lynch draft class, there were a lot of reaches across the board, especially linebacker Nick Martin and wide receiver Jordan Watkins. We'll see how this plays out.

The edge? Rams.

Seattle Seahawks

I think it would be hard not to love what Seattle did in this draft. They needed a guard and got one of the meanest ones in North Dakota State's Grey Zabel in the first round. Nick Emmanwori is the chess piece that Mike Macdonald has been wanting on his defense while Elijah Arroyo could be a fantastic playmaking tight end for Sam Darnold.

The pick that intrigues me the most is Jalen Milroe, who lands in a perfect spot to succeed Darnold if things go side ways and if the former Alabama signal-caller can get his mechanics down-pat, he could be an outstanding dual threat in the NFL. Other Day 3 selections that stood out were wide receiver Tory Horton, running back Damien Martinez, and guard Bryce Cabeldue. This was a top-five draft class overall.

The edge? Seahawks.

The Verdict

The Rams draft class is by no means bad. They most of their choices will see the field early and often as rookies, but it is not as flashy and well-rounded as Seattle and even Arizona. Those two teams will be in serious contention for the division title or, at worst, a wild-card spot in the playoffs as all three teams mentioned got better.

Outside of their first two picks, the 49ers had one of the worst draft classes in the process and only time will tell if it works out for the better. I have a hard time seeing true improvement with the roster overall while the rest of the division got better. The Rams, the most well-rounded team in the division, enter the summer with a rock-solid group of rookies.