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Rams Continue to Win Without First-Round Draft Picks

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Craig Ellenport | Last updated Jan 11, 2026 7:08 PM ET

After the Los Angeles Rams survived a back-and-forth wild-card game Saturday against the Carolina Panthers, Sean McVay’s team has advanced to the divisional round of the playoffs for the fifth time in the last eight years. Two of those postseason runs ended in the Super Bowl, losing to the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LIII and then beating the Cincinnati Bengals in Super Bowl LVI. One of the most impressive aspects of the Rams’ run of success is that they’ve done it with a paucity of first-round draft picks.

Star quarterback and leading MVP candidate Matthew Stafford was the No. 1 overall pick in 2009, but of course that was with the Detroit Lions. When the Rams acquired Stafford in 2021, they sent Jared Goff to the Lions along with a pair of first-round picks (2022, 2023). But the Rams were already comfortable giving away first-round picks by that point.

In fact, after making Goff the No. 1 overall pick in 2018, the Rams went on a streak of seven straight years without a first-round pick. The only player on the roster that was drafted by the Rams in the first round is linebacker Jared Verse, who was the 19th overall pick in the 2024 draft. Verse would reward the Rams for making that pick by earning Defensive Rookie of the Year honors.

Still, it’s a bunch of day three draft picks that have helped the Rams advance in the playoffs.

ONTO THE DIVISIONAL ROUND! pic.twitter.com/rqb8RvXRo4
— Los Angeles Rams (@RamsNFL) January 11, 2026

Puka Nacua, who scored the first two touchdowns in the Rams’ 34-31 win over the Panthers, was a fifth-round pick out of BYU in 2023. Kyren Williams, who caught one of Stafford’s three TD passes in the game, was a fifth-round pick in 2022. Starting cornerback Cobie Durant, who had an interception of Bryce Young, was a fourth-round pick in 2022 from South Carolina State.

Even key contributors whom the Rams had acquired in free agency were not first-day draftees. Tight end Colby Parkinson, who caught the game-winning touchdown in Carolina, was a fourth-round pick of the Seattle Seahawks. Starting nose tackle Poona Ford, who had one of the Rams’ two sacks Saturday, was undrafted when he began his career in Seattle in 2018.

Even after Verse’s success last season, general manager Les Snead continued his aversion to making first-round picks. The Rams’ traded their first-round pick in the 2025 draft to the Atlanta Falcons (who used the pick to select linebacker James Pearce).

Here’s where it gets interesting, though: Because of that trade, the Rams currently have two first-round picks in the 2026 draft. Their own pick will be no higher than 25th, but they’ll also have the Falcons pick, which is 13th overall.

Whether he makes both of those picks, packages them to trade up for Stafford’s eventual successor at QB, or trades out of the first round again, Snead’s excellent drafting has the Rams in a great position.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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