Rams Set to Make History in Sean McVay Era

LA is setting a new benchmark under its wunderkind head coach.

The Los Angeles Rams are set to make history by drafting a player in the first round for the first time in the Sean McVay era. Despite being tied for the fourth-longest tenure among active NFL head coaches, the Rams have yet to make a first-round draft pick since McVay took over in 2017.

At the beginning of McVay's tenure in 2017, the team did not have a first-round pick because they traded their first round pick the year prior after moving up in the draft to select Jared Goff first overall in 2016. Goff went on to play five seasons with the Rams before he was traded to the Detroit Lions.

The following season, the Rams kicked off their strategy of acquiring talented players through trades and free agency instead of with top draft picks. They traded their first-round pick to acquire wide receiver Brandin Cooks in 2018 from the New England Patriots, who helped them on their Super Bowl run the next season when they lost to the Patriots.

In 2019, the Rams traded back to acquire more picks later in the draft, before trading away their next two first-round picks to bring in All-Pro cornerback Jalen Ramsey. They would repeat this move in 2021, trading two first-round picks to trade for another player, former Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford.

While the trades for Stafford and Ramsey cost the Rams a total of four first-round picks, they paid off. The Rams went on to win the Super Bowl in the 2021-2022 season in their first season with Stafford, and the first Super Bowl for the Rams since the turn of the century.

The other factor that made this strategy successful was the Rams' ability to hit on their mid-late-round draft picks. Players picked in the second round or later like Gerald Everett, Cooper Kupp, Taylor Rapp, Kyren Williams, Kobie Turner and Puka Nacua have all made significant impacts on the team and helped them since McVay took over. While the flashy players they traded for or brought in through free agency were expected contributors to the Rams' recent success, these late additions were the under-the-radar moves that made this all work.

As long as the Rams don't trade out of the first round, the Rams will shift away from completely relying on this strategy on Thursday. Now, the Rams will look to hit on their first first-round pick since taking Goff first overall.

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