Why Undrafted Free Agents Are Critical For the Rams

The Los Angeles Rams have two Super Bowls off the shoulders of UDFA players

Feb 6, 2025; New Orleans, LA, USA; Kurt Warner and his wife Brenda Warner on the red carpet before Super Bowl LIX NFL Honors at Saenger Theatre. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

There are more undrafted players in the Pro Football Hall of Fame than there are first overall picks. NFL Hall of Famer John Randle, undrafted out of Texas A&M-Kingsville back in 1990, reminded us of that.

My friendly reminder that you don’t need to be drafted to earn one of these! 💛😈 pic.twitter.com/sohUBNydvD

— john randle (@johnnyrandle93) April 25, 2025

Randle and his regulators with the Minnesota Vikings were one of the most feared defensive lines of the 90s.

The history of the NFL has been painted by men who never heard their names called in the draft, men who have played a critical role in championship efforts, locker room unity, and men who have gone on to perpetuate the game in a positive way to the world and to their communities.

The Rams have a long and proud tradition of undrafted free agents. In both of the Rams' Super Bowl victories, they had at least one UDFA in their starting lineup and more in the rotation.

Two-time NFL MVP and Super Bowl XXXIV MVP Kurt Warner exemplifies that list.

In 2024, the Rams, in the midst of a continued rebuild, stacked their roster with undrafted free agent rookies. Rookies who came through in the clutch. The two most notable names were Omar Speights and Jaylen McCollough, two players that continue to produce for Los Angeles.

Speights ended up taking the starting job from Troy Reeder (another UDFA signed by the Rams out of college) after Reeder got injured, and Speights' presence and play helped the Rams take off.

Speights was paired with another Rams signed UDFA Christian Rozeboom.

Jaylen McCollough was a savage in coverage for the Rams, hauling in four interceptions, taking one to the house.

McCollough played a crucial role in the Rams' season-defining win against the Las Vegas Raiders. Sitting at 1-4, a loss would have essentially ended the Rams' season. McCollough intercepted the Raiders twice, including the game winner as the Rams came away with four turnovers in the victory. Four days later they upset the Minnesota Vikings, leading to a successful 2024 season.

Josh Wallace and Justin Dedich provided some valuable play while Alaric Jackson, Michael Hoecht, and Xavier Smith, three other non-rookie UDFA's, made game-saving performances last season.

The value that undrafted free agents provide greatly outweighs their contract. They're the hard workers, energy guys. When they step on the field, make no mistake, it's clear that they earned that opportunity as teams look for every reason not to give them it.

When UDFA's play good, it's infectious. Why? It's the energy they bring. Everyone buys into it, and when you have the top stars playing with the same desire that the players who are scratching and crawling for their opportunities do, that creates a unit of ferocious beasts that are hard to defeat.

Undrafted free agents do not play in the NFL because they love football; they do it because they love their families as much as they love football, and football provides. At every turn, something is trying to take their meal, and they will not have food taken from their family's plate. When first-round players adopt that attitude, goodness.

When they don't. Let's not go down that road. UDFA players are critical to winning efforts, providing things that analytics are not able to measure.

Don't believe it? Look at the Rams's defense with Omar Speights. Look at them without him. Nuff said.

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