Rams Now Among Most Intriguing Teams for 2026 Draft

Now that the Los Angeles Rams have two first-round picks for next year, they are one of the most intriguing teams to think about in terms of the 2026 NFL Draft.

Sep 8, 2022; Inglewood, California, USA; Commissioner of the NFL Roger Goodell talks with Rams General Manager Les Snead before the game between the Los Angeles Rams and the Buffalo Bills at SoFi Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

The Los Angeles Rams may have won the first round of the draft without even selecting a player. They traded out of the first round completely with the Atlanta Falcons in exchange for their first-round pick next year, which is another example of a Les Snead masterclass.

Snead and Sean McVay are some of the best in the business when it comes to drafting well in later rounds, and now they have two first-round picks for next year. This makes the Rams one of the most intriguing teams for the 2026 NFL Draft.

For starters, although the Falcons shored up their defensive line in a year where they had to get players that could apply pressure to the quarterback, it isn't like Jalon Walker and James Pearce Jr. guarantee them a playoff spot.

They finished 8 - 9 and were second in the NFC South, which earned them the 15th overall pick this season. However, they were dealing with an up-and-down season from Kirk Cousins. Now that Michael Penix Jr. will be the full-time starter, they can convince themselves that they'll improve and win the division this year.

Yet, for the Rams, they can just as easily convince themselves that Penix Jr. will have difficulties getting adjusted to being a full-time starter in the NFL, and this could be a down year for the Falcons. Realistically, their pick could be anywhere from the top ten to the bottom twenty.

This isn't even taking into account the Rams' own first-round pick, which is also a wildcard. The Rams are in the midst of a window of Super Bowl contention, so at minimum, they're expecting to be drafting in the late twenties.

They were able to retain Matthew Stafford and sign Davante Adams for the next two years, which means that they have that time to go out and win a Super Bowl with their current core. Nevertheless, things don't always go as planned in the NFL, and a key injury could very well derail their season and Super Bowl aspirations.

Even if the worst-case scenario happens for the Rams next season and they suffer a key injury, they could potentially be looking at two high first-round picks next year. This gives them flexibility in either choosing to draft for the future if things don't work out, or going back to their roots and trading for a star player using those picks.

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