Rams GM Les Snead seeks difference makers in Day 2 of NFL draft
The Los Angeles Rams did not have a draft selection in the first round, trading that pick in a deal that brought Jalen Ramsey from Jacksonville to the West Coast.
The Rams have not had a selection in the first round since taking Jared Goff No. 1 overall in the 2016 draft. But you can’t argue with the results, as the Rams have made the playoff three of the last four years, including a Super Bowl appearance after the 2018 season.
On social media, the Rams posted a picture of Ramsey on the stage with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell when the Jaguars selected Clemson running back Travis Etienne with the No. 25 overall pick on Thursday.
“We will have fun every now and then, and go, ‘Okay, if we were picking, who would we pick?’” Rams GM Les Snead said. “So, we do. We have done that the last couple of years for sure.”
Snead would not divulge who the Rams would have selected had they still had the pick.
Speaking of Snead, he will run the draft for the Rams from his Malibu home after he received word his test came back positive for COVID-19 on Thursday. Snead and head coach Sean McVay came in close contact with a Rams’ staffer who tested positive for COVID earlier this week.
Snead said he felt a bit under the weather after being exposed to the virus earlier this week, but overall he’s in good spirits. McVay tested negative for COVID. Snead said he received the first shot of the COVID-19 vaccine earlier this month but will not hold off to get the second shot until he’s healthy.
Responding to an ESPN report that the Rams had reached out to Green Bay to see if the team would trade Aaron Rodgers in January, Snead would not confirm that report.
“No. I think that was kind of a little bit rumor-ish, back kind of when that carousal was going on,” Snead said. “So, we were never serious contenders in that play.”
The Rams, of course, traded Jared Goff for Matthew Stafford back in February.
With the draft starting in earnest for the Rams on Friday, L.A. holds the No. 57 pick in the second round, along with the No. 88 and No. 104 pick in the third round.
Snead said the Rams’ draft board is set, and they will be prepared for multiple scenarios at No. 57, with a cluster of players his team would like to draft, along with the potential to trade back for more picks.
However, Snead said historically teams are interested in trading back up at the end of the third round to grab a player they like, so perhaps the Rams’ second, third-round pick at No. 103 will be in play for a trade-back scenario.
The Rams have six selections overall in this year's draft, and would like to have more picks.
“That’s usually a busy area as well when you’re picking in the late third,” Snead said. “Sometimes it’s wild, we’ll be on the phone and it’s just -- you don’t have enough phones to answer and then sometimes it's quiet.
“So, it probably depends on who falls, but the second and third round there is usually still some pretty salty players on the board that people want to move up and get.”
