Three final bold Los Angeles Rams Predictions for the 2026 NFL draft as priorities and draft plans begin to take shape
Nobody knows what the Los Angeles Rams will do in the 2026 NFL Draft, but based on the tea leaves, I have a few predictions on what will happen.
Nobody knows what the Los Angeles Rams will truly do in the NFL Draft. They are a true wildcard team (Les Snead prefers the term “Maverick”, I suspect). Truthfully, their draft plans could go a multitude of ways, and none of them would overly surprise me.
However, I love a challenge. I did my best to channel Doctor Strange and find the one pathway the Rams will take in the upcoming 2026 NFL Draft. Here are my bold predictions for the team’s draft plans.
1. The Los Angeles Rams won’t draft a quarterback
Everyone in the world has repeatedly connected the Rams to a quarterback this year. More specifically, Ty Simpson has been the talk of every rumor. It’s never made sense to me logically, and never matched up with what the Rams said or did.
Now, the team is giving Matthew Stafford a true multi-year extension and have made their intentions clear to have an experienced backup quarterback who can keep the offense afloat if Stafford misses time. Stetson Bennett isn’t sniffing the QB2 job, and his experience in the system will give him a leg up on any rookie in camp for the QB3 job.
Unless Bennett is on the way out or the Rams simply cannot find any way to add an experienced quarterback elsewhere, there’s just no room in the room for one beyond a UDFA camp arm.
IF they do, I imagine it would be purely for an upside dart throw like Arkansas’s Taylen Green or Penn State’s Drew Allar. However, they don’t currently pick in rounds four or five, where Green are projected to be selected. Any later than that and there’s no point in drafting any quarterback left on the board.
The Rams have been linked to quarterbacks year after year and McVay has drafted ONE. I have a hard time seeing that change in objectively one of the worst quarterback classes I have evaluated in my decade and a half years of experience.
2. The Los Angeles Rams WILL select an offensive lineman in the first two rounds
There’s a lot of pushback from Rams fans about selecting an offensive tackle. I think that’s silly, as both of their starting tackles are closer to replacement level than quality starter. Their subpar play down the stretch was part of why the Rams weren’t in the Super Bowl to begin with. In a Super Bowl window, keeping Matthew Stafford upright and healthy is the top concern.
Additionally, FOUR offensive linemen are pending free agents following the 2026 season. Left tackle Alaric Jackson also runs out of guaranteed money and could be moved as well, leaving potential turnover at every spot. Steve Avila will likely get extended, but can the Rams afford to pay everyone in the room? Unlikely.
This offensive tackle class has plenty of options to upgrade from Warren McClendon and Alaric Jackson, and they’ve already been meeting with some of them. It feels inevitable to happen.
3. The Los Angeles Rams WILL draft Pitt LB Kyle Louis
In my final mock draft, I wrote that Kyle Louis is the player I am most confident will end up a Los Angeles Ram. I think there are too many signs pointing to him as one of their picks.
They sent a senior personnel executive to meet with him personally at Pitt’s Pro Day, and that meeting was extensive and evidently positive. They’ve met with multiple “coverage” linebackers in the draft process. Chris Shula is evidently looking to expand the Rams’ versatility defensively, something that fits Kyle Louis’ game to a T with his hybrid safety/nickel/linebacker skill set. He checks off their boxes from an intangibles standpoint as well.
Lock me in here for this one.
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