Los Angeles Rams Top-200 2026 NFL Draft Defensive Big Board: Rams can complete defensive rebuild across the NFL Draft
The Los Angeles Rams have all the options in the world to finalize their defensive rebuild across the 2026 NFL Draft.
With the 2026 NFL Draft rapidly approaching, the Los Angeles Rams are finalizing their own draft board. This draft is a critical one to add difference makers for the present and future and fill out the depth of the team. With Super Bowl LX on everyone’s mind, this draft is critical.
While we won’t ever know the Rams’ full board, I decided to take a stab at making my own based on their needs and preferences. I’ve split this up into offensive and defensive big boards, for readability’s sake.
Los Angeles Rams Top Defensive Big Board
The idea of the horizontal board is simple: quantify how good the players are by matching them up with the needs of the team. Instead of simply ranking players, you put them on the board based on where you would take them in the draft.
It helps fans, analysts, and teams quantify whether a player is going to be worth a selection at a certain spot in the draft. For example,
I broke down the board based on a few tiers. The Rams’ picks are all far apart from each other, creating a diverse range there, especially early. Thus, I decided to break it down based on each specific pick.
| Tier | DT | EDGE | LB | CB | S | K | P |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Out of Reach | David Bailey |
Arvell Reese Sonny Styles |
Caleb Downs |
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| Trade Up #13 | Mansoor Delane |
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| Pick #13 | Rueben Bain Keldric Faulk |
Dillon Thieneman |
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| Trade Down #13 | Peter Woods Kayden McDonald |
Cashius Howell R Mason Thomas TJ Parker Malachi Lawrence Ahkeem Mesidor Zion Young |
Jermod McCoy Avieon Terrell Chris Johnson Colton Hood |
Emmanuel McNeil-Warren |
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| Trade Up 61 | Caleb Banks Christen Miller Domonique Orange |
Jaishawn Barham Dani Dennis-Sutton Gabe Jacas |
CJ Allen Josiah Trotter Jacob Rodriguez |
Treydan Stukes D'Angelo Ponds |
AJ Haulcy |
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| Pick #61 | Gracen Halton |
Jake Golday |
Keith Abney II Devin Moore |
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| Trade Up #93 | Kaleb Proctor Tyler Onyedim |
Keyron Crawford Derrick Moore |
Keyshaun Elliott |
Julian Neal Davison Igbinosun |
Bud Clark Keionte Scott Kamari Ramsey |
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| Pick #93 | Lee Hunter |
Joshua Josephs |
Justin Jefferson Kyle Louis Kaleb Elarms-Orr Bryce Boettcher Anthony Hill Jr. |
Chandler Rivers Ephesians Prysock Brandon Cisse Charles Demmings Daylen Everette |
Dalton Johnson Zakee Wheatley Genesis Smith VJ Payne |
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| Round 4 | Albert Regis Nick Barrett Zane Durant Landon Robinson |
Romello Height Mason Reiger LT Overton |
Aiden Fisher Jimmy Rolder |
Jadon Canady TJ Hall Malik Muhammad Hezekiah Masses |
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| Round 5 | Darrell Jackson Bryson Eason Cameron Ball Chris McClellan DeMonte Capehart |
Nadame Tucker Max Llewellyn Anthony Lucas Caden Curry |
Red Murdock Harold Perkins Kendal Daniels Jaden Dugger Jack Kelly Taurean York |
Will Lee III Brent Austin Devon Marshall Avery Smith Tacario Davis Collin Wright Latrell McCutchin |
Jalen Kilgore Jakobe Thomas Robert Spears-Jennings DeShon Singleton Michael Taaffe |
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| Round 6 | Rayshaun Benny Jackie Marshall Rene Konga Anterio Thompson David Gusta Jordan van den Berg Aaron Graves |
Wesley Williams George Gumbs Quintayvious Hutchins Jack Pyburn Michael Heldman Vincent Anthony II Aidan Hubbard Nyjalik Kelly Cian Slone Keyshawn James-Newby |
Wade Woodaz Namdi Obiazor Deontae Lawson Jackson Kuwatch Eric Gentry Lander Barton Ernest Hausmann Xavian Sorey Jr. Karson Sharar |
Thaddeus Dixon Ahmari Harvey Andre Fuller Domani Jackson Toriano Pride Jr. Al'Zillion Hamilton |
Jalen Huskey Louis Moore Bishop FItzgerald |
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| UDFA | Tim Keenan III Brandon Cleveland Damonic Williams James Thompson Jr. Skyler Gill-Howard Dontay Corleone Gary Smith III Zxavian Harris Aaron Hall David Blay Jr. Uar Bernard Keeshawn Silver Kevin Jobity Jr. Alonzo Ford Jr. Dominic Bailey Zaylin Wood Cole Brevard |
Mikhail Kamara Tyreak Sapp Tyre West Logan Fano Marvin Jones Jr. Trey Moore Khordae Sydnor Patrick Payton Ethan Burke Darryl Peterson TJ Guy Corey Walker Korey Foreman |
Jack Dingle West Weeks Shad Banks Jr. Wesley Bissainthe Scooby Williams Khalil Jacobs Treylin Payne |
Ceyair Wright Marcus Allen Lorenzo Styles Tyreek Chappell Jaylon Guilbeau Devonta Smith Ricardo Hallman Jeadyn Lukus Rodney Shelley Kolbey Taylor |
Skyler Thomas Xavier Nwankpa Ahmaad Moses Austin Brown Kapena Gushiken Cole Wisniewski Miles Scott Larry Worth III Clayton Powell-Lee Duce Chestnut Jalen Catalon |
A few takeaways on my defensive horizontal board:
- Defensive Tackle is RAIL thin at the top of the NFL Draft, but it rebounds with a solid crop later in the draft. I believe the Rams will be interested in one at some point, so this matches with their current capital.
- I have a gut feeling the Rams will take an edge rusher at some point in the draft. Fortunately, this position is stacked across the board except right at the top. Gut feeling is I think Auburn’s Keyron Crawford is a player they’ll really like.
- The Rams have met with far too many linebackers for the smoke to not be real. In my bold predictions piece, I locked it in that they will draft Pitt LB Kyle Louis, and I’m standing by it.
- LA has done a great job adding their starting cornerback duo, but I’d be surprised if they come out of the draft without another addition there. They should look to add an outside presence to compete with Emmanuel Forbes.
- I think the Rams are likely done at safety with Kam Curl, Quentin Lake, and Kamren Kinchens all under contract. However, they’ve met with a few versatile pieces pre-draft, so never say never.
Special Teams Rankings
Finally, I accidentally left off kickers and punters on my earlier big board. Since it isn’t my specialty, I enlisted a good buddy of mine and special teams expert Alex Katson from Wide Left to help give the top names the Rams should look for.
| Kicker | Punter |
| Trey Smack, Florida | Brett Thorson, Georgia |
| Dominic Zvada, Michigan | Jack Stonehouse, Syracuse |
| Drew Stevens, Iowa | Tommy Doman, Florida |
| Kansei Matsuzawa, Hawaii | Ryan Eckley, Michigan State |
| Laith Marjan, Kansas | Jeff Yurk, Elon |
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