Nacua, Donald and Youngblood are all the best players ever picked at their respective draft slots

The Rams have drafted some of the greatest players in NFL history, going all the way back to 1971 when they selected Jack Youngblood 20th overall. He went on to play his entire career in Los Angeles, earning five All-Pro selections, seven Pro Bowl nods and eventually being named to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Youngblood is hardly the only legend picked by the Rams, of course. ESPN’s recent exercise shows just how much success the franchise has had in the draft. NFL analyst Ben Solak highlighted the best player ever selected at each draft slot from No. 1 to 262 and seven Rams picks were mentioned.

Among them were Aaron Donald (of course) and surprisingly, Puka Nacua. Nacua is only entering his third year in the NFL but Solak believes he’s already the best player ever selected at No. 177 overall.

13. DT Aaron Donald (2014)

20. DE Jack Youngblood (1971)

113. DE Kevin Greene (1985)

141. OT Fred Miller (1996)

177. WR Puka Nacua (2023)

250. QB Ryan Fitzpatrick (2005)

251. LB Scott Shanle (2003)

Donald would seem like an incredibly obvious pick as the best player at his draft slot but he had some competition from Hall of Fame tight end Tony Gonzalez, who was also selected 13th overall.

Here’s what Solak wrote about picking Donald over Gonzalez.

Donald was actually not the slam dunk that I thought he would be here, as Tony Gonzalez — owner of just about every career tight end production record you can think of — put up a good fight. As it is, Donald played 10 seasons and made eight first-team All-Pros, which is about as dominant as dominant gets. His 20.5 sacks in 2018 remains a towering, almost unachievable figure for a defensive tackle.

Youngblood also wasn’t a slam dunk at No. 20 because legendary Broncos safety Steve Atwater was also selected at that spot. Solak says he “flip-flopped on this one for a while,” going back and forth on Youngblood and Atwater.

There were a couple of other former Rams also on the list, but they weren’t selected by L.A./St. Louis. Andrew Whitworth got the nod at No. 55 overall, where he was picked by the Cincinnati Bengals out of LSU.

And at No. 59, former Rams DB Aeneas Williams was Solak’s selection, going with the former Cardinals draft pick as the obvious choice at that spot.

Williams’ 55 career picks has him in the top 20 of all time, and he made eight Pro Bowls — seven as a corner and one as a safety, speaking to his versatility. He’s the lone Hall of Famer here without much competition, so an easy selection for me.

The Rams were well-represented on the list and rightfully so. Their draft history is as good as any franchise’s and they could soon have some other all-time greats if Jared Verse, Kobie Turner and Nacua continue on their current trajectory.

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