{"id":875294,"date":"2026-04-26T16:09:23","date_gmt":"2026-04-26T16:09:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/875294\/"},"modified":"2026-04-26T16:09:23","modified_gmt":"2026-04-26T16:09:23","slug":"rams-2026-nfl-draft-grades-full-breakdown-of-every-pick","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/875294\/","title":{"rendered":"Rams 2026 NFL Draft Grades: Full Breakdown of Every Pick"},"content":{"rendered":"<p id=\"inline-text-0\" class=\"mt-[18px] md:mt-0 mb-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6i\">The 2026 NFL Draft is officially in the books. Coming into the draft, the Rams didn\u2019t have many glaring needs and that\u2019s exactly how they approached it. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/nfl\/rams\/onsi\/rams-les-snead-super-bowl-window-draft\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">They certainly surprised the football world<\/a> when they selected Ty Simpson 13th overall. However, he gives them a future after Matthew Stafford.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-1\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6l\">Overall, the Rams made five selections. Let&#8217;s go through each pick and grade the selection.<\/p>\n<p>Round 1, 13th Overall &#8211; Ty Simpson, QB, Alabama<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-3\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6r\">Ty Simpson is largely considered the worst pick of the draft and that might be the case. However, if this works out, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/nfl\/rams\/onsi\/rams-draft-ty-simpson-13th-overall-2026-nfl-draft\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">in three years when Matthew Stafford potentially retires and Simpson looks good<\/a>, this will be seen as a great move.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-4\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6u\">By taking a quarterback now, the Rams give themselves flexibility at the trade deadline to move their 2027 first for a proven player if needed. Some will say that the 13th pick was too early, but if the Rams liked Simpson, quarterback is not a position to mess around with when it comes to value. This pick is going to need time, but you can see where the Rams were coming from with the selection. It may not be the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/7200670\/2026\/04\/23\/ty-simpson-rams-alabama-nfl-draft-pick-13-2026\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">\u2018win now\u2019 pick that some wanted<\/a>, but the Rams didn\u2019t need to make a \u2018win now\u2019 pick given the strength of the roster.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Round 2, 61st Overall &#8211; Max Klare, TE, Ohio State<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-7\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"73\">The Rams didn\u2019t come into the draft needing a tight end, but nobody would have been surprised had they taken Kenyon Sadiq in the first round. Klare signals that the Rams are planning on leaning into some of the 12 and 13 personnel packages that they found success with last year.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-8\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"76\">Coming into the draft, the Rams didn\u2019t have any glaring needs. That gave them the flexibility to approach it with next year in mind and prepare for players leaving and add depth with a best player available approach. Both Colby Parkinson and Davis Allen are on expiring contracts. Klare was in contention for the draft\u2019s top tight end before transferring to Ohio State.\u00a0If Klare works out, it might be the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/nfl\/rams\/onsi\/rams-max-klare-steal-day-2-nfl-draft\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">steal of the draft<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p>Round 3, 93rd Overall &#8211; Keagen Trost, OT, Missouri<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-11\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7f\">Coming into the draft, the Rams did have a need on the offensive line. While the starting five are firmly in place, four of them are in the final years of their contracts. Additionally, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/nfl\/rams\/onsi\/rams-keagen-trost-pick-warren-mcclendon-right-tackle\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">the Rams lacked depth <\/a>behind them. Trost may not be a future starter, but he is a high-floor player who can provide depth at four of the five positions.\u00a0Trost is an older prospect, but is a strong fit.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-13\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7l\">Round 6, 197th Overall &#8211; CJ Daniels, WR, Miami<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-14\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7o\">Outside of Simpson, Daniels may end up being the Rams\u2019 best pick of this draft. When we look at this class in five years, it\u2019s possible Daniels is seen as a home run pick. He may not be the next Puka Nacua, but <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/nfl\/rams\/onsi\/rams-cj-daniels-pick-konata-mumpfield-roster-bubble\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">he\u2019ll be able to compete with Konata Mumpfield<\/a> and add important depth at the wide receiver position.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-16\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7u\">Round 7, 232nd Overall &#8211; Tim Keenan III, DL, Alabama<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-17\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7x\">After being criticized for how they handled the first two days, the Rams finished the draft very strong. Selecting Keenan raises some questions about how the team views Ty Hamilton. However, he is a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/nfl\/rams\/onsi\/rams-draft-tim-keenan-final-pick-2026\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">prototypical nose tackle.<\/a> He doesn\u2019t add a lot as a pass rusher, but he does all of the dirty work in the middle of the defensive line.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-19\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"83\">Sign up to our<a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/nfl\/rams\/onsi\/newsletter\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"> free newsletter<\/a> and follow us on<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/LARamsOnSI\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"> Facebook<\/a>,<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/Rams_OnSI\" rel=\"nofollow\"> X<\/a> and<a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/bgmediaOnSi\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"> Instagram<\/a> for the latest news.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"22\" height=\"22\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/assets.minutemediacdn.com\/platform\/google_discover_icon.svg\" class=\"shrink-0\"\/>Add us as a preferred source on Google<a aria-label=\"Follow si.com on Google News\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=si.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" class=\"flex h-[30px] w-[30px] shrink-0 items-center justify-center rounded-full bg-primary font-group-large text-sm font-medium text-white transition-colors hover:bg-secondary focus:bg-secondary md:w-auto md:gap-2.5 md:px-4 md:py-[5px]\">Follow<\/a><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The 2026 NFL Draft is officially in the books. Coming into the draft, the Rams didn\u2019t have many&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":875295,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2079],"tags":[7,1014,58,2444,2611,6,424],"class_list":{"0":"post-875294","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles-rams","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-los-angeles","10":"tag-los-angeles-rams","11":"tag-losangeles","12":"tag-losangelesrams","13":"tag-nfl","14":"tag-rams"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116471882100213981","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/875294","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=875294"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/875294\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/875295"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=875294"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=875294"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=875294"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}