One of the biggest decisions the Los Angeles Rams will have to make soon is what to do with their aging QB, Matthew Stafford. Could the Rams find his replacement in the 2025 NFL Draft? They might be able to. Beyond Stafford, the Rams do have some other long-term needs, and even though they project to be very good in the 2024 NFL Season, the work is never done for GM Les Snead.
The LA Rams have several other long-term needs beyond QB as we slowly but surely approach the 2025 NFL Draft. In this Rams mock draft, can the team find a replacement for QB Matthew Stafford and also build for the future at other positions?
Rams 2025 NFL mock draft: Will the Matthew Stafford era come to an end?
There is plenty of speculation over the future of the LA Rams relationship with QB Matthew Stafford. Stafford has gone record to state that he feels like he has more years of NFL-caliber play left in him. But even if the Rams agree that 2025 will feature Stafford under center, the team has to plan for post-Stafford life, right?
While we know that the Rams picks for the 2025 NFL Draft are not decided yet, we have gone with the consensus of when those picks will likely fall.
The picks that the Rams have in the 2024 NFL Draft were taken from the PFN Mock Draft Simulator, which is what I used to complete this mock draft. This simulator projected where the LA Rams may finish during the 2024 NFL Season, so that is why the Rams are picking where they are in this NFL mock draft. No comp pick in Round 3 is included in this mock draft (although it will be valuable indeed on draft day!)
17th Overall Pick - Shedeur Sanders, QB, Colorado
WOW! I am just shocked that Shedeur Sanders fell this low to the Los Angeles Rams at pick 17, and frankly, Matthew Stafford would have to understand why LA made this move, right? It's hard to pass up on Sanders, who is a legitimate first-round QB. For all the unwanted attention that his father and school bring, Sanders is a very good collegiate player.
There is also this report from the 2024 NFL Draft:
For all who think the Broncos could have traded down and still gotten Bo Nix … @chad_reuter of @NFLMedia says, “No,” that wouldn’t have worked.
Why? Because the Rams wanted Nix.
"The Rams were taking Nix at 19. Absolutely, if he was available,” Reuter told @CecilLammey & me. pic.twitter.com/SHxQxEdZSw— Andrew Mason (@MaseDenver) May 2, 2024
The LA Rams may already be thinking about life after Stafford, so the 2025 NFL Draft could be a good spot to make a move like this.
81st Overall Pick - Josh Simmons, OT, Ohio State
The LA Rams may also need a new left and right tackle. Josh Simmons from Ohio State has played both tackle positions, so whether they want to put him at RT to eventually replace Rob Havenstein, or put him at LT because Alaric Jackson doesn't continue to develop will be up to them. It is always appropriate to keep investing into the trenches.
The Rams have done that quite well over the last two offseasons with players like Jackson, Steve Avila, Jonah Jackson, Braden Fiske, Jared Verse, and others. There is no reason to stop this trend, either.
114th Overall Pick - Caullin Lacy, WR, Louisville
The Los Angeles Rams may also need to invest big-time in the WR room for the long-term, as there may not be much else at WR when Cooper Kupp and Demarcus Robinson are inevitably not in the picture. Both Kupp and Robinson are getting old, but you do have to consider stud WR Puka Nacua.
Tutu Atwell may also end up being a guy for the Rams, but there is still clearly a need for another body in this room. The Rams could turn to WR Caullin Lacy from Louisville with the 114th overall pick. In 2023, Lacy hauled in 91 receptions for 1,316 yards and seven touchdowns.
He's already caught 201 passes in his collegiate career, so he's seen a ton of work thus far.
176th Overall Pick - Kolbey Taylor, CB, Vanderbilt
Kolbey Taylor is a long and rangey cornerback who is a transfer from Wyoming and will play for Vanderbilt in the 2024 season. He's played in just 19 games over his first three years in college and has just seven defended passes, so he simply needs to put more tape on film, but the size is there. The Rams figure to start Tre White and Darious Williams at CB for 2024.
The secondary overall is all of a sudden very deep, but there is not a ton of young talent in this room. GM Les Snead clearly rebuilt this unit for the short-term, but should still have some eyes on the long-term here. The NFL is a pass-first league as we know, so continuing to invest in the backend of the defense in free agency and the NFL Draft is a very wise decision.
179th Overall Pick - Robert Longerbeam, CB, Rutgers
Robert Longerbeam, another cornerback, will cap-off this Rams 2025 NFL mock draft. Longerbeam has a knack for the football. He's got 26 passes defended over his last three seasons with Rutgers. He's also not afraid to get a bit dirty, as he's got 109 total tackles as well.
He's added five forced fumbles, three tackles for loss, two sacks, and three interceptions in his colleagiate career, so as a pro, he could fill up the stat sheet as a do-it-all DB for the Los Angeles Rams, and them doubling down at this position makes sense based on what I laid out in the previous pick.
Would this Los Angeles Rams 2025 NFL mock draft put the team on the right path forward to have some long-term success?
