Each day leading up to the 2026 NFL Draft — April 23-25 — TeamFB7 will break down a different team’s biggest draft need and the best selection to address it. Granted, teams will most often use their first-round pick on the best available player/value and not necessarily always their biggest need, so this isn’t going to compile together into a mock draft in the end. It’s more a breakdown of how each team could best address its most paramount priority if it chooses.
The Los Angeles Rams are the early betting favorite to win the Super Bowl next season with +750 odds (per DraftKings), even ahead of the reigning champion Seattle Seahawks.
It’s clear to see why.
They might well have been the second-best team in the NFL last year, splitting the two regular-season meetings with the Seahawks (including a 38-37 overtime loss) before losing 31-27 in the teams’ NFC championship showdown.
But while Seattle has lost key free agents from that Super Bowl team — standard cause-and-effect as that kind of spotlight success inflates the values of players involved — Los Angeles has only gotten stronger this offseason.
The Rams were the top offense in the NFL last season both in terms of points (30.5 per game) and yards (394.6 per game), and literally every key contributor to that unit is back.
Reigning NFL MVP Matthew Stafford returns at quarterback along with his cast of top-end playmakers in wide receivers Puka Nacua (assuming he isn’t derailed by his unfortunate off-field missteps) and Davante Adams (despite the Rams exploring potential trade options that didn’t materialize), running backs Kyren Williams and Blake Corum, tight ends Colby Parkinson and Tyler Higbee and the Rams’ entire elite starting offensive line.
Meanwhile, Los Angeles invested substantially in upgrading a defense that ranked middle of the pack.
The Rams traded four draft picks (including No. 29 overall in this upcoming draft) to the Kansas City Chiefs for two-time All-Pro cornerback Trent McDuffie and then made him the highest-paid defensive back in the game with a 4-year, $124-million extension. They then signed the Chiefs’ other top cornerback Jaylen Watson to a 3-year, $51-million contract in free agency.
Meanwhile, the only notable players the team lost in free agency were the cornerbacks they replaced with those upgrades.
And the Rams aren’t done bolstering their roster.
Despite trading their own first-round pick away to the Chiefs in the McDuffie deal, they hold the No. 13 pick in the 2026 NFL Draft thanks to a shrewd draft day trade last year that sent the No. 26 and No. 101 picks to the Falcons for two later picks in that draft and this first-rounder that became a prime pick when Atlanta missed the playoffs.
In fact, the Rams still have a solid slate of picks in this draft, also selecting in the 2nd round (No. 61 overall), 3rd (93), 6th (207), 7th (232), 7th (251) and 7th (252).
So where can the Rams continue to get better?
What Are Biggest Needs For Los Angeles Rams In 2026 NFL Draft?
Upgrading at cornerback was really the key offseason objective for the Rams, so the biggest needs have been aggressively addressed.
McDuffie and Watson paired with returning safeties Kamren Curl, Kamren Kinchens and Quentin Lake (filling the nickel spot) — whom PFF ranked 16th, 18th and 13th, respectively, out of 98 qualifying safeties last season — now form one of the better secondaries in the NFL.
At linebacker, Nate Landman and Omar Speights return after combining for 217 tackles last year.
And the Rams have an enviable collection of talented, emerging young edge rushers with Byron Young (career-high 12 sacks, 82 tackles in his third season), Jared Verse (career-high 7.5 sacks, 3 forced fumbles in his second season) and Kobie Turner (24 sacks in three seasons), with Braden Fiske (11.5 sacks in two seasons) and Poona Ford (ranked 4th out of 134 qualifying interior defensive linemen per PFF) on the inside of the line.
So on the surface, the Rams really have no pressing needs — something perhaps no other team in the NFL can claim.
But there is one obvious move to make.
While Nacua (129 catches for 1,715 yards and 10 TDs last season) and Adams (60-789-14 in 14 games) are one of the best wide receiver tandems in the league, the Rams’ third receiver at present would be 2025 seventh-round pick Konata Mumpfield (10-92-1).
Also, there has to be some concern about Nacua.
The young star receiver entered rehab with his attorney Levi McCathern telling The California Post the intent was “to improve his overall behavior in every aspect of his life.” This as he’s being sued by a woman who claims Nacua made an “unprovoked antisemitic statement” and bit her on the shoulder. This after apologizing in December for making a gesture on an internet livestream that was “antisemitic in nature.”
The Rams will of course be as patient as needed with Nacua, who is already one of the top receivers in the NFL, but the red flags are mounting.
And then there is the reality that Adams will turn 34 this season, is in the final year of the 2-year, $44-million contract he signed with the team and that head coach Sean McVay and general manager Les Snead have publicly acknowledged they at least considered trading the veteran this offseason.
So whether it’s upgrading the No. 3 WR spot for 2026, guarding against more off-the-field trouble for Nacua, finding a successor for Adams in 2027 — or a little bit of all three — the Rams should use their first-round pick on a wide receiver.
Who Should Rams Take In First Round Of 2026 NFL Draft?
This is where it gets a little interesting, though.
There is a consensus on the top three WR prospects in this draft being Ohio State’s Carnell Tate, Arizona State’s Jordyn Tyson and USC’s Makai Lemon before a drop-off with the likes of Texas A&M’s KC Concepcion, Indiana’s Omar Cooper Jr. and Washington’s Denzel Boston projected to go near the end of the first round or into the second round.
Well, Tate will surely be gone by the time the Rams pick at No. 13. While there is some debate over the ordering of the next two WRs, it seems very possible that Tyson is too. (Though we actually prefer Lemon).
So the question is, will Lemon (or Tyson) still be there for Los Angeles?
Here’s where the mock drafts from some of the more notable draft analysts projects those three WRs to come off the board:
ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr.: Tate No. 8 to the Saints, Tyson No. 11 to the Dolphins, Lemon No. 24 to the Browns
The Ringer’s Todd McShay: Tate No. 6 to the Browns, Lemon No. 11 to the Dolphins, Tyson No. 13 to the Rams
NFL.com’s Daniel Jeremiah: Tate No. 6 to the Browns, Lemon No. 13 to the Rams, Tyson No. 14 to the Ravens
ESPN’s Peter Schrager: Tyson No. 9 to the Chiefs, Tate No. 11 to the Dolphins, Lemon No 13 to the Rams
ESPN’s Field Yates: Tate No. 6 to the Browns, Tyson No. 9 to the Chiefs, Lemon No. 16 to the Jets
*Both Kiper and Yates have the Rams drafting offensive tackles (Miami’s Francis Mauigoa and Georgia’s Monroe Freeling, respectively) at No. 13, with right tackle Warren McClendon Jr. in the final year of his contract.
The Giants (No. 5), Browns (No. 6), Commanders (No. 7), Saints (No. 8), Chiefs (No. 9) and Dolphins (No. 11) could all at least consider taking a first-round wide receiver, so there it’s not a sure thing the Rams land one of those three, but we’ll put the chances at 80 percent they get either Lemon or Tyson.
Lemon would be an absolutely ideal outcome for the Rams.
He’s from Los Angeles, starred down the road at USC — where he won the Biletnikoff Award as college football’s top pass-catcher last season with 79 catches for 1,156 yards and 11 TDs — and plays a whole heck of a lot like Nacua in terms of relentless physicality, smooth route-running, excellent hands and elite yards-after-the-catch ability.
The 5-foot-11 Lemon is also a natural fit for the slot and would fit in well with Nacua and Adams on the outside.
If somehow all three wide receivers are gone before pick No. 13, the Rams should strongly consider trading down to a team more desperate for one of those top offensive tackles and look to grab Concepcion (who is also a dynamic return specialist) a little later in the round.
Sure, drafting Mauigoa or Freeling would give the Rams valuable depth at right tackle and a succession plan if they don’t plan to re-sign McClendon, but as noted up top, this team is built to win NOW. Like, in 2026. There’s no telling how long the 38-year-old Stafford will keep playing.
Los Angeles needs this first-round pick to deliver immediate impact on its Super Bowl push this season — not just provide depth and upside for the future. And maybe if injuries strike at offensive tackle, Mauigoa or Freeling would do just that, but the Rams already have contingency plans there and they more immediately benefit from drafting an impact wide receiver.
