CHICAGO, IL - DECEMBER 09: General Manager Les Snead of the Los Angeles Rams watches warm-ups prior to the game against the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field on December 9, 2018 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) The Los Angeles Rams did what many people thought they were going to do and traded down, out of the first round, in the 2019 NFL Draft. With the 31st overall selection in the 2019 NFL Draft, the Atlanta Falcons, not the Los Angeles Rams, selected Kaleb McGary, an offensive tackle from the University of Washington. The Los Angeles Rams traded out of the first round to allow the Atlanta Falcons to make this selection. In the trade, the Rams sent over the 31st and 203rd pick to Atlanta in exchange for the 45th and 79th pick in the draft. The Rams now have four draft picks in the first 100 picks and only had to trade down 14 spots to do so. This also marks the third draft in a row in which the Rams did not make a first-round selection. The team was without its first-round selection in 2017 because of the Jared Goff trade and was without a first-round selection in 2018 because of the Brandin Cooks trade. This trade was much different from those two. Instead of trading the pick for someone established or to move up in the draft, the team did the smart thing and traded down. It truly was a great move by general manager Les Snead to get that extra pick, especially considering if there was nobody the Rams loved with the 31st overall pick that they could not get with the 45th overall pick. And while we could go through the countless possibilities of players that the Rams could select on the second day of the draft, we instead decided to look at the bigger picture. This trade told us what the Rams’ motives are in this draft, motives that were rather predictable beforehand. The Rams are trying to add youth to a roster that desperately needs it and has several holes that need to start being patched this year. This is a two-year process for the Rams, this is the first act. If the Rams want to contend past the 2019 season then the front office is going to have to add depth on the offensive line as well as at cornerback. Linebacker is another area of need as well, but not as large as offensive line and corner. Aqib Talib and Marcus Peters have not been as good as advertised prior to playing for the Rams and with both contracts expiring, there is a chance that neither are on the team in 2020. With little cap space room, the chances of re-signing Peters especially seems slim, unless it is a smaller deal. If the Rams did not start addressing the cornerback position now then 2020 could have hit the team like a ton of bricks and left them completely unprepared. The same can be said for the offensive line. This is an offensive line that is now without Rodger Saffold and John Sullivan and the team’s left tackle, Andrew Whitworth, is only getting older and is in the last year of his contract. The line is certainly talented enough to be good this year but if the front office neglected it until it became an issue than it would have been a massive issue. Just that one extra pick in the first 100 picks is going to help the team address both problems at the same time without compromising one or another. Now, the team could realistically pick up two offensive linemen, a corner and a linebacker in the top-100 picks. And that would leave way for next year, where the Rams could then select another offensive lineman and cornerback to complete the two-year cycle. That is a much better plan than drafting someone with the 31st overall pick, hoping they make a massive impact alone and then go 63 more selections until the next pick. This was the best-case scenario for the Los Angeles Rams and Les Snead absolutely nailed it. I guarantee the Rams target the offensive line and the cornerbacks on day two.<doc-sep>The Los Angeles Rams struck a deal with the Atlanta Falcons on Thursday night, trading back from No. 31 to 45. They picked up an additional third-round pick in the process, giving them four top-100 picks. The trade didn’t surprise anyone due to Les Snead’s affinity for moving back in the draft and accumulating picks, but he may not be done dealing just yet. Snead could make another trade (or two) on Friday night, heading in either direction. Here are five more trades the Rams should consider making on Day 2 with point totals from the trade value chart. Trade up with Broncos Rams trade: Nos. 45 and 133 (489 points) Broncos trade: No. 41 (490 points) The Broncos looked like potential trade partners for the Rams’ pick at No. 31, but this scenario has Los Angeles moving up instead. If a defensive back such as Nasir Adderley or Byron Murphy, among others, begins to fall, maybe the Rams will move up to secure him and fortify the secondary. Giving up a fourth-round pick might be too high a price to pay for four spots, but with the Bengals, Lions and Packers all in front of Los Angeles, a move up might be necessary to grab a top defensive back.<doc-sep>Sean McVay enjoyed unprecedented success in his first two seasons leading the Rams. He was voted NFL coach of the year in 2017, led his team to two division titles and also a Super Bowl. Perhaps one day the NFL’s youngest head coach will enjoy another personal milestone: Leading a team with a first-round pick he helped select. McVay must wait at least until next year after the Rams traded the 31st pick and a sixth-round pick to the Atlanta Falcons on Thursday for picks in the second and third rounds Friday. Advertisement “Feels par for the course,” McVay said after the first round ended. Not that McVay was upset. -They now have four picks in the top 100, including a second-round pick (No. 45), three third-round picks (Nos. 79, 94 and 99) and single picks in the fourth (No. 133), fifth (No, 169), and seventh (No. 251) rounds. The Rams went into the draft with a first-round pick for the first time since 2016, when they selected quarterback Jared Goff with the No. 1 pick. They had the 23rd pick last year, but about a month before the draft they traded it to the New England Patriots for receiver Brandin Cooks. On Thursday, with the second-to-last pick in the first round, general manager Les Snead knew legitimate first-round talent might be thin by the time the Rams’ turn came. Trading back for more picks, especially for one in the second round, was thought to be the Rams’ favored course of action. “Early in the process, we knew the pool of players that we might be dealing with, so you always have a few favorites that if they did fall … that maybe you hold pat and pick,” Snead said after the first-round was complete. “But if those chosen few didn’t, we felt it would be better to again add another third-round pick. “And to have, at the end of the day, four picks in the top 100 instead of just three.” Said McVay: “The good thing is that a lot of the things that we anticipated ended up playing itself out. It kind of went according to what we had thought in a lot of instances.” Advertisement The Rams were looking for a defensive lineman to help replace Ndamukong Suh but the depth of that position group played out with 13 linemen and edge rushers selected in the first 30 picks, including five of the first seven. As the Rams’ chance to pick approached, the Seattle Seahawks were positioned to make the two picks before them. The Seahawks selected Texas Christian defensive end L.J. Collier, and then traded the 30th pick to the New York Giants, who selected Georgia cornerback Deandre Baker. The Rams then traded their pick to the Falcons, who chose Washington offensive tackle Kaleb McGary. Advertisement “It worked out the way that we wanted to,” McVay said. “We had some other plans that could have potentially played themselves out that didn’t but there was a clarity towards the end. “And that’s exactly what we had hoped for and that’s what we got tonight.” The Rams will turn their attention to the middle and late rounds, where they have had noteworthy success the last two drafts. The Rams selected players such as tight end Gerald Everett, receivers Cooper Kupp and Josh Reynolds, safety John Johnson, linebacker Samson Ebukam, offensive linemen Joseph Noteboom and Brian Kelly, linebacker Micah Kiser and defensive lineman John Franklin-Myers. All of them will start or compete for starting roles in the upcoming season. Advertisement Sign up for our daily sports newsletter » So the Rams are confident in their ability to mine the later rounds for talent. “We still have to draft right and develop right,” Snead said. The Rams’ NFC West opponents appeared to get stronger Thursday night. Advertisement The Arizona Cardinals chose quarterback Kyler Murray with the first pick in the draft, the San Francisco 49ers took Ohio State defensive end Nick Bosa with the second pick and the Seahawks selected Collier. gary.klein@latimes.com Follow Gary Klein on Twitter @latimesklein<doc-sep>
After trading up for Jared Goff and acquiring Brandin Cooks, the Los Angeles Rams were forced to go two years without a first-round pick. And after three years of waiting to make another top-32 selection, Les Snead went ahead and traded the No. 31 pick away. As a result, fans were once again left with no first-round prospect to get excited about, waiting almost four hours just to see the Rams trade back to No. 45. As disappointing as it was for some in Los Angeles, the move was unequivocally the right one. With the way the board fell, trading down was too good to pass up. Sure, they could’ve stood pat and selected Greedy Williams, Byron Murphy, Nasir Adderley or Chauncey Gardner-Johnson and no one would have batted an eye. The same goes for Dalton Risner, Jawaan Taylor and Erik McCoy – all players who would’ve been solid selections at No. 31 overall. Yet, after trading down, all of those players remain available thanks to the Patriots selecting wide receiver N’Keal Harry. Sure, all of those guys could be selected before the Rams go on the clock at No. 45, but there’s a good chance at least one of their targets will fall in their lap on Friday night. Not to mention, the Rams fleeced the Falcons in the trade. They gave up picks 31 and 203 for Nos. 45 and 79 – an overpay by Atlanta, according to the trade value chart. Instead of giving up their sixth-rounder, the Rams should’ve had to give the Falcons their fourth-round pick (No. 133) to balance out the trade. But alas, that’s the price teams pay to get the fifth-year option with a first-round pick. So instead of having three picks in the top 100, the Rams now have four picks in the first three rounds and only had to move back 14 spots to make it happen. Snead is a trade artist and will never shy away from making a deal he thinks will benefit the Rams, and this certainly falls under that category. Grade: A