The Los Angeles Rams are getting nothing from their rookie class, and they’re paying the price for it midway through the season, as their five draft picks have played a combined six games, four of which are Max Klare, who has played one offensive snap all year.
It’s not entirely the players’ fault, of course — injuries and other factors are playing into this, too — and it’s not like the Rams had a ton of picks to flood the zone with young contributors, either. But in a season that’s been complicated
and difficult for myriad reasons, not having any young potential contributors to bank on has been just another challenge for Sean McVay and company.
Where it Started
This issue begins with the 13th overall pick, quarterback Ty Simpson. That selection has been debated over and over, but whether or not it pans out doesn’t change the fact that Los Angeles eschewed taking a potential immediate contributor for a gamble on the future.
He hasn’t taken a single snap this season and isn’t likely to, but if Les Snead is going to draft a third-string quarterback that early, shouldn’t he have also considered landing immediate contributors later?
The rest of the rookie class has combined to play six games this year and one — defensive tackle Tim Keenan — isn’t even on the team anymore.
In fact, Keenan has played 19 snaps on the Raiders this season. That’s 15 more snaps than the rest of L.A.‘s 2026 rookie class combined on offense or defense—and he did it against the Rams!
This offseason, Los Angeles steered all the way into the multiple-tight end trend it was on the cutting edge of in 2025, including taking Max Klare out of Ohio State in the second round. He’s currently buried on the depth chart and has played exactly one offensive snap in four games, with 12 more on special teams.
If the Rams wanted a tight end, should they have drafted Kenyon Sadiq in the first round and then explored quarterback options later? Obviously Snead had quite the affinity for Simpson, but L.A. still seemed to value him quite a bit higher than other teams.
We’re also not close to a place, yet, to declare that Simpson will be a better quarterback than third-rounders Carson Beck and Drew Allar. Snead may have even been able to trade up from the second-round for Simpson, a move we know the GM likes quite a bit, as he did something similar for Braden Fiske in 2024.
Wide receiver C.J. Daniels, meanwhile, played three offensive snaps without a target against the Las Vegas Raiders, and that’s it for his production. As you may or may not have noticed, the Rams could use some help at wide receiver right now.
Offensive lineman Keagen Trost, a third-round pick, has unfortunately been behind the 8 ball this year due to injuries. He was activated from injured reserve earlier this month but still hasn’t debuted.
Rookie Help, When?
Banking on draft picks to save a season is, historically, not an especially fruitful endeavor. In fairness to Los Angeles, the plan for the draft this year was to build for the future instead of finding quick fixes, considering it had the best roster in the NFL on paper in the spring (and well into the summer and fall).
The reasonable assumption is that this front office found players they identified as pieces they could develop that would eventually be useful contributors once some of the older stars were phased out.
But teams have consistently found rookie contributors that help them win Super Bowls, even when those teams are loaded:
- The Seahawks had Nick Emmanwori and Grey Zabel last year
- The Eagles had Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean in 2025
- The Chiefs had Rashee Rice in 2024
Football, like life, doesn’t always go according to plan. If the Rams have the best front office in the NFL, then they shouldn’t be afraid to give meaningful snaps to rookies, as their rivals do it every year with much success. And it’s not like “wait until next year” always works for the Rams.
This year was “next year” for Terrance Ferguson and Josaiah Stewart and Jarquez Hunter, who is no longer on the team.
It’s still too early to panic, especially fresh off a dominant win a week ago, but it certainly would be nice for the Rams to be getting something at all from their rookies. At this stage of the game, though, any contributions from that small group will likely be either a bonus or pure desperation.
