As OTAs advance, reports from many football pundits have rated the Los Angeles Rams as having one the NFL’s best overall rosters for the 2026 season. L.A. did do a good job of plugging holes in free agency and while the draft didn’t go the route many felt it should, all five draftees have the upside to be contributors with seasoning. General Manager Les Snead may not yet be done, with $25.7mil spending cash in his pocket.
Since the union of Snead and Head coach Sean McVay, the Rams have consistently
put together top-tier rosters and coached them up to a nine-year, regular season record of 92-52. That’s a 64 percent win rate, solidified by seven trips to the post season and two Super Bowl berths.
With 87 players currently under contract for OTAs, here’s a review of the 2026 roster’s lineage and their draft pedigree. First for context, how they all got to L.A.:
77% of Rams are home-grown
3.5% arrived via trade
11.5% signed in preseason free agency
5.5% picked up as in-season free agents
3.5% were waiver claims/poaches
And their draft pedigree:
11.5% drafted early in Rounds 1 and 2
22% taken in the mid rounds, 3, 4, and 5
17% selected late, Rounds 6 and 7
49.5% signed as undrafted free agents
Players with eight or more starts last season in bold. If the Rams did not draft a player, his original team is in parentheses.
Round 1 (5)
QB Matthew Stafford (Detroit Lions), CB Trent McDuffie (Kansas City Chiefs), CB Emmanuel Forbes (Washington Commanders), E Jared Verse, QB Ty Simpson
Round 2 (5)
WR Davante Adams (Green Bay Packers), G Steve Avila, DT Braden Fiske, TE Terrance Ferguson, TE Max Klare
Round 3 (6)
E Byron Young, DT Kobie Turner, RB Blake Corum, S Kamren Kinchens, E Josiah Stewart, T/G Keegan Trost
Round 4 (6)
TE Tyler Higbee, G Kevin Dotson (Pittsburgh Steelers), TE Colby Parkinson (Seattle Seahawks), QB Stetson Bennett, RB Jarquez Hunter, WR Tyler Scott (Chicago Bears)
Round 5 (7)
LS Joe Cardona (New England Patriots), DT Larell Murchison (Tennessee Titans), RB Kyren Williams, T Warren McClendon, TE Davis Allen, WR Puka Nacua, DT Ty Hamilton
Round 6 (7)
T David Quessenberry (Houston Texans), S Quentin Lake, C Dylan McMahon (Philadelphia Eagles), DT Tyler Davis, WR Jordan Whittington, C/G Beaux Limmer, WR CJ Daniels
Round 7 (8)
S Kamren Curl (Washington Commanders), Jaylen Watson (Kansas City Chiefs), T AJ Arcuri, ILB Grant Stuard (Tampa Bay Buccaneers), P Ethan Evans, E Desjuan Johnson, WR Konata Mumpfield, DT Tim Keenan
UDFA (37 home-grown)
T Alaric Jackson, E Keir Thomas, WR Xavier Smith, G Justin Dedich, S Tanner Ingle, CB Cam Lampkin, S Jaylen McCollough, ILB Elias Neal, ILB Omar Speights, S/CB Josh Wallace, G Wyatt Bowles, ILB Shaun Dolac, WR Tru Edwards, DT Bill Norton, WR Brennan Presley, TE Mark Redman, S Nate Valcarcel, RB Jordan Waters, WR Mario Williams S Nick Anderson, E Wesley Bailey, C/G Austin Blaaske. QB Matthew Caldwell, RB Dean Conners, CB Nyzier Fourqurean, CB Al’zillion Hamilton, T Bryce Henderson, ILB Nikhai Hill-Green, TE Rohan Jones, C Chad Lindberg, DT Jalen Logan-Redding, DT Jaxson Moi, CB Drey Norwood, E Darryl Peterson, TE Dan Villari, E Eddie Walls, Payton Zdroik
UDFA (6 from outside)
C Coleman Shelton (San Francisco 49ers),`DT Poona Ford (Seattle Seahawk), RB Ronnie Rivers (Arizona Cardinals), Nate Landman (Atlanta Falcons), Harrison Meevis (Carolina Panthers), CB Alex Johnson (New York Giants)
Where the outsiders came from
By trade
CB Trent McDuffie from Kansas City 2026, G Kevin Dotson from Pittsburgh 2023, Matthew Stafford from Detroit 2021
Preseason free agents
Jaylen Watson 2026, Grant Stuard 2026, Joe Cardona 2026, Poona Ford 2025, Coleman Shelton 2025 (2nd time), Davante Adams 2025, Nate Landman 2025, David Quessenberry 2025, Kamren Curl 2024, Colby Parkinson 2024
In season free agents
Harrison Meevis 2025, Tyler Scott 2025, Alex Johnson 2025, Coleman Shelton 2019 (1st time), Ronnie Rivers 2022
Waiver claim or poach
Dylan McMahon 2024, Emmanuel Forbes 2024, Larrell Muchison 2022
Tough to climb the depth chart
While there is no official reporting, the way the Rams navigated the offseason roster building process hints at a couple of things. Snead/McVay seem quite content with the 2026 roster after shoring up the glaring cornerback weakness from last year. And they also likely felt, like many other experts, that the talent level in this years draft was down.
For the second straight year, L.A. seemed to pinpoint particular players and were satisfied with a small group. After averaging 10 draftees per year over their first eight seasons together, Snead/McVay have selected only 11 total in the past two.
The Snead/McVay roster confidence doesn’t bode well for this years UDFA class, Barring catastrophe, with 40+ likely locks, roster openings could be as few as five or six. It would make sense that Stetson Bennett will be needed as QB insurance and the Rams did not bring in much competition for Xavier Smith at punt returner.
While the Rams have leaned heavily on UDFAs in the past, it’s a sign of good team building to keep their numbers around 10 players.
