Ranking Rams’ best Day 2 draft picks under GM Les Snead since 2012
Les Snead has been general manager of the Rams since 2012, going back to their days in St. Louis. In his nine years at the helm, he’s helped turn around the franchise with quality picks, many of which came on Day 2 of the draft.
Snead has grown accustomed to waiting until the second and third rounds to make his first pick, which he’ll once again have to do this week after trading the Rams’ 2021 first-round pick for Jalen Ramsey.
Looking back at Snead’s drafts since 2012, we’ve ranked his best Day 2 picks, which include only second- and third-rounders.
CB Janoris Jenkins, 2012 (2nd round)
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Jenkins is still a starting cornerback in the NFL after just wrapping up a 2020 season in which he had three interceptions and a pick-six in 13 starts with the Saints. He was a starter right out of the gate with the Rams, too, playing 60 games in four seasons with 10 interceptions, five returned for a touchdown and 48 pass breakups. There’s no doubt he’s been Snead’s best Day 2 pick, and is the only Pro Bowler for the Rams to come from Day 2 since 2012.
WR Cooper Kupp, 2017 (3rd round)
(AP Photo/Kelvin Kuo)
Kupp has only been in the NFL for four years but it’s clear to see he’s been one of the Rams’ best draft picks in recent memory. If not for injuries, he’d likely have three 1,000-yard seasons already and in 54 games played, he’s scored 24 touchdowns. He was Jared Goff’s favorite target and consistently puts up solid numbers. That’ll continue with Matthew Stafford now under center.
RT Rob Havenstein, 2015 (2nd round)
(AP Photo/Stephen Brashear)
Havenstein has quietly had a solid career. Like Jenkins, he was a starter as a rookie, playing 13 games at right tackle. He’s played 84 total games in his career, with his best season coming in 2018 as one of the best right tackles in football. He’s expected to remain the starter in 2021, too, and has two years left on his four-year, $32.5 million deal.
CB Trumaine Johnson, 2012 (3rd round)
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Johnson really fell off after signing with the Jets in 2018 and even more so a year later. But with the Rams, he was a ballhawk and quality cornerback in the secondary. The team liked him so much that they used franchise tagged him in consecutive years in 2016 and 2017. With the Rams, he pulled down 18 interceptions and broke up 67 passes, scoring three touchdowns.
S John Johnson, 2017 (3rd round)
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Johnson has ascended to become one of the top safeties in football. It’s just unfortunate that his career will no longer be with the Rams after signing with the Browns in free agency. In his four NFL seasons thus far, he’s recorded eight interceptions, 350 tackles and broken up 32 passes. He was a leader on the field for the Rams, calling the defensive signals last season.
DB Lamarcus Joyner, 2014 (2nd round)
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Joyner is right there with Johnson as a really good defensive back drafted by Snead, but he really only had two good seasons with the Rams in 2017 and 2018. In six total seasons with the team, he had four interceptions (one touchdown), 25 pass breakups and 305 tackles before signing with the Raiders as a free agent in 2019. Once he found a fit at free safety in Wade Phillips’ scheme, he broke out.
S T.J. McDonald, 2013 (3rd round)
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McDonald is another defensive back who had a solid career with the Rams before leaving and fizzling out elsewhere, similar to Trumaine Johnson and Joyner. He started all 53 games he played with the Rams from 2013-2016, making 284 tackles with four interceptions and 17 passes defensed. He was consistently around the ball with the Rams, even if he had his struggles in coverage.
RB Cam Akers, 2020 (2nd round)
(Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
Akers is only one year into his NFL career but he has a chance to be a top-10 running back in the NFL this season. As a rookie, he rushed for 625 yards and added 123 yards receiving in the regular season before dominating in the postseason with 221 yards rushing and two touchdowns in two games. He still has a lot to prove, of course, but Akers should break out in a big way this season after taking a firm grip of the starting job at the end of last year.
OL Jamon Brown, 2015 (3rd round)
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Brown started 30 of the 42 games he played with the Rams, including 16 in his career-best season in 2017. He was then suspended for the first two games of the 2018 season, which allowed Austin Blythe to take over at right guard and never let go. If not for that suspension, Brown may have remained the starter for the entire 2018 season, but since then, he’s bounced around with the Giants, Falcons and Eagles. Still, he gave the Rams a really solid season in 2017.
TE Gerald Everett, 2017 (2nd round)
(AP Photo/Kyusung Gong)
Everett was good for 300-plus yards and a pair of touchdowns almost each season he spent with the Rams since 2017, totaling 1,389 yards and eight touchdowns in four years. He was supposed to break out and become a top tight end in McVay’s system but that never happened and he remained TE2 behind Tyler Higbee. But the talent is still there and he was productive at times, as well as a good run blocker.
Honorable mentions
S Taylor Rapp, 2019 (2nd round)
RB Darrell Henderson, 2018 (3rd round)
RB Tre Mason, 2014 (3rd round)
WR Brian Quick, 2012 (2nd round)
WR Stedman Bailey, 2013 (3rd round)
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