Where the Rams' offense stands after the 2020 NFL Draft
Over the course of three days, the Rams drafted nine players to address eight different positions and signed 22 undrafted free agents as part of their continued roster construction for the upcoming season.
The following is a position-by-position breakdown of where the team's offense currently stands after those transactions.
QUARTERBACK
2019 starter: Jared Goff
2019 contributors: John Wolford
2020 newcomers: Bryce Perkins, Josh Love
Goff is under contract through the 2024 season. With Blake Bortles gone, Wolford has an opportunity to earn the backup job.
Perkins (Virginia) and Love (San Jose State) were signed as undrafted free agents.
RUNNING BACK
2019 contributors: Malcolm Brown, Darrell Henderson
2019 reserves: John Kelly
2020 newcomers: Cam Akers, James Gilbert Jr., Xavier Jones
Brown and Henderson enter their fifth and second seasons respectively with the club in 2020, primarily serving as Todd Gurley's backups in 2019. Kelly appeared in four games but spent most of the season on the practice squad. Akers was the Rams' first draft pick this year.
Rams general manager Les Snead has said it will likely be a group approach to replacing Gurley's production.
Gilbert (Kansas State) and Jones (Southern Methodist) were signed as undrafted free agents.
WIDE RECEIVER
2019 starters: Robert Woods, Cooper Kupp
2019 contributors: Josh Reynolds
2019 reserves: Greg Dortch, Nsimba Webster
2020 newcomers: Van Jefferson, Earnest Edwards IV, Trishton Jackson, J.J. Koski, Brandon Polk, Easop Winston
Following the Brandin Cooks trade to the Texans, the Rams chose to address this position by selecting Jefferson with the No. 57 overall pick acquired from Houston.
Goff, Kupp and Rams head coach Sean McVay have all said Reynolds is capable of filling Cooks' old role in the offense.
Dortch and Webster mainly contributed on special teams.
Edwards (Maine), Jackson (Syracuse), Koski (Cal Poly), Polk (James Madison) and Winston (Washington State) were signed as undrafted free agents.
TIGHT END
2019 starters: Tyler Higbee, Gerald Everett
2019 contributors: Johnny Mundt
2019 reserves: Kendall Blanton, Ethan Wolf
2020 newcomers: Brycen Hopkins
The Rams had a nice core of Higbee, Everett and Mundt last season. However, when Hopkins was available after trading back from the 126th pick to the 136th pick, it was an opportunity Los Angeles could not pass up because of how highly-rated he was by the team, according to Snead.
Additionally, Snead views Hopkins as someone who can contribute both early and later on in his career.
Blanton and Wolf primarily spent time on the practice squad last season.
OFFENSIVE LINE
2019 starters: Andrew Whitworth, Joe Noteboom, Austin Corbett, Brian Allen, Austin Blythe, David Edwards, Rob Havenstein, Bobby Evans
2019 contributors: Coleman Shelton, Jamil Demby, Chandler Brewer
2019 reserves: Jeremiah Kolone, Nate Trewyn
2020 newcomers: Tremayne Anchrum, Cohl Cabral
Among the younger players, Noteboom, Corbett, Allen, Edwards, Evans, Shelton, Brewer and Demby all saw action last year, and the Rams saw enough out of them to feel confident in continuing to develop them rather than invest a high draft pick into another offensive lineman.
The position wasn't addressed until the seventh round with the selection of Anchrum, who is capable of playing tackle or guard.
Cabral (Arizona State) was signed as an undrafted free agent.
