Rams' Top 2024 NFL Draft Targets (2024)

The Los Angeles Rams were one of the NFL's surprise teams in 2023, rebounding from a disastrous 2022 campaign to reach the playoffs. Having a healthy Matthew Stafford certainly helped, but the Rams also made strides thanks to rookie contributors like Puka Nacua and Kobie Turner.

While veterans like Stafford and Cooper Kupp still play significant roles, Los Angeles is undergoing a youth movement. General manager Les Snead will likely look to keep that going by uncovering some more gems in the 2024 draft.

With 11 total selections at their disposal, Snead and the Rams will have plenty of opportunities to add talent over the weekend. However, their most pivotal pick will likely come at 19th overall. L.A. has a chance to add a legitimate difference-maker in Round 1, though it's unclear who that prospect will be.

Here, we'll dive into three top prospects who could be available at No. 19 and who should heavily interest the Rams ahead of the 2024 NFL draft.

There's a very good chance that the Rams are thinking of going with a defensive prospect in Round 1. Between Stafford, Kupp, Nacua, Tyler Higbee and Kyren Williams, L.A. is loaded with playmakers. The Rams also beefed up their offensive line by re-signing Kevin Dotson and adding Jonah Jackson.

The Rams also lost star defensive tackle Aaron Donald to retirement, which makes the task of improving a defense that ranked 20th overall last season even harder. The first round will be littered with quarterbacks, receivers and offensive linemen, but L.A. is one of the few teams that might be primarily defensively focused.

UCLA pass-rusher Laiatu Latu is a logical target for the Rams, and he was the pick in the latest Bleacher Report Scouting Department mock draft.

"The Rams needed another edge-rusher before Aaron Donald retired and that only intensifies now that the defense can't rely on an interior defender racking up, or at least flirting with, double-digit sacks every year," Matt Holder of the B/R Scouting Department said.

Los Angeles can't simply replace Donald on a player-for-player basis, but Turner gives it a playmaker on the interior. Adding a top-end edge-rusher would help make up for the loss of Donald from a production standpoint, and Latu has the potential to be just that.

The Rams added Darious Williams, Kamren Curl and Tre'Davious White to their secondary this offseason, which should boost a unit that ranked 20th in passing yards allowed. However, L.A. could still afford to add a defensive back who can become a key contributor long-term.

Iowa's Cooper DeJean has started to build some draft momentum after a strong private workout that showed he's recovering from last year's broken fibula. DeJean is an athletic, versatile defensive back who could fill a variety of roles in new coordinator Chris Shula's defense.

"Though DeJean has the size and physicality to play safety in the NFL, he has the ball skills and movement skills to play cornerback," Cory Giddings of the B/R Scouting Department wrote. "Although he will fit best in a zone scheme, he's one of the top cornerback prospects in this year's draft class and has added return ability that most don't have."

Pass-rusher is probably a bigger need for the Rams, but teams with championship aspirations can never have too much depth in the secondary. While the Rams have no shortage of selections, they're not going to find a corner of DeJean's caliber on Day 2 or Day 3. Flipping the switch here would be logical.

If the Rams do go with an offensive prospect, a tackle seems like the most sensible target.

Alaric Jackson was more than capable at left tackle in 2023, but he's only under contract through this season. Longtime right tackle Rob Havenstein will turn 32 in May and is under contract through 2025.

Drafting a tackle now could give L.A. a long-term option on the edge plus critical depth in 2024. That's the sort of big-picture value Snead could want from his first Round 1 pick since 2016.

With a 6'8", 240-pound frame and loads of upside, Georgia's Amarius Mims could be the perfect project for Los Angeles.

"Mims is a towering figure who looks like he was built in a lab with how lean, rocked-up and easy of a mover he is at 340 pounds," Brandon Thorn of the B/R Scouting Department wrote. "He glides in his pass sets with the range, length and natural power of a future high-level NFL pass-protector, but he needs to be coached up with his positional leverage."

Adding Mims wouldn't provide the instant impact of an elite defensive prospect, but it would help ensure that L.A. gets the most out of Stafford's remaining career.