Since 2013, the Rams have been to the playoffs seven times, won two NFC Championships and took home the Lombardi trophy once.
A large portion of that success can be attributed to the outstanding draft performance of the front office. Two picks stand out above the rest, according to Frank Schwab of Yahoo Sports: Aaron Donald and Puka Nacua.
Schwab labeled them 17th and 6th, respectively, among the best draft picks in the last 25 years. Schwab called Nacua Schwab, who was drafted in the fifth round in 2023, “a once-in-a-generation pick for the Rams” and Donald, the No. 13 overall pick in 2014, “arguably the greatest defensive player of all time.”
The paths to acquiring these players and their prior pedigree could not be more different.
Aaron Donald Proved to Be a Franchise Defender
First-round picks are supposed to be franchise staples. The pick ideally is a quarterback that leads your team for a decade, an alpha wide receiver or premium defender.
In 2013, the Rams got the last part and more when Donald fell to 13th in the draft. In his 10-year career, Donald was a three-time Defensive Player of the Year, eight-time first-team All-Pro and 10-time Pro Bowler.
The pick was not a slam dunk, though. While the Pittsburgh alum swept major college football defensive awards and was a consensus All-American, there were concerns. His size was questioned by Chris Burke of Sports Illustrated,”his lack of girth makes it difficult to project him there in the pros, potentially limiting his role.”
The size questioned was quickly proven moot. A Defensive Rookie of the Year to start his career was bookend by a dominant Super Bowl performance at the end. “”He is the f’ing man,” his coach, Sean McVay, said following the fourth-down stop that sealed the Rams’ Super Bowl win over the Bengals in 2022.
Simply put, the Rams’ Mount Rushmore of players is not complete without the addition of Aaron Donald.
Puka Nacua Was a Diamond in the Rough
While Donald was a consensus first rounder in the pre-draft process, Puka Nacua had to wait till Day 3 to be drafted.
The wide receiver out of BYU has been paying dividends for the Rams, quarterback Matthew Stafford and fantasy football owners since. His impact was immediate as he set the the NFL record for receiving yards by a rookie in 2023.
Though he was a fifth-round selection in the draft, the BYU alum was at the top of the list for head coach Sean McVay. In 2023, the Rams head coach told Gary Klein of the Los Angeles Times. “When it was getting down to it, I might’ve choked Les(Snead) out if we had missed out on Puka.”
Why was McVay so amped to get his guy? Nacua fit wonderfully into the Rams offense. Bleacher Report’s pre-draft scouting report labeled him as having “elite yards after catch ability” and along with being a “great blocker with a physical mentality.”
Though just two years into his career, Nacua has elevated among the NFL’s elite pass catchers. He ranks seventh in NFL history in yards and fourth in receptions among receivers in their first two seasons. With Stafford at the helm again in 2025, look for the star wide out to pad those totals in year 3.
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