Top 30 Draft Selections in St. Louis Rams History

Apr 30, 2015; Chicago, IL, USA; Todd Gurley (Georgia) poses for a photo with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell after being selected as the number 10th overall pick to the St. Louis Rams in the first round of the 2015 NFL Draft at the Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University. Mandatory Credit: Dennis Wierzbicki-USA TODAY Sports

The St. Louis Rams have made 184 draft selections over 21 years. Which 30 have been the best?

The St. Louis Rams have not been an exceptionally good drafting organization during their 21 seasons in the Gateway City; a quick litany of early Rams selections such as Jason Smith, Lawrence Phillips, and (to this point) Greg Robinson who have failed colossally in St. Louis will confirm that. When you also consider the fact that mid-to-late first round picks like Trung Canidate, Robert Thomas, Jimmy Kennedy, Alex Barron, Tye Hill, and Adam Carriker made virtually no contributions to the franchise’s success, while players selected beyond the first round since 2000 who made legitimate contributions can sufficiently be counted on two hands, it’s easy to see why the Rams organization has been so bad for so long.

That consistent failure also makes it easy to appreciate the Rams’ good draft selections over the years. While quite a few of the Rams’ most impactful players during the team’s run in St. Louis—Kurt Warner, Isaac Bruce, Marshall Faulk, Adam Timmerman, and London Fletcher, just to name a few—were either not drafted by the franchise, or taken while the team was in L.A. in the case of Bruce, there have also been plenty of homegrown Rams stars.

For the purposes of this list, the primary concern is success in a Rams uniform. Especially due to the Rams’ failure to make smart personnel decisions over the years, particularly during the Scott Lineman and Steve Spagnuolo administrations, success with other teams is also somewhat of a factor. Thus, a player who had a certain degree of success in St. Louis and was great elsewhere will have more caché than a player who was marginal with the Rams and didn’t succeed anywhere else.

One other note: 2015 selections haven’t had enough experience to qualify for the list, particularly Todd Gurley, who has been fantastic this season, but really has only had nine good games in the NFL to this point. If Gurley can avoid the tendency of Rams backs under Jeff Fisher to succeed for just one year, then fall off a cliff in terms of productivity, he’ll surely position himself as one of the Rams’ best draft picks sooner than later.

Here are our Top 30 draft picks in St. Louis Rams history:

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