The Rams opted to let Day 1 of the NFL draft unfold without moving up, and general manager Les Snead feels confident in the options they will have on Day 2 as a result.
"Definitely," Snead said on a video conference Thursday night. "Nothing really changed today. The players we researched a lot are still there."
According to Snead, the Rams came into the draft with a realistic idea of which positions were deep and which positions may stretch to No. 52 overall, when they are scheduled to be on the clock in the second round.
He said on Tuesday it would take a player with the right skillset, character and ability to help Los Angeles continue to contend for the team to move into the first round. However, as a Thursday night showed, it was evident that there wasn't a prospect they felt strongly enough about who necessitated such a decision.
Snead said any discussions with teams about trading picks are kept private, but no team called to make a deal with the Rams to move back.
"I think when you're coming from where we were, we would've had to pursue that opportunity," Snead said.
L.A. might also be content biding its time until No. 52 and No. 57 overall in Day 2.
Even moving ahead of teams in the same round requires a lot of thought. Typically, the further a team wants to move up in a given round, the more picks it has to sacrifice. At that point, a team has to weigh the risk of giving up two or three players for one, for example.
Snead has said the draft becomes most unpredictable in the pick range of the mid-late teens, which may further reinforce their decision to sit tight again.
"Is someone valuable enough to maybe give up one of your third rounders? Or do you wait a little bit and maybe give up the fourth rounder?" Snead said. "So it's really some sort of algebra formula on if you move up, you're sacrificing, I call it multiple players for maybe less players, but we all know that every now and then there's a player that's definitely worth it."
The Rams will go into Day 2 with an open mind.
"We will certainly monitor it and try to determine whether it's best to attack or sit back and wait and take who's there," Snead said.
