Recent NFL Draft history does not favor Rams with the #19 pick

The Rams hold the 19th pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. Recent history has produced some fairly ugly results at that spot.

For the first time since the 2016 NFL Draft, the Los Angeles Rams will have a first-round pick(!) Whether that will hold true come draft day remains an uncertainty. Until then, Les Snead and Sean McVay have plenty of draft capital to work with this year.

LA will have the 19th overall pick in the 2024 draft and recent history at that spot has produced some unfavorable results. Seven players have been taken at that spot since 2017 and there have been only three Pro Bowl appearances and three All-Pro selections between just two players in that span.

In the Jared Goff draft alone, the Bills selected former Clemson defensive end Shaq Lawson at 19. Lawson never morphed into the violent pass rusher Buffalo expected when they took him.

The NFL Draft is a crapshoot regardless of draft positioning, but the Rams must pick wisely as history is not on their side:

TE O.J. Howard (2017) – Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Injuries and inconsistent play plagued the Alabama product in his five-year stint with the Buccaneers. Howard is the lone player on this list to win a Super Bowl, yet he was unable to play in the Big Game due to tearing his Achilles in Week 4 of the 2020 campaign. After Tampa Bay let O.J. walk during the 2022 free agency period, he went to Buffalo and got released before landing with the Texans. Then, he signed with Las Vegas last offseason and was cut ahead of the regular season. Howard remains a free agent.

LB Leighton Vander Esch (2018) – Dallas Cowboys

Oh what might have been. Vander Esch started his NFL career on fire as he totaled career highs in total tackles (140), solo tackles (102), passes defensed (7) and interceptions (2), earning Pro Bowl and Second-team All-Pro honors in the process.

Sadly, the injury bug began to take over not long after. Nagging neck injuries plagued him from the get-go as he appeared in at least 10 games three times in his six-year career. The Cowboys released Vander Esch in March and he announced his retirement from the game due to medical reasons. If Vander Esch was able to stay healthy, there was a chance he could’ve ended up being one of the greatest linebackers the sport has ever seen.

DT Jeffery Simmons (2019) – Tennessee Titans

Simmons has been one of the better defensive lineman drafted in recent years. He earned back-to-back Pro Bowl and Second-team All-Pro nods in 2021 and 2022 after he notched 108 total tackles and 16 sacks in those two years. The All-Pro defender secured a much-deserved $94 million extension with Tennessee in April 2023, per Spotrac.

CB Damon Arnette (2020) – Las Vegas Raiders

Where to even begin with this pick? Arnette was yet another wasted first-rounder in the Raiders’ infamously god-awful 2020 draft class. The Ohio State product played in just 13 games with Las Vegas before legal issues essentially ruined his career, even though his play would’ve done that anyway eventually.

LB Jamin Davis (2021) – Washington Commanders

The former Kentucky linebacker was not great his first year and really hasn’t been anything to write home about early into his career. I suppose that’s on par with recent history of professional football in the Nation’s Capital. Davis led the Commies with 104 total tackles in 2022 and could greatly benefit from the guidance of future HOFer Bobby Wagner this season.

OT Trevor Penning (2022) – New Orleans Saints

Penning has had an incredibly rough two years in the Bayou. The former Northern Iowa star missed most of his rookie year with an injury and was benched early into last season, barely playing the rest of the way. New Orleans could be realistically looking for his replacement in the draft.

DT Calijah Kancey (2023) – Tampa Bay Buccaneers

It’s too early to tell one year into the Kancey experiment, but he appears to have plenty of potential game-wrecker. Kancey didn’t play his first full game until Week 6 and amassed 19 total tackles with four sacks and nine TFLs in 10 appearances. In the Wild Card Round against the reigning NFC champs, he was an absolute menace in the 32-9 blowout of the Eagles.