Landscape of the NFC West After Round One

The Los Angeles Rams made a shocking move and traded with the Atlanta Falcons to move out of the first round completely. While this had been theorized before in mock drafts, nobody expected them not to take a first-round rookie in the midst of their Super Bowl window.

Despite not selecting a player, could it be possible for the Rams to walk out draft day winners among their divisional rivals? The NFC West as a whole didn't have an exceptional first round, so the Rams may remain on top despite not even making a selection. The first divisional rival to make their selection was the San Francisco 49ers when they selected Mykel Williams 11th overall.

As good as Williams could be, I believe this to be a reach on the part of the 49ers and will not help them bounce back from a season where they were plagued with injuries. They traded away Deebo Samuel, and Brandon Aiyuk has not worked out for them thus far.

There were plenty of receivers on the board still available for them to target; they even could've opted to draft Tyler Warren and then seek out a trade partner for George Kittle. Williams has a high ceiling and has the potential to be Nick Bosa's co-star, but a team that already suffered plenty of injuries drafting a player who has an injury history has the potential to be disastrous.

The next team up is the Arizona Cardinals, and they selected Walter Nolen 16th overall. Despite bringing back Calais Campbell, the Cardinals felt as if they still needed help on the interior of the defensive line. They selected a defensive tackle to help them against the run and also bolster their pass rush.

This was a good pick for the Cardinals from where they were in the draft. However, I don't believe this pick helps them compete against the upper brass of the NFC West. It looks like another year where the Cardinals will find themselves in mediocrity, not good enough to be contenders but not bad enough to get a high draft pick.

Finally, the Seattle Seahawks drafted offensive lineman Grey Zabel with the 18th overall pick. Their offensive line was one of the worst in the league last year, and it resulted in Geno Smith having to create something out of nothing most times on offense.

However, the Seahawks traded Smith away to the Las Vegas Raiders and signed Sam Darnold to a lucrative deal after he revived his career with the Minnesota Vikings. Yet, this draft pick will not help the Seahawks against the Rams' ferocious pass rush, which dealt with Darnold in the past.

As good as Zabel is, Darnold was in a better situation with the Vikings, and the Rams were still able to shut him down. I believe this pick won't affect the Rams in any way, and Jared Verse and the rest of the defensive line will be able to sack the quarterback as much as they want to.

Even though the Rams didn't make a pick in the first round, they still walk out clear winners for me among the rest of the teams in the NFC West. Not only did they set themselves up for the future, but their divisional rivals all made picks that should strike no fear into the hearts of the Rams organization.

Make sure you follow on X (Twitter) @RamsInsideronSI and you will never miss another breaking news story again.

You can also let us know your thoughts when you like our Facebook page WHEN YOU CLICK RIGHT HERE.