Coming out of the 2018 NFL draft, it was hard for Los Angeles Rams fans to come away excited about the team’s haul. Their first two picks were spent on offensive linemen in Joseph Noteboom and Brian Allen, neither of whom were expected to play much as rookies.

Not surprisingly, they didn’t.

With their second pick in the fourth round, the Rams drafted John Franklin-Myers – a lesser-known prospect out of tiny Stephen F. Austin. No one truly knew where he’d play with Aaron Donald, Michael Brockers and Ndamukong Suh on the defensive line, but he saw some playing time at outside linebacker, albeit very little.

The Rams taking Micah Kiser and Ogbonnia Okoronkwo in the fifth round got some fans excited, but they played a combined zero defensive snaps in 2018. In fact, no team got fewer snaps out of its rookies than the Rams. First-year players in L.A. were on the field for just 613 regular-season snaps, which is 280 fewer than the next-closest team (Patriots).

Needless to say, their 2018 draft class left Rams supporters wanting more, but it was all part of the plan in Los Angeles. John Sullivan was getting up in age, Mark Barron had a cap hit of $9.67 million in 2019 and Andrew Whitworth was about to turn 37 years old. The Rams knew what they were doing, even if it didn’t leave fans excited when the draft concluded.

Heading into next season, many of last year’s rookies will have the chance to become starters. Here are a few possible ways players from the 2018 draft class could become starters.

Allen replaces Sullivan
Kiser replaces Barron
Noteboom replaces Rodger Saffold
Franklin-Myers replaces Brockers
Okoronkwo replaces Dante Fowler Jr.

Of course, there’s a clear drop-off from Saffold to Noteboom and Fowler to Okoronkwo, but those second-year players will be significantly cheaper than the guys they could replace. That’s not to say they will, but the Rams didn’t purposely draft players at future positions of need for no reason. It wasn’t a coincidence, in other words.

Kiser is a stout run defender and younger than Barron, so the hope would be that he can at least play at a similar level against the pass and be an upgrade against the run. According to Rich Hammond of the OC Register, the Rams are already looking at Kiser to potentially replace Barron.

Now, it’s important to mention that the Rams would probably prefer not to have all of these second-year players take over as starters next season. That would mean they were unable to land superior talents at key positions in the draft or free agency. However, having the comfort of knowing there are capable players already on the roster makes drafting much easier.

With Kiser in the mix, it’s easier for the Rams to target a free safety in Round 1. With Allen at center, they don’t have to reach for a center. With Noteboom able to play left tackle or guard, Los Angeles can focus on the defense early.

Regardless of which players start and which ones don’t, the 2018 draft class is sure to have a greater impact next season than it did last year. Don’t be surprised to see someone like Allen play more snaps by himself than the entire rookie group did in 2018.

The Rams prepared for these vacancies before many fans were aware they’d even open up.