Les Snead shared insights on the Rams' unique NFL draft process, highlighting their unconventional approach to prospect evaluations and meetings. The team has not attended the combine since 2020 and prefers to assess players from a distance.
Mentioned in this story
The Los Angeles Rams take an unconventional approach to the NFL draft. Les Snead and Sean McVay havenât attended the combine in Indianapolis since 2020, nor have they been spotted at many pro days over the years.
And when it comes to prospect meetings, the Rams donât bring players to their facility for official top-30 visits like the majority of other teams do. Itâs not because they donât value the draft. They just have their own way of evaluating players from afar.
With so much talk about the Rams and their hidden interest in Ty Simpson this year, Les Snead felt compelled to clear things up. He was on the âPat McAfee Showâ on Tuesday and explained exactly what goes into combine meetings, top-30 visits and more.
âHereâs probably where it all starts and weâll get into the boring weeds of the NFL,â he began. âThereâs top-30s. Letâs start with the combine. At the combine, you can interview 45 people, letâs call it officially, 18 to 20 minutes. Thereâs some other â I forget what theyâre called now, where you can interview people in other settings.â
Then he started talking about top-30 visits, which the Rams havenât done with a player since Kobie Turner visited in 2023.
âWhat are top-30s?â he said. âYou can bring your players to your facility. Bring them to your city. What happens there is there is a lot of logistics that go with top-30s. A lot of times, players are doing multiple. Youâre working with other teams to sometimes get a player from their facility to yours at a certain time. At the end of the day, these things become more public. And, also, you can get into some of the things when youâre flying back and forth as a player from all these cities and time zones, and then thereâs a draft, and then a couple weeks later, thereâs OTAs, you can get into some soft-tissue issues.â
So, why donât the Rams bring prospects in for top-30 visits? Not only are there a lot of logistical hoops to jump through with scheduling, but they also try to hide their interest in specific players â like Simpson, for example.
The Rams take an unconventional approach, avoiding the combine and official top-30 visits, instead evaluating players from afar.
Les Snead indicated that the Rams have their own method of evaluating players, which does not involve attending the combine.
Les Snead explained the details of combine meetings and top-30 visits, emphasizing the Rams' unique evaluation process.
Ty Simpson is a prospect of hidden interest for the Rams, prompting Les Snead to clarify the team's evaluation methods regarding him.

Jannik Sinner: 'Rafa estĂĄ jugando un tenis increĂble y es uno de los rivales del futuro'
See every story in Sports â including breaking news and analysis.
âHistorically, we do not do top-30s here at the Rams,â he said. âThe main reason is this. A lot of times, when those meetings become public, a team behind you, letâs say theyâre interested in that player somewhere along that way in the draft, you never know whoâs lurking from behind. Letâs say youâre picking 55, 65, and all of a sudden, someone moves to 64 because they think you might pick that player, at that point, thereâs nothing you can do. You can just sit, wait, see what they do, and if they pick the player you want. So thereâs a little strategy there.â
âOur last top-30: 2023, Kobie Turner. The reason we did Kobie is he wasnât invited to Indy. Indyâs where a lot of the medicals and physicals occur. A lot of times, if youâre planning on drafting a player, youâd like to bring him to your city, let him go through a physical with your medical team. So 2023 is our last top-30.â
Instead of bringing prospects to their facility in Woodland Hills, the Rams prefer to go meet players on campus. Snead says they usually donât work out players in those settings, having seen plenty of practice and game film, but they do like to talk football with them, whether itâs about scheme, fit or their past experience.
This year, Snead says the Rams did 66 private visits after doing 61 last year. So their scouts and other talent evaluators met with a lot of players before the draft. It just wasnât always Snead and McVay taking those visits.
âWhat we like to do is go meet the player on their campus,â Snead said. âIn this draft cycle, we did 66 private meetings with players. In 2025 draft cycle, we did 61 private meetings with players. Thatâs not Sean and I all the time. Weâre not going to go see 66 (players). So itâs different people in our building going to connect with these players. We usually donât work them out. They played football, weâve seen them practice, weâve seen them play games. ⊠We usually like to meet the kid. Also, do this: You know how important it is with installations, whether you play offense or defense, install some of our scheme, allow those players to spit it back to us, see how theyâre processing football, see how theyâre relating what theyâve done in the past to ours, how fast it might take them to get up to speed and help the Rams. And weâll also talk ball with them about what they may do.â
For anyone wondering how the Rams handle the pre-draft process and prospect meetings, Sneadâs breakdown is great. It perfectly explains why the Rams are one of the only teams that never have reported top-30 visits and reveals how many prospects they do meet with leading up to the draft.
Itâs not that they donât put in the work. They certainly do. Itâs just that they handle all of the pre-draft madness in a different way.
This article originally appeared on Rams Wire: Rams' Les Snead breaks down prospect meetings, visits and NFL combine