Report: Rams had interest in WR before he was drafted in 2nd round

Perhaps the biggest and only weakness left on the Los Angeles Rams roster heading into the 2026 season is depth at receiver, but Sean McVay and Les Snead were reportedly targeting one with an early-round pick in the draft.

According to ESPN's Adam Schefter, the Rams were one of the teams that "had eyes" on Ole Miss receiver De'Zhaun Stribling. But before L.A. could land the receiver (their next pick after No. 13 was at No. 61) , the San Francisco 49ers swooped in to secure Stribling at No. 33.

"There were a couple of teams that I spoke to leading up to the draft that felt like that De'Zhaun Stribling was the best wide receiver in the draft. Another team, supposedly the Los Angeles Rams had eyes on him as well," Schefter said this week. "The 49ers didn’t just come up with this pick out of nowhere, they knew that there were other teams that had a very high grade on Stribling when the 49ers declined to trade out the top draft slot in the second round and take him there.”

Stribling was coming off his lone season at Ole Miss in which he caught 55 passes for 811 yards and six touchdowns. Add in a blazing 4.36 40-yard dash at the combine, and it's easy to see why teams were higher on him than his consensus draft grade suggested.

Instead of adding a receiver at pick No. 61, the Rams went a different direction, taking Ohio State tight end Max Klare — their second consecutive year using a second-round pick at the position. It's a defensible selection given how heavily Sean McVay's offense already leans on multiple-tight-end sets, but it meant the Rams waited on receiver until C.J. Daniels in the sixth round.

L.A. took Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson with their first-round pick at No. 13 after trading away their No. 19 pick to the Kansas City Chiefs for cornerback Trent McDuffie.

The 6-foot-2, 220-pound Stribling would have been an intriguing option for the Rams given their receiver depth. Puka Nacua and Davante Adams are the alphas on the roster, but the third receiver position is essentially up for grabs between Konata Mumpfield, Jordan Whittington, Xavier Smith and Daniels. Stribling offered a much higher ceiling than that group and he was also a renowned pass-blocker — a key attribute McVay likes in his receivers.

Now, McVay and the Rams will have to face off against Stribling at least twice a year for the foreseeable future.

This article originally appeared on Rams Wire: Report: Rams had interest in WR before he was drafted in 2nd round