After trading their first-round pick the previous night, the Rams on Friday selected Oregon tight end Terrance Ferguson in the second round with the 46th overall pick.
The Rams drafted Ferguson to bolster a position group that includes veteran Tyler Higbee, Colby Parkinson and Davis Allen.
The Rams went into the draft without a second-round pick. They acquired the 46th pick, a seventh round pick and a 2026 first-round pick in a trade with the Atlanta Falcons.
The Rams still have picks in the third and fourth rounds, three in the sixth and one in the seventh.
Sean McVay gives pep talk to first responders
Rams coach Sean McVay speaks to first responders at L.A. Fire Dept. Air Command on April 25, 2025.
(Gary Klein / Los Angeles Times)
Rams coach Sean McVay is accustomed to inspiring players on the field and in the team’s meeting rooms and locker rooms.
On Friday, as the Rams prepared for the second night of the draft, McVay used his oratory skills before another assemblage of pros.
About 150 first responders who were involved in operations during the Palisades and Eaton fires in January were on hand at the Los Angeles Fire Department Air Operations headquarters in Van Nuys, where the Rams are conducting the draft.
Team president Kevin Demoff and McVay addressed the group that was made up of attendees from multiple fire and law enforcement agencies in Los Angeles and Ventura counties.
A group of Rams players that included quarterback Matthew Stafford, receiver Puka Nacua, edge rusher Jared Verse, defensive linemen Kobie Turner and Braden Fiske, tight end Tyler Higbee and running backs Kyren Williams and Blake Corum mingled and posed for photos with the crowd.
Corum echoed McVay, describing the first responders as true heroes.
“Coach McVay is a very inspirational person,” Corum said. “Hearing him talk [Friday] about how inspirational the first responders are… was wonderful. But being here was even better.”
LAFD Capt. Erik Scott, the department’s public information officer, praised the Rams for their community outreach and relief efforts.
“We strive to be leaders in our own professions and sections,” Scott said, “and to see true leaders of other arenas inspire a group of people like that was really impressive.”