Mocking the Draft’s Dan Kadar has put out his “A+ move” that every team made in the 2019 NFL Draft.

For the Los Angeles Rams, it’s a good reminder of what the draft has served as for the last two years: an opportunity to build for the future.

Kadar tabs Michigan Wolverines CB David Long as the Rams’ brilliant move in looking beyond 2019:

Getting roster protection. Cornerbacks Marcus Peters and Aqib Talib are free agents after this season. If the Rams can’t retain both, they should be fine after landing Michigan cornerback David Long in the third round.

Kadar’s hardly wrong, but I think it’s worth expanding on this.

The selection of OL Joseph Noteboom a year ago in the 2018 NFL Draft was getting roster protection. So was the selection of OL Brian Allen last year. So was the selection of Washington Huskies S Taylor Rapp last week. The Rams afforded themselves the chance to draft beyond immediate roster gaps thanks to wise drafting in the years prior and successful purchases via free agency and trades. As Kadar notes though, doing so is both sanguine and commendable.

The Rams’ A+ move in this draft is one they started last year and continued into this draft. We’ll likely get a real sense of how successful (or not) those moves from last year actually were as they begin to get playing time this season, but it’s encouraging that the Rams are comfortable enough to build for the future while competing in the present.

And laudable that they gave themselves the opportunity to do so in the first place.