Each day a new 2012 NFL Mock Draft rolls out with basically the same thing pick for the St. Louis Rams. With the second selection, everybody either gives the Rams Matt Kalil or Justin Blackmon. Easy as that. Hell, even I'm guilty of it. Another caveat included in those mocks is the possibility of making a trade down with teams looking to move up to draft Baylor QB Robert Griffin III.
There's another element at play here, with the Rams getting ready to hire a new head coach.

It's widely assumed that the Rams have their franchise quarterback in Sam Bradford. Rightly so. His sophomore slump aside, he still has the skills and ability to be a top quarterback in the NFL. And that takes away at least a little of the leverage the Rams have for trading that pick.
Changing staff at Rams Park, however, adds a wild card to the mix, because new coaches often mean new quarterbacks.
A new mock at CBS hints at that.
With a new regime taking over the St. Louis' front office, a quarterback is not out of the question with this pick. However if they decide to stick with Bradford as their quarterback, the Rams need to stabilize the offensive line - something the Jason Smith pick No. 2 overall in 2009 hasn't done. Kalil is talented enough to start at LT from day one and mature into a Pro Bowler.
Even if a new head coach did want to draft another QB, the Rams are strictly limited by Bradford's contract, even if they traded him.
Like I said, this is all a little far fetched. Bradford is still the kind of quarterback a team can build around, even if Jeff Fisher doesn't reportedly love him. But the bottom line is that it at least gives the Rams a smoke screen, even a small one, to play with come April.
0 recs | 61 comments
Fisher
Is a run first guy, so of course he doesn’t like Sam or McD. I got no idea what’s going to happen. Maybe McD, Lloyd, and Sam all go to KC?
OakCityRam - January 5, 2012
kreonke has already said he is behind sam bradford
Ram_Redemption - January 5, 2012
link?
RG31 - January 5, 2012 via mobile
no problem
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/columns/bernie-miklasz/bernie-bytes-kroenke-believes-in-bradford/article_d9bdac3a-3627-11e1-baa4-001a4bcf6878.html
Ram_Redemption - January 5, 2012
campaign crushed xD
RG31 - January 5, 2012 via mobile
lmao rg u better walk up to kronke with a miami jersey on and slap the shit out of em
meesage sent.
Ram_Redemption - January 5, 2012
Lol I dont see that doing anything but pissing him off
“Thanks to this kid slapping me, I’m moving the team to LA!”
RG31 - January 5, 2012 via mobile
lmao you should be happy tho
dude came straight out and said they are gonna get sam some waepons
Ram_Redemption - January 5, 2012
Yea thats what Im thinking about
The main word in his conversation was “playmakers” does this bode well for Blackmon to Rams, or is he going to fork over th cash in FA..
RG31 - January 5, 2012 via mobile
as long as they get here idc.. speaking of free agents
anyone thing fisher could bring finnegan with him?
Ram_Redemption - January 5, 2012
I think that depends on if our Cbs come back healthy
Why would he want to come here when he will be a back up?
If we do go FA for playmakers, how do you feel about DJax?
RG31 - January 5, 2012 via mobile
well finnegan would be a starter no doubt and he adds some tuff grit to a soft defense
i dunno if i want desean for number 1 money but that speed and the way ppl stack the box on us could be so dangerous. vjax is preferred but the chargers look like they might actually pay him (finally). so yea i wouldnt mind djax for a good price
Ram_Redemption - January 5, 2012
Thats also a good point, cant stand the dude but he backs down from nobody
As for Djax not only could he be a good wr but he is AJ explosive returned, two birds with one stone.
RG31 - January 5, 2012 via mobile
yea just imagine how mean he could make our young defense
and he is a one on one corner. something we might not have. as for djax .. his little body scares me, but if he would take 5-6 mill a year im all with that
Ram_Redemption - January 5, 2012
DeSean is a head case
Nothing but problems from that boy. Doesn’t come to play every weekend. We don’t need his kind in these here lands! DeSean is a tiny package of TO. All too much for a young QB to handle. No one brings up Mark Clayton. Should be all healed by summer.
fearsomefoursum - January 5, 2012
How is he a headcase?
Because he was the eagles best playmaker and he wanted his compensation, he was pissed and had a right to be. He is nowhere near TO, TO took his frustrations to the press and twitter, and wouldn’t shit the hell up. DJax did none of those. He’s young and will learn, I’d take him over any other wr in FA.
RG31 - January 5, 2012 via mobile
I'd rather keep the same WR's we've got than get Desean Jackson.
He’s a cancer … and a one trick pony.
Midasknight - January 5, 2012
Yea any evidence to back up hes a cancer
One bad season and he’s all of a sudden a cancer alright.
He has the speed to get past defenders and he can catch, we would be stupid to not consider it, our wr corps sucks! He can also return punts and is very good at it, end of story.
RG31 - January 5, 2012 via mobile
I'd pre-order a jersey tonight!
DCRamFan - January 5, 2012
So would I! lmao
RG31 - January 5, 2012 via mobile
but then i would have 2 jerseys
that say Jackson on them….
Rando - January 5, 2012
He dosen't like him.
if your talking about this year about sam yes he had a rough time. receivers dropping passes, bad ankle and a really terrible OL. put some good players out there to protect him. it just comes down to we played like crap from the get go.
crazy mike - January 5, 2012
I don't know about them trading
Ponder said he was assured by the Vikings that they would NOT be drafting a QB. Take that with a grain of salt if you will, but it makes no sense for a team to trade with the Rams when they can give up less for the Vikings pick.
Eric Nagel - January 5, 2012
In that case
We just pick Kalil and Floyd in the second
ChrisL951 - January 5, 2012
Not sure if Floyd will be available.
Receivers, running backs, and quarterbacks slide and rise in weird ways all the time. It would be nice though!
turpinforpresident - January 5, 2012
Floyd's off the field issues should drop him to the 2nd round if not we should get that guy from Baylor
ChrisL951 - January 5, 2012
Kendall wright? Yeah, i like him
turpinforpresident - January 5, 2012
Yeah that's his name
ChrisL951 - January 5, 2012
yea but if teams are competeting for RG3
who ever loses the battle for the vikings pick, will just jump to us
Ram_Redemption - January 5, 2012
^This
That’s why we’re the primary trade targets. Trading with us guarantees that they would get rg3
turpinforpresident - January 5, 2012
exactly
u have to go through us to assure urself RG3 or someone else will leapfrog u
Ram_Redemption - January 5, 2012
The only way the vikings would make more sense
is if we made the #2 pick off-limits. Which we obviously aren’t going to do, nor should we
turpinforpresident - January 5, 2012
vikings should also be in the hunt for rg
im just saying everyone knows they reached for ponder anyway, would ppl be mad if they went for the better qb?
Ram_Redemption - January 5, 2012
The only obstacle to that would be
If they thought they had too many other holes in their lineup and didn’t want to somewhat mortgage their future. That #2 pick won’t be cheap! Bwahahahahaha
turpinforpresident - January 5, 2012
am i wrong for loving that we hold allll the cards in the draft?
lol
Ram_Redemption - January 5, 2012
No sir, you are not.....
Twirls snidley whiplash moustache Mwahaha
turpinforpresident - January 5, 2012
lmao we could be looking at
2 firsts, 3 sceonds, and 3 thirds. and im being modest
Ram_Redemption - January 5, 2012
Give up less for the Vikings pick...
only to have another team jump ahead of them with a trade with the Rams.
Any team banking on RG3 will be dealing with the Rams.
Any forcing the Rams to pick doesn’t really have enough interest in him or see’s the situation as a target of opportunity.
Sggladden - January 5, 2012
The medias confounding this whole thing...
on one had Fisher wants a franchise QB, but on the other Fisher doesn’t like Sammy. Whats there not to like about Sam. Accurate, smart, and a leader on and off the field. Bradford is a great base to start any offense off with. Fisher would be out of his mind to pass up this opportunity especially with good draft picks at his disposal, a ton of spending loot for free agents, and the ability to be here and reckoned with when the next GM is chosen. Too much hype and drama with some of the report that are coming out.
Da Rams! - January 5, 2012
Wow, the media trying to push someone to go to miami instead of a small market
That’s NEVER happened
turpinforpresident - January 5, 2012
(says lebron james)
XD
Ram_Redemption - January 5, 2012
Or that guy who used to wear #5 for the cardinals
turpinforpresident - January 5, 2012
him too
Ram_Redemption - January 5, 2012
All this draft talk reminds me of last year when the draft was loaded with quaility defensive lineman.
And Devaney and Spags all but ignored them to get 2 possesion receivers and a pass catching TE. I’m still seething over that. Over the past 3 drafts I’ve had major issues with our selections. No surprise that most of them never panned out. I’m glad Devaney isn’t here to destroy another draft. He’s a small upgrade over Zygmunt and thats all the positive stuff I can say about him. Lets hope Kroenke hires a GM who uses logic, not a pulpit to pick our players . Choir boys belong in a church, not a football field.
Da Rams! - January 5, 2012
i remember asking my bro (o was at a party)
who we drafted every round.. and having to get drunk because they were ruining my fuckn night with those picks
Ram_Redemption - January 5, 2012
I kept sayin' they're fools. And thinking that Devaney and Spags just added extra nails in they're coffin.
I know a lot of TST’ers were envisioning a Patriots TE/possesion receiver offense. And who knows, maybe it would have worked if all the injuries hadn’t happened. This team could have had a dominant defense just by adding picks on that side of the ball. You draft BPA’s first and need second. I just had a bad feeling heading into the season, even after all the free agent pick-ups. With every dropped pass by those rookie pass catchers you new what the ending was going to be to the season, and the coach.
Da Rams! - January 5, 2012
honestly im much more comfortable with the WCO
quick passes, take pressur off the oline, run the football
Ram_Redemption - January 5, 2012
Fisher....
Fisher likes but doesn’t love Sam Bradford. I guess he loves Matt Moore.
Ricksome - January 5, 2012
Over 50% of top 5 picks since 1970 have not performed to expectations.
Take a look at www.databasefootball.com, You can look up all kinds of crap on past drafts. Since 1970, there have been (IMO) 13 number one overall draft picks who have lived up to their billing. Now that is not to say the rest were all busts, but they didn’t live up to expectations. If you take that to top 5 picks in the draft, the odds are even worse that you get a superstar. Again, this is my opinion in looking at the productivity of their career, but I came up with 45% of top 5 picks actually pan out to warrant that level. Honestly, I think I was being generous. My point is, even using the number 2 overall pick for a “sure thing” like Kalil or Blackmon, you are statistically taking a 50/50 chance of getting a Tony Mandarich or Roy Williams as opposed to an Orlando Pace or Larry Fitzgerald. Trade down for multiple picks if at all possible.
David5264 - January 5, 2012
That's no surprise
They are all over hyped and over paid for young guys coming out of college, I am surprised the number isn’t closer to 75%
ChrisL951 - January 5, 2012
Is there ANY way by hook or crook that we could get both Kalil and Blackmon???
JHaier - January 5, 2012
It would take a lot of balls to pull that one off.
It would cost us dearly, but I’d like to have both of them to.
Matt and Justin. It’s not impossible, just very costly.
look closer - January 5, 2012
I truly believe whoever wants RG3 will deal with us, even if they know we won't pick him.
Sure MIN may require less picks, but it’d be ignorant to not deal with us. Heck, I’d wait until the last 15 secs then draft RG3 if nobody wants to trade with us. Does anyone think teams would not try to swing a deal with us for him if we drafted him? If we wuss out and take Kalil or Blackmon we screw ourselves. If we take RG3 we wield the power, but the deal is to get fair value or whatever the highest bidder is offering. We will hear offers, but make no demands. That’s how I’d handle this situation.
RamsFan1979 - January 5, 2012
That's what it may very well come down to.
What do we do when we’re not happy with the offers we’ve received for that pick and it’s time to make it? The script calls for a bottom line offer or take the player we need, right? Well I’d go off the script for this year and take RGII to force the trade. We wouldn’t get m ax value with the compromised position of having to trade him but we would remove all the competition.
dbcouver - January 5, 2012
Would we already know what they'd be willing to give us?
I’d hope that those talks wouldnt start when the Rams hit the clock…
DCRamFan - January 5, 2012
I've read a little here and there that MIN may get multiple offers;
the thought is to jump ahead of CLE who will probably want to take the QB. You almost have to believe one of the other teams will want to deal with us. I believe we could still get maximum value for RG3 if we selected him; draft and trade for multiple picks. I’d rather a team make us a good offer to swap out of our spot and stay in the top 10.
This is a link for the NFL’s value chart, though it is for last year it gives you an idea of what the value of the picks bring: http://walterfootball.com/draftchart.php
RamsFan1979 - January 5, 2012
Landry Jones staying
makes our pick that much more valuable, IMO
DCRamFan - January 5, 2012
Heres what we should do in the draft...
trade the 2nd pick, hopefully landing in the top 10, pray tampa bay doesnt take blackmon, take blackmon, then draft TWO interior olinemen and lamichael james, proceed to superbowl :)
Hibachi40 - January 5, 2012
I don't know if the FO is that smart or will be.
But it sounds good to me, given that; Extra picks would be coming to us with the trade-down.
look closer - January 5, 2012
i would like to point out some WR we didnt pick the last time
we picked an OT overall: jeremy maclin, heyward-bey, michael crabtree, percy harvin, hakeem nicks, kenny britt, mike wallace, and johnny knox. pretty decent class and yet we somehow screwed it up.. so i say blackmon!
Rando - January 5, 2012
what are the chances of us landing broyles too now later in the draft because of his injury. blackmon and broyles would be nasty
profoundnotions - January 6, 2012 via Android app
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