The St. Louis Rams are in a very interesting position in this year’s draft. It was only two years ago that they drafted Sam Bradford with the number one overall pick, and now they have the second pick in this year’s draft. It seems that Andrew Luck and Robert Griffin III will be the first two players drafted this year, but the Rams have a lot of positions they need to address before quarterback. These positions include wide receiver, defensive tackle, and the offensive line. The Rams are not too bad at wide receiver, but if they want Sam Bradford to develop into a franchise quarterback he needs a playmaker to throw to.
The Rams will have plenty of trade offers for their pick, and they need to listen to them all. Peyton Manning says that he is going to choose his team within the next week, so when teams fail in their attempts to sign Manning, they will talk to the Rams again. Cleveland and Washington have the 4th and 6th picks respectively and they each need a quarterback. I think that these teams are the most likely candidates to trade with St. Louis. The Rams would be able to drop in the draft and maybe draft Justin Blackmon with the 4th or 6th pick. But I think they should only trade back if Andrew Luck is drafted by the Colts. If Andrew Luck is still on the board at number two, the Rams should draft him, and then trade Sam Bradford. Nothing against Sam Bradford, but I think that Andrew Luck will have a better career, and he is a better quarterback than Bradford. I know that it may seem very unlikely that the Colts draft Griffin, but I wouldn’t be too shocked. A lot of teams are very impressed with Griffin and his physical attributes, and are impressed with his speed.
However, speed doesn’t make a quarterback the best. Luck proved at Stanford that he is a winner, and even though he didn’t have the most talented team, he competed with a very good Oregon team and a talented Pac 12 Conference.
The Rams need to wait until the Colts are officially off of the clock to make their move, because anything can happen. They can still get a lot from trading Sam Bradford. Bradford is a young quarterback who almost took the Rams to the playoffs his rookie season, and he was named the Offensive Rookie of the Year. Teams will not be willing to give up as much as they would for Griffin and Luck, but the Rams could still get a lot out of the trade. They could possibly trade Bradford for one of the positions mentioned earlier, or even a running back. Yes, they do have Steven Jackson, but Jackson is getting older, and he has received so many touches throughout his years that his body has to be breaking down. For example, in the 2006 NFL season Jackson had 346 carries and 90 receptions. That is a good season, but he was tackled so many times, and he can not handle that for too much longer.
I expect the Rams to eventually trade their pick to the Redskins, and then draft Blackmon with the 6th pick overall. Blackmon will help Bradford grow as a quarterback as well as help the Rams become a much better team next season, and maybe even contend for a wild card sport. In addition, the Rams will most likely receive some other draft picks that will help their team in the future.
[…] Friday, the Washington Redskins acquired the Number 2 overall pick in the 2012 NFL Draft from the St. Louis Rams, but was it really worth it? Or I should say is he really worth it? The Redskins are almost […]