Rams Trade Down, Get Brockers

Well, that didn’t go as planned. The Rams made a splash in Thursday’s first round of the NFL Draft by trading down from 6 to 14 and picking up Michael Brockers, a defensive tackle from LSU. The trade netted the team an additional second rounder, 45th overall from the Cowboys. The Rams will now have three of the first 13 picks on Friday.

First, let me say that I think Brockers is going to be a very good player and I think he’s a very nice fit for Jeff Fisher’s defense. He is still learning, but he’s already an excellent run-stopper, and his pass-rush skills should develop. He’s a nice player, and I really like getting another early pick.

With all that said, I’m really disappointed we didn’t end up with Justin Blackmon or Michael Floyd. My guess is that when Jacksonville swooped in and stole Blackmon at five, the team made the trade thinking they could get Floyd or Fletcher Cox at 14. It didn’t happen because the Eagles traded up to get Cox and the Cardinals inexplicably took Floyd instead of Riley Reiff. That pick still doesn’t make sense to me considering Reiff fits their bigger need, but it really screwed us.

The good news is that we have three early picks on Friday and there are plenty of good players left. Some names to watch out for include OLs Jonathan Martin, Peter Konz and Cordy Glenn, WRs Rueben Randle and Stephen Hill (who I love), RB Lamar Miller and CB Janoris Jenkins.