2013 NFL Mock Draft: The St. Louis Rams Select…

Much like the Presidential elections or the Olympic Games, it is never too early to start talking about the NFL Draft, especially now that the league has entered the final quarter of the regular season. The lovely writers at FanSided.com will be releasing a weekly mock draft from now until the big day in April, which you can check out by following this link.

While the St. Louis Rams are still technically in the hunt for a spot in the playoffs, odds are that the team will be picking somewhere in the 15-18 range. So without further ado, “With the 13th pick of the 2013 NFL Draft, the St. Louis Rams have selected…”

Taylor Lewan, Offensive Tackle, Michigan

"Sam Bradford needs any help he can get and the Rams can start by adding a monster tackle to protect the guy they drafted to be their franchise quarterback. The jury is still out on Bradford, but adding an imposing tackle like Lewan would go a long way in helping Bradford’s progress."

Personally, the St. Louis Rams should be focusing on the defensive side of the ball with this pick, unless there is some “can’t miss” playmaker that falls this far on the board. However, if the Rams do choose to make another investment in the offensive line for Sam Bradford, I doubt you will hear many complaints from the St. Louis faithful. Barry Richardson is currently ranked as the 12th worst tackle in the NFL according to Pro Football Focus. But, after acquiring Wayne Hunter from the Jets and Chris Williams from Chicago, the Rams may already have a player that can step in an relieve Barry at the end of the season… or, hopefully, sooner.

Typically, now is the point where we would go on to explain why Lewan would be the right selection for the St. Louis Rams to make with the 13th pick. Instead, we are going to bypass that for this week and move on to more important matters. What might those be? Well, in each of this years’ mock drafts, the Rams will get to dissect two players, courtesy of Robert Griffin III and the Washington Redskin.

So, “With their

first

second pick of the 2013 NFL Draft, the St. Louis Rams have selected…”

 Eric Reid, Safety, LSU

"The Rams are beginning to turn things around and anytime you have multiple first-round picks you need to go with the best player available strategy. At this point in the draft, with a safety class that lacks depth, it would make sense to pull the trigger on a safety like Reid. Pairing him up with Cortland Finnegan in the Rams secondary could form a great duo for the future."

*BAM* That is the sound of the mocker for this draft hitting the nail on the head.  Safety is easily the biggest concern for the St. Louis Rams heading into April. After this season, Craig Dahl will be sorely missed, mainly because he was the easy scapegoat, and the likely culprit, for a majority of the Rams defensive woes over the last season and a half. Many had hoped that Darian Stewart would fully recover from injury and line up next to Mikell in the secondary, but that does not appear to be happening this season.

Reid is the top ranked safety on a majority of boards, for now. NFLDraftScout.com raised concerns about his ability to control his aggressiveness and intensity on the field. He is a big bodied safety, measuring in at 6ft, 2in tall and weighing 212 lbs., who loves to play up in the box and make crushing hits on the ball carrier. Reid is the type of safety that will make wide receiver not want to go across the middle on a slant or crossing route, and make them pay for it if they do. The LSU star is the prototype of the player that Jeff Fisher prefers in his secondary. The St. Louis Rams genuinely need a safety with basic coverage skills and the ability to read-and-react on the field, but not at the expense of someone who is strong in run support; Reid can be both.