St. Louis Rams Must Make Big Trade In 2015 NFL Draft

For Jeff Fisher and Les Snead, the 2015 NFL Draft may be their biggest as a part of the St. Louis Rams. They have a team that is on the brink of breaking through, but if they are unable to make big fixes to the offensive line, that breakthrough won’t happen.

There has been speculation that they would be interested in drafting Brandon Scherff with the 10th overall pick, but the Rams currently have three holes on the offensive line meaning that just one top talent won’t be enough to fix this top problem.

In order to fix the offensive line and take this team to the next step, the Rams must make a big trade in the 2015 NFL Draft, they must find a way to get two top offensive line talents. The only way to do that would be to trade back into the first round.

This draft isn’t necessarily deep at the offensive line positions. While you could find a viable starter in the second or third round, finding a franchise changing player is unlikely; the odds are against it.

If the Rams could draft Scherff at ten then trade back into the first round in the 25-30 range to take a player like Florida State center Cameron Erving, the Rams offensive line would be in very good shape. There would be two rookies starting up front, however these are two top talents that won’t have many rookie stumbles during the season.

Scherff could play tackle, but would be better suited inside at guard where he can be a cornerstone in the run game. Not to mention he isn’t bad in pass protection

Meanwhile, Erving has played is a tackle converted center, who excelled at both positions. He has all-pro potential at center.

These are two players that would have a great impact on the St. Louis Rams, and the fact of the matter is, there aren’t two other players like them in the draft. These are two very good players.

The only problems with this situation are if Scherff gets taken before ten, and if moving back into the first round becomes too expensive. However, really these aren’t problem at all. As more and more mocks come out and we are getting closer to the draft, it seems more likely that Scherff will drop to the Rams at ten.

That leaves the next problem of moving back into the first round. The Rams hold the 41st pick in the 2015 NFL Draft and in order to get Erving, most likely they would need to move at least ahead of the Indianapolis Colts at 29 and even possibly the Denver Broncos at 28.

Last season the Minnesota Vikings moved up from 40 to 32 giving up their second round pick(40th overall) as well as their fourth round pick. In 2013, the Vikings moved up again moving up from 52 to 29 giving the Patriots their second, third, fourth, and seventh round selections.

Given the recent history, for the Rams to move up and get Erving and move up to the 25-30 range it would take their second round pick, their second round pick next year, and maybe a fourth round pick.

That may seem like a lot, but given the type of player that Erving is, it would be worth it. In the Fisher/Snead era, the Rams have taken Joyner, Pead, Jenkins, Quick, Alexander, Jones, and Given in the second and fourth rounds, nothing special. Erving on the other hand is.

Until last year, Fisher had never taken an offensive linemen in the first round of an NFL Draft, and in this situation, I have him taking two. However, going back to last year, the Rams almost traded back into the first round to get Zack Martin. Unfortunately the Cowboys took Martin before the Rams had the chance.

This season, the Rams can’t let that happen, especially with the current situation on the offensive line. The only way they shouldn’t take Scherff at ten is if Amari Cooper is still on the board, and even if they do get Cooper there still shouldnt be a reason for not trading up to get Erving, especially because the Rams have an extra second round pick that they got for Sam Bradford.

If the Rams want Nick Foles to flourish in this offense they are going to need to protect him, taking Scherff and then making a big move by trading up for Cameron Erving would be a big step on their way to doing just that.

Next: St. Louis Rams Intend To Draft A Quarterback

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