Since the new rookie wage scale was introduced, the NFL Draft has turned from “mock-friendly” to a flea-market of trades and deals. The St. Louis Rams have fully embraced that change, trading down twice in the 2012 Draft and then trading out of both the 16th and 22nd spot yesterday. Less money for player and more ease in trades sets up the Draft for a number of  ”WTF” moments. Here are a handful from yesterday:

Miami Dolphins Take Dion Jordan 3rd Overall

When the announcement was leaked that the Miami Dolphins had traded up to take the Oakland Raiders spot at 3rd overall, the entire world saw “Lane Johnson” written all over the pick. When the commissioner announced Dion Jordan, everyone took a brief pause, including John Gruden…

The Entire Bills And Rams Trade Scenario

Throughout the day yesterday, the Buffalo Bills were blowing smoke that they might take Tavon Austin with the 8th overall pick. There were also rumblings that the New York Jets, who also held two 1st rounders, would bite on the WVU star if he fell to 9th in the draft. However, Snead and Co. decided to do a re-take of the Julio Jones trade in Atlanta, skyrocketing up the board from 16th to 8th and nabbing Austin before anyone else got a shot at him. However, the Austin pick was not the most intriguing of the two! With the 16th pick, the Bills chose to take the first, and only, quarterback in the 1st round… E.J. Manuel. The expression on Geno Smith’s face said it all.

The 19th and 20th Picks

“Short-armed,” lacks ideal size,” and “doesn’t respond well to sudden moves” are not attributes you want to describe your brand new offensive tackle, but that did not stop the New York  Giants from taking Justin Pugh with their 1st round pick yesterday. He is a versatile player, but would have likely been available in the mid- to late-2nd round. However, it only took one pick for everything to forget about the Giants and whip their attention to the Chicago Bears. Kyle Long, the brother of Chris Long on the St. Louis Rams, was projected as a 2nd rounder, with the potential to swing up into the late-1st. Apparently the Bears were not willing to wait, biting on the “high-ceiling” prospect before anyone else could even think about him…

Sharrif Floyd

You would be hard-pressed to find a mock where Floyd was not taken within the Top 15 in the 2013 NFL Draft, and yet, he was forced to sit “Aaron Rodgers-style” as his name dropped further and further down the draft board. The Minnesota Vikings stole the show on Thursday night, beginning by grabbing one of the top rated players in the draft at 23rd overall…

The Cowboys Being… Well, The Cowboys

The Dallas Cowboys surprisingly went against their typical Jerry Jones-like style and traded back in the draft with the San Francisco 49ers in the 1st round. The ‘Boys are a team filled with holes, especially throughout the offensive line, but, more pressingly, on the defensive side of the football. With the 30th pick, the team was in prime position to take either Manti Te’o or their pick of Matt Elam or Jonathan Cyprien. Instead, they pick Travis Frederick… To be fair, Frederick was the top prospect at center on the majority of boards. However, he was also graded as a late-2nd to mid-3rd round pick in the 2013 NFL Draft…

Dec 9, 2012; Orchard Park, NY, USA; Buffalo Bills running back C.J. Spiller (28) running against the St. Louis Rams at Ralph Wilson Stadium. Rams beat the Bills 15-12. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Hoffman-USA TODAY Sports

1. Buffalo Bills

I know it is hard to go from hatred to love in only a week’s worth of time, but St. Louis desperately needs the Buffalo Bills to overpower the division-rival Seattle Seahawks today. Seattle is still two games ahead of the Rams in the NFC standings, meaning that St. Louis will need the ‘Hawks to lose, at least, two more games to jump them into the playoffs. The good news for the Bills is that Seattle will be playing without two of their starting corners, with Browner (due to suspension) and Thurman (injury) out Sunday. Also, the ‘Hawks have not been able to handle elite rushers well in the last half of the season, allowing 187 yard to Adrian Peterson, 105 to Matt Forte/Michael Bush, and 87 to Reggie Bush, all in the last five games. Moreover, the ‘Hawks are 2-5 on the road this season, with those two win coming over the, then 1-3, Carolina Panthers early in the season and the Chicago Bears, post-Culter concussion. I expect a big day from both C.J. Spiller, with Fred Jackson on IR, and Stevie Johnson.

2. Cleveland Browns

The Cleveland Browns are one of the more underrated teams in the NFL this season. They are the first team in the modern-era of football to be starting a rookie quarterback, running back, and wide receiver on the team, and are doing so while undergoing a drastic change in the front office. They are 4-2 over the last six game, including wins over the Steelers and Chargers. The team plays significantly better at home than on the road, with four of their five wins coming while playing in Cleveland.

This week, they are playing the Washington Redskins at home. The Redskins are one of the three NFC teams that are one game ahead of the St. Louis Rams in the standings, along with the Dallas Cowboys and Minnesota Vikings. The most important note for this game is that Robert Griffin III has been deactivated due to last week’s knee injury, leaving Kirk Cousin to man the team in his first start in NFL. That means that the ‘Skins will likely lean on Alfred Morris offensively, making it a head-to-head matchup between he and fellow rookie running back, Trent Richardson. Cleveland’s rush defense is middle-of-the-road, but they have forced 9 fumbles and only allowed 10 rushing touchdowns this season. However, their real strength is in pass defense, currently ranked 6th in the league in interceptions, and allowing only 19 passing touchdowns this season, most of which came in the opening half of the season when several of the Browns top secondary players were out. Redskins on the road, without Griffin may be a deadly combo for Washington… hopefully.

3. Pittsburgh Steelers and Green Bay Packers

The Steelers and Packers play the Cowboys and Bears, respectively, this Sunday. To start, the Bears are two games ahead of the Rams in the NFC standings, having lost four of their last five games. The team has not been the same offensively since Cutler got knocked out with a concussion, and the defense has been completely devastated with injury, including  their all-stars, Urlacher, Jennings, Briggs, and Tillman. Green Bay destroyed the Bears early in the season, resulting in Culter infamously shoving his offensive tackle on the sideline. The Packers are on a hot streak, and that will likely not end today.

The Steerlers are as much a hot mess as any team in the NFL. The have lost three of their last four game, and barely beat the Kansas City Chiefs in overtime in Week 10. They have zero running backs on their roster that can be trusted holding onto the football, and Ben Roethlisberger is as banged up as any player in the league that isn’t already on IR. Still, the Dallas Cowboys are ahead of the Rams in the standings, having miraculously won four of their last five games. However, they played the lowly Philadelphia Eagle twice in the span, beat the Browns in overtime after going down early on in the game, and squeaked by the Bengals in the waning second of the game for a 1-point win last week. The Cowboys are 3- 5 against teams with a winning record, and are playing against one of the best defensive minds in the history of the NFL. Rams’ fans should be cheering for a ton of “Romo-ing” in this game…

4. New England Patriots and New York Giants

Save your cheering for the previously mentioned teams on this list, but if you have a little left over, throw it to the Giants and the Patriots. The Patriots take on the San Francisco 49ers, and no one likes to see a division rival win on Sunday. The Giants are more interesting, taking on the Atlanta Falcons today. A loss today could mean that the Washington Redskins are back in the hunt for the NFC East crown, which no one wants to think about. The last thing the Rams need is to bypass the Redskins in the rankings and then have them sneak in the playoffs because the New York Giants couldn’t win a game in December. That particular scenario is extremely unlikely, but you do not want to leave anything up to chance this time of the year. Why should St. Louis Rams fans want the New York Giants to win the NFC East? Simply, the Washington Redskins draft spot come April.

Dec 9, 2012; Orchard Park, NY, USA; Buffalo Bills quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick (14) gets sacked by St. Louis Rams free safety Quintin Mikell (27) and defensive end Robert Quinn (94) during the second half at Ralph Wilson Stadium. Rams beat the Bills 15-12. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Hoffman-USA TODAY Sports

Four weeks ago, the St. Louis Rams were being mentioned alongside the Kansas City Chiefs and the Oakland Raiders, teams at the bottom of the league that were likely to be picking in the Top 10 in April. Now, the Rams have won three straight games for the first time since 2006, and are right in the thick of the playoff hunt in the NFC. The win over Buffalo was ugly, but no one in St. Louis will be complaining about how pretty a victory is on Sunday. Still, there were some areas for improvement, and some areas that were improved. Here are Ramblin’ Fans quick thoughts on the game:

1. Sam Bradford need to be playing every quarter like it is the 4th, because he looked as good as any quarterback in the waning minutes of the game in Buffalo. In fact, ESPN’s Mike Sando tweeted earlier this morning that Bradford trails only Peyton Manning in 4th quarter QBR, which is exception considering he is above “elite” signal callers, like Brady and Rodgers. However, before than, Bradford looked pretty mediocre with the ball in this hands, which might be putting it lightly. Mike Martz complained the entire game that there was no separation in the secondary, so not all the blame can go on Bradford. Still, the St. Louis Rams should not have to “come from behind” against the Bills.

2. I have personally never been on the C.J. Spiller bandwagon. Fred Jackson is the back that the Bills use in short yardage, between-the-tackle run plays, while Spiller got the sweeps and off-tackle run in pass-or-run situations. Yes, averaging 6.6 yards per carry for 100+ attempts is impressive, but it is not “elite” or Pro Bowl material, especially when you aren’t handling the “tough” runs. The Rams defense held Spiller to only 37 yards on 7 rushing attempts, and with Fred Jackson hurt, the rest of the league will get to watch Spiller’s YPR average sink back into normal range. It is rough being a “feature back” in the NFL, just ask Steven Jackson…

3. Speaking of Jackson, his relentless running is, if anything, what will get the Rams into the playoffs this season. Although 19 attempts for 64 yards does not look like an impressive day, his hard style of running wore down the interior of the line and allowed Bradford to use play action later in the game to find players open down the field. A good running back can run the ball effectively, put up big yards, and get first downs. A great running back can do all of that, but, more importantly, can draw the attention of the defense and open up the passing game. That is what Jackson did by the 4th quarter on Sunday.

4. Brandon Gibson might be the most infuriating player on the St. Louis Rams roster. The hot-or-cold wide receiver has been M.I.A for the past 4-6 weeks, then pops up out of no where and snags 6 catches for 100 yards and a touchdown. Bradford was impressive on the Rams last drive of the game, but none of that happens without Gibson playing some phenomenal football against an above average secondary. Also, give credit to Austin Pettis for his circus catch on 4th and 1…

5. Janoris Jenkins is going to have to learn to attack the outside shoulder when he is keeping contain on a player. As the edge man, Jenkins went inside on Spiller in the second half, allowing him to break it the outside for an important Bills’ first down. Luckily, the defense was able to hold, but against Adrian Peterson, Doug Martin, or Marshawn Lynch, that type of play will quickly turn into a touchdown. Jenkins made the same mistake last week on a near-sack against Colin Kaepernick…

6. Having Austin Pettis on punt return is nerve racking, especially since he loves to catch the ball extremely deep in STL territory. I can understand why you wouldn’t want to risk Givens getting hurt on punt return, but with field position being such a problem, you would expect the Rams to put much more of a playmaker back deep returning.

7. As much as Johnny Hekker deserves to get ripped for his performances in the last two games, his clutch scoop and punt might have been one of the pivotal moments in the game. Yes, the snap was perfect! However, his awareness to chase the ball and launch it to midfield was astonishing. Most punters would have simply jumped on the ball, which would have handed the football to Buffalo already well within field goal range. Easily the most not-clutch and clutch special teams play of the day.

8. Michael Brockers will not get any looks for Defensive Rookie of the Year, but I cannot imagine any first-year defenseman that could have possibly had more influence than the big, run-stuffing defensive tackle. Brockers’ 4 sacks on the season are not mind-blowing, but considering he sat out the first quarter of the season nursing an ankle injury, and was not “full strength” until about midway through the year, his numbers are fairly impressive. However, his individual numbers cannot fully paint the picture of his influence on the team. The St. Louis rush defense is now one of the more potent in the league, exemplified by the shutting down of Frank Gore, twice, and, now C.J. Spiller. The Rams will be truly tested in the next three games, but Brockers’ presence in the middle of field is something that no player on the Rams roster can replicate.

9. Shout out to the one-time St. Louis Ram, and now starting quarterback for the Buffalo Bills, Ryan Fitzpatrick. The kid played his heart out for the Blue and Gold when he was the third stringer behind Marc Bulger in the “dark ages” of the Rams organization. He was a trooper out there on Sunday, taking 4 sacks and 11 hits during a well fought game. Not many players from that era in St. Louis football history are still playing in the league today, so props to him for finding a home and getting that big contract.

10. Originally, my St. Louis Rams’ draft “wish list” consisted of University of Alabama guard, Chance Warmack, and LSU safety, Eric Reid, in the first round. After watching the team on Sunday, there is no way that the Rams could pass on one of the “top” wide receivers in the draft. Granted, there are no Top 10, must-have wide outs in this years draft. However, the Rams wouldn’t be able to grab one of those guys anyways, assuming the team does not flame out at the end of the season. Justin Hunter (UT) and Keenan Allen (Cal) are both first round talents with good size and speed, with the added bonus of having played against some NFL-caliber talent. They should also both be available in the 15-20 range of the first round. There are few “elite” wide receiver available in 2013 free agency, aside from Dwayne Bowe and Greg Jennings. If you think that the Rams will be the only one clambering for their services, you are sadly mistaken. The money the Rams do have should go to extending current player contracts and filling some of the much larger holes on the team, particularly safety, guard, and outside linebacker.