SB Nation St. Louis - NFL Mock Draft 2012: SB Nation St. Louis's Complete Mock Draft

Justin Blackmon Is Solid Choice Of Mock NFL Draft Gurus As Rams' 1st Pick, But Will He Be There?

2012-04-26T22:24:15Z

If you go with what all the NFL mock draft experts are saying, former Oklahoma State standout wide-receiver Justin Blackmon will be the first-round selection of the St. Louis Rams when they hand the card to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell naming the No. 6 overall selection Thursday night in the opening round of the 2012 NFL draft.

About the only thing certain about this year's draft, though, is that Andrew Luck and Heisman Trophy winner Robert Griffin III will be the first two names called, probably in that order. After that, nobody really knows, even though all of the so-called experts lead us to believe they do.

No one would argue that Blackmon is an ideal fit for the Rams' immediate needs. Quarterback Sam Bradford, who starred for the other big Oklahoma football program, the Oklahoma Sooners, needs more weapons at the wide-receiver position, and there probably is a better candidate in this year's draft class to fill that need. Blackmon is a two-time back-to-back winner of the Biltenikoff award as the top receiver in college football. In his two seasons at Oklahoma State, the 6-foot-5 big-play receiver gained over 3,300 yards receiving and hauled in 38 touchdowns, helping lead his team to their best single season in school history and a Big 12 championship.

The real issue isn't whether St. Louis has it's eyes set on Blackmon, it's whether he will be there for the taking come the sixth selection. Blackmon is known to have made visits to Minnesota, Cleveland and Tampa Bay, which all pick immediately in front of the Rams. He also talked with Miami, Carolina and Buffalo, who pick eighth, ninth and tenth, respectively, in the opening round of the 2012 draft.

This is what makes the opening rounds of the NFL draft so exciting. It's always great when you can get your man, but you have to be ready and armed with contingency plans B, C and sometimes D, if you can't.

Let the auction begin.

Follow the St. Louis Rams all year long at Turf Show Times.

NFL Mock Draft 2012: What Do The Green Bay Packers Even Need?

2012-04-26T21:20:03Z

Pity the 2012 NFL Mock Draft writer as he gets up to these heights in the first round. What do you get for a team that has most everything? The Green Bay Packers have a quarterback who's coming off a Peyton-Manning-in-his-prime kind of year, they're a season removed from a Super Bowl win, and they went 15-1 last year. Okay: They did finish just 19th in points allowed, which kept them a merely outstanding team instead of a transcendent one. That's made Notre Dame safety Harrison Smith a popular choice, and who am I to disagree?

The word everyone uses to describe Smith is steady. He'll be good right away, the Packers won't have to hide him anyplace, and he can step in and help out on a team that will be a disappointment if it doesn't go 15-1 again. (I mean, no pressure, Harrison Smith. I'm just saying—you fall this far in an NFL Mock Draft, and teams start to have... expectations.)

SB Nation St. Louis's 2012 NFL Mock Draft is moving from No. 1 to 32 in the days leading up the real draft. You can follow along at our draft storystream, or read more mock draft recaps in our mock draft analysis storystream.

Last: No. 27 overall, New England Patriots
SB Nation St. Louis 2012 NFL Mock Draft
Next: No. 29 overall, Baltimore Ravens

NFL Mock Draft 2012: New England Patriots Look To Trade One First-Rounder

2012-04-26T21:00:39Z

As a St. Louis Rams fan I'm tempted to use the New England Patriots' No. 27 pick in our 2012 NFL Mock Draft to select, say, cholera, or just a big box filled with garbage, or a wardrobe of hooded sweatshirts. I'm doubly tempted because the Patriots seem no more interested in the pick themselves; they want desperately to trade it or No. 31 overall, though no takers have yet emerged. If the Boston Globe can be confused about their intentions so can I, right?

Nevertheless: If they don't trade this one, I like them going out on a limb and taking somebody like Stephen Hill. Their current wide receivers are getting older, but they're still effective; Hill is young, but not yet that effective. That works for me. Hill, a fast-mover in recent mock drafts and a genuine potential-number-one project, would be buried on the depth chart in the early going, but he couldn't ask for a better place to be buried.

But they'll probably trade it or something, because Bill Belichick doesn't want me to be happy.

Last: No. 26 overall, Houston Texans
SB Nation St. Louis 2012 NFL Mock Draft
Next: No. 28 overall, Green Bay Packers

NFL Mock Draft 2012: Houston Texans Go To Linebacker Well At No. 26

2012-04-26T18:58:38Z

The 2012 NFL Draft is undeniably deep in at least two places: Life-Changingly Great Quarterbacks, and Defensive Ends Who Might Be Linebackers. The second one poses a particular challenge for writers working on a 2012 NFL Mock Draft, even on draft day: What's to be done when a team might be interested in, say, Whitney Mercilus and Shea McClellin and Nick Perry? Answer: Guess. That's why I've got the Houston Texans taking Whitney Mercilus of Illinois—because they have to take one of those guys.

Over at SpreeGoogs they have the Texans taking Stephen Hill, which is a much stranger, potentially fascinating pick, but I'm more boring than that. SB Nation's suggested Kendall Wright might also be an option. But if they root around in the bag of potential defensive difference-makers for a while, they're likely to find something they like; let's just hope they don't accidentally grab the one who's been sitting around at the bottom too long.

SB Nation St. Louis's 2012 NFL Mock Draft is moving from No. 1 to 32 as we count down to the real draft. You can follow along at our draft storystream, or read more mock draft recaps in our mock draft analysis storystream.

Last: No. 25 overall, Denver Broncos
SB Nation St. Louis 2012 NFL Mock Draft
Next: No. 27 overall, New England Patriots

NFL Mock Draft 2012: Denver Broncos Have Peyton Manning To Consider

2012-04-26T18:45:39Z

I'm going out on a limb here: The Denver Broncos' NFL Draft plans were probably a little different when Tim Tebow was their starting quarterback, and not Peyton Manning. With Tebow, a 2012 NFL Mock Draft writer had to consider their Denver muse's exceedingly bizarre skill-set; with Manning, he has to consider the Broncos' suddenly narrow window for contention. I like Boise State running back Doug Martin here—he gives Manning a running back with receiving skills, unlike Willis McGahee, and he gives McGahee a cohort with which to split all those carries Tebow was taking for himself.

The Broncos are one of the strangest teams in football right now. We don't know much of anything about them, but we know a lot about their component parts, and they seem likely to be contenders. Somehow. Because of all that uncertainty, it's hard to feel confident about any mock draft pick, but this one makes sense to me at the moment.

SB Nation St. Louis's 2012 NFL Mock Draft is moving from No. 1 all the way to No. 32 today. You can follow along at our draft storystream, or read more mock draft recaps in our mock draft analysis storystream.

Last: No. 24 overall, Pittsburgh Steelers
SB Nation St. Louis 2012 NFL Mock Draft
Next: No. 26 overall, Houston Texans

NFL Mock Draft 2012: Pittsburgh Steelers Pluck Dont'a Hightower

2012-04-26T18:29:56Z

Sometimes it's easy to forget that the Pittsburgh Steelers draft players; typically—even when I'm in the middle of writing a 2012 NFL Mock Draft—I just assume that everyone on the team is a hard-nosed, exceedingly professional veteran between the ages of 28 and 31 who has been playing in Pittsburgh for five to eight years. I suppose they have to come from somewhere, though, and with the No. 24 pick in the 2012 NFL Draft we have them selecting Dont'a Hightower of Alabama.

That's been a common connection for a few months now—ever since the Steelers released James Farrior—and nothing, even Hightower's slowly sliding draft stock, seems to be standing in its way at the moment. Hightower can stick around for a few years, turn 28, and then I can forget about the Steelers having ever drafted anybody again. Perfect, at least for me.

Last: No. 23 overall, Detroit Lions
SB Nation St. Louis 2012 NFL Mock Draft
Next: No. 25 overall, Denver Broncos

NFL Mock Draft 2012: Detroit Lions Snag Stephon Gilmore In Final Predictions

2012-04-26T17:10:00Z

The Detroit Lions' surprise renaissance in 2011 was one of football's best stories, and it came almost entirely thanks to their offense. So if, as in our 2012 NFL Mock Draft, they manage to grab South Carolina cornerback Stephon Gilmore all the way down at No. 23—well, odds would be good we'll have another great story out of Detroit in 2012. Last year the Lions allowed 3831 yards and 26 touchdowns on defense; this year they'll have to do better.

Gilmore, a balanced cornerback with a lot of upside, has gone much earlier than this in a lot of recent mock drafts, but we had Dre Kirkpatrick going to the Cincinnati Bengals, leaving Gilmore free to fall another five spots. He might not be able to neutralize those 90 points the Lions gave up in their first two games of the year 2012 by himself, but he'll make Aaron Rodgers and Drew Brees a little more uncomfortable than they were back then.

SB Nation St. Louis's 2012 NFL Mock Draft is counting down from No. 1 to 32 on NFL Draft day. You can follow along at our draft storystream, or read more mock draft recaps in our mock draft analysis storystream.

Last: No. 21 overall, Cincinnati Bengals
SB Nation St. Louis 2012 NFL Mock Draft
Next: No. 24 overall, Pittsburgh Steelers

NFL Mock Draft 2012: Cleveland Browns Help Colt McCoy (Or Ryan Tannehill) With Second Pick

2012-04-26T17:00:51Z

Related: Even more mock drafts.

The Cleveland Browns' first pick of the first round is the one that's gotten all the 2012 NFL Mock Draft heat—the moment they failed to snare Robert Griffin III with it, Ryan Tannehill's ascent began—but their second pick, at No. 22 overall, will tell us a lot about what they'll look like in the future. We sent Trent Richardson their way with the first pick of our own mock draft; with No. 22 overall, we think they'll take wide receiver Kendall Wright.

He's been called a system product in the past—on this very website—but with Richardson taking the focus off Colt McCoy on offense they could go for a steady receiver who can improve on the receivers he was throwing to last year. Only Greg Little and Josh Cribbs caught more than 40 passes for the Browns last season, and nobody had more than four touchdowns. Between Richardson and Wright, Colt McCoy won't be able to get a reprieve from being Wally Pipped by a Tannehill type next year.

SB Nation St. Louis's 2012 NFL Mock Draft is moving from No. 1 to 32 as we rapidly approach the first round of the real NFL Draft. You can follow along at our draft storystream, or read more mock draft recaps in our mock draft analysis storystream.

Last: No. 21 overall, Cincinnati Bengals
SB Nation St. Louis 2012 NFL Mock Draft
Next: No. 23 overall, Detroit Lions