The first post-NFL-combine 2011 NFL Mock Drafts are coming out, and things do not look good for the St. Louis Rams—particularly the St. Louis Ram in charge of throwing footballs to people who try to catch them. Julio Jones, coming off his near-perfect combine performance, jumps up to No. 10 in the latest WalterFootball mock draft, going to the Washington Redskins, who have similar wide receiver needs with Santana Moss a free agent.
This is something less than an exact science, of course—they have on-and-off consensus No. 1 Nick Fairley slipping all the way to No. 8, and Blaine Gabbert, who didn't throw at the combine, is off the board at No. 7.
Their pick for the Rams is Aldon Smith, who would at least offer a local angle with which to assuage our wide receiver anxieties, not to mention giving Chris Long somebody to high-five after particularly awesome sacks. I enjoy mock drafts as much as the next guy, but I think it's important to remember that all it takes for a player to begin sliding is one unorthodox pick that unsettles things in the top five.