The St. Louis Rams have been accused of not being fond of former first-rounder Jason Smith before, and every NFL Mock Draft type since the curtain closed on last year's model has connected them to Matt Kalil, but as the Rams' intentions of forcing a lower salary or bust out of their bust has crystalized their supposed love of the USC offensive-lineman-of-the-draft.
↵It's true that the Rams will be fresh out of possible offensive line upside if they can't come to terms with Smith, but taking two offensive lineman second overall in four years—well, it says something both about the team doing the picking and the offensive line for which they're doing the work.
↵Meanwhile, Rodger Saffold tents his fingers and gets back to work, secure in the knowledge that Rams fans will have more than enough offensive line drama to focus on without caring about his own regression over the last year. His ability to arrange all this, for what it's worth, says a lot about his leadership qualities and on-field intelligence.