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NFL Mock Draft 2012: Matt Kalil Takes St. Louis Rams Lead Without Jason Smith

The St. Louis Rams still seem better off trading Robert Griffin III for a barrel of picks with their second overall choice this April, but 2012 NFL Mock Draft mavens take note—if the Rams really do cut Jason Smith, Matt Kalil, an every-few-years kind of talent on the offensive line, will become much more tantalizing to a team still desperate to protect its long-term investment in Sam Bradford.

The fundamental problem with choosing Matt Kalil has never been about his play or his projection—it's always been the fundamental unsexiness of choosing yet another offensive lineman in the early rounds of the draft. Rams fans are tired of linemen—they want wide receivers for Bradford to throw to, or even cornerbacks for opposing quarterbacks to throw to. Anything else.

But at some point the line gets thin enough that sexiness becomes a secondary concern to even the shallowest Rams fan—and with their last second-overall-pick gone, even for all Smith's injuries and passivity, the Rams might be too picked over to even trade their pick for depth. And no, I don't know how that even happens.