The St. Louis Rams have already made a move that stopped 2012 NFL Mock Draft planners in their tracks,trading the No. 2 pick to the Washington Redskins for a bounty of draft picks, but are there any scenarios in which they trade down again? So far as I can tell, there's one: They're either not interested in Justin Blackmon, or it becomes clear that Blackmon is going to go ahead of them, possibly to the Cleveland Browns. If they do that... well, what's next?
Most of the other players to which they've been connected by enterprising mock drafters go between 10 and 15 in many mocks. Stanford OT Jonathan Martin, Notre Dame wide receiver Michael Floyd, even Mississippi State DT Fletcher Cox could all go in that range—and if a team in that range wants to get closer to their chosen DT, for instance, the Rams would be a tempting target.
Here's more counterfactual NFL Mock Draft coverage handpicked from SB Nation St. Louis:
- Some have suggested the Rams could go after Fletcher Cox, even after their free agent acquisitions bolstered the defense.
- The Rams could also protect Sam Bradford with Martin or Stanford teammate David DeCastro, who might be a nice target if they trade down a second time.
- If they don't trade down, Trent Richardson is the surprise pick du jour.