I am on the record, in these 2012 NFL Mock Draft recaps, as not wanting the St. Louis Rams to select Trent Richardson with the No. 6 overall pick. Multiple times. (Scroll down for that rationalization. Er, those rationalizations.) But I do think that Trent Richardson has a valuable role to play in the Rams future: As the guy the Cleveland Browns might draft instead of Justin Blackmon with the No. 4 overall pick.
Richardson, as far and away the best running back prospect in the draft, wouldn't have a significant bearing on the Browns' most pressing issue—their failure to trade the St. Louis Rams for the right to sell a ton of Robert Griffin III jerseys. But that might be one way of getting around the quarterback problem—by getting outside the question as entirely and thoroughly as possible.
And more power to their question-dodging. I am on the record, multiple times, as saying that Justin Blackmon makes affair amount of sense for the Browns. I just don't want him to. Go, Trent, Go.
More NFL Mock Draft coverage handpicked from SB Nation St. Louis:
- Here's why the Browns might snipe Justin Blackmon, leaving the Rams at the altar for yet another wide receiver.
- Here's why the Rams shouldn't draft Trent Richardson. (It's also why the Browns shouldn't, but don't show them that.)
- And, if wide receivers and running backs bore you, somehow, here's why the Rams could take an offensive lineman instead.