Once the consensus No. 2 offensive lineman in the 2012 NFL Draft, a bad pro day performance has Jonathan Martin falling all the way to the last pick of the first round—to within one pick, more specifically, of the St. Louis Rams' first second-rounder—in SB Nation's latest 2012 NFL Mock Draft. It creates the mock-possibility of a major steal for a team that traded out of an open shot at super-prospect lineman Matt Kalil.
Martin could really only disappoint at pro day, where he was overshadowed by Andrew Luck from the start, and that's exactly what happened; none of his athletic metrics met expectations; he ran just a 5.33 40, aided by the wind, and was overshadowed even by fellow lineman in David DeCastro, who's shot up draft boards just as Martin's fallen down them. But by the second round all of that hardly seems relevant; if the Rams see him available there it'll be a lot like what happened with Robert Quinn in last year's first round. Martin, like Quinn, may have never quite deserved the plaudits he received heading into the draft, but 33rd overall... well, at that point it stops mattering.
Justin Blackmon and a first-round o-line talent would be a truly impressive draft haul for the Rams . If you want to know how likely that is, check out some more of our handpicked mock draft analysis:
- The same mock draft keeps Justin Blackmon and the Rams together.
- If it didn't, Michael Floyd could be another top prospect who falls toward the back of the first round.
- Contrarian mocks already have the Rams going with a David DeCastro type.