The St. Louis Rams made their second first-round trade of the 2012 NFL Draft on Thursday, swapping their No. 6—from the Washington Redskins—to the Dallas Cowboys, who coveted Morris Claiborne, for the No. 14 pick and the No. 45 in the second round.
↵They got more picks—but did it make them better? The Rams' eventual draft pick, defensive tackle Michael Brockers, is going to go a long way toward shoring up their run defense, which was among the league's worst—31st in yards allowed, 20th in yards per attempt—but the Rams still have some serious holes to close, starting with the offensive line and Sam Bradford's wide receiver corps.
↵Really, it's going to come down to Les Snead's second round, which is now three players deep. If the Rams can pick up some starters or rotation players with those choices, all the horse-trading will have been for something. I like his odds, but for now he'll have to hope the players he's targeted now that he's traded down don't go away to some team who traded up.