There are so many things complicating a 2013 NFL Mock Draft in May of 2012 that it seems silly to point out just one—but then, the whole enterprise is kind of silly, isn't it? In that case, there's really no downside to wondering just how you can get past all the noise to find a good home for offensive linemen, perennially one of the strangest categories in any draft.
Offensive linemen are underrated, except by people—mostly Good Hard-Nosed Football types—who have worried about offensive linemen being underrated for so long that they've fetishized them, as though quarterbacks are just the guys who stand behind offensive linemen while Real Men do the work in the trenches. For the most part, though, they're boring, and the entire point of a mock draft is to excite—to say that this is the year your team gets exactly the guy it needs, and of course he won't bust, et cetera.
There are very few teams—the St. Louis Rams might be one—for which "this is the year your team gets an offensive lineman and your quarterback has a little more time to throw" might be exciting. And almost a year in advance... well, suffice it to say I think it's a bit of a crapshoot.
More NFL Draft updates from SB Nation St. Louis:
- What, meanwhile, do you do with the Rams' two first-round picks?
- Especially since they're one of the few teams who won't be worried by a quarterback controversy?