The St. Louis Rams famously missed out on both Justin Blackmon and Michael Floyd as a result of their heated pick-swapping ahead of the 2012 NFL Draft-resulting in the selection of Brian Quick and Chris Givens in later rounds-and failed to address their perceived holes in the offensive line at all there, so it makes sense that NFL analysts still believe those two spots to be their most urgent needs. But as important as the performance of Quick and Givens (and on the O-line, Jason Smith and Rodger Saffold) will be to how the Rams are seen going into 2013, the real key to the Rams' needs next year is how Sam Bradford performs.
If he fails, it'll be filtered through the continued absence of a No. 1 wide receiver and reliable blocking at the line. If he succeeds-and after two years and three increasingly expensive coaching changes the Rams are certainly hoping he will-no matter how the incumbent linemen and the new receivers perform, those needs will seem drastically less urgent.
It seems obvious, but it's hard to think about now, with the 2013 NFL Mock Draft season already in swing-if Sam Bradford performs as the Rams expected he would when they drafted him No. 1 overall, the stereotypical view of this team is going to be completely different from the one we've been stuck on for two years now.
More St. Louis Rams news and analysis from SB Nation St. Louis:
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- Isaiah Pead and Steven Jackson could be both a dynamic rushing attack and a succession plan.