First official 2013 Mock Draft by NFL.com

Hey Gang,

The first official Mock Draft of 2013 was released today and here is what some experts/analysits on NFL.com think our Rams will go after.

http://www.nfl.com/draft/2013/mock-
drafts

Gang, don't forget that we have TWO first round picks... 16 and 22.

Shane - thanks for the heads up!  NFL.com's mock drafts have the following players going to us with our first two picks:

#16 -  OT E. Fisher - OT L.Johnson - G C.Warmack - RB E. Lacy

#22 - WR K. Allen - S K. Vaccaro - S D. Swearinger

Since Matthews and Lewan are staying in school and I don't think the Rams will take E. Fisher, our first pick is going to be wide open.  Our second pick will be the best safety remaining on the board in my opinion.

Only two of the four mock drafters had Lacy even going in the first round, so I think it's probably a stretch that the Rams would grab him at #16.  I actually think there's a good chance he'll still be on the board when the Rams make their second round pick at #46.  And let me say that it would be a major coup if they could grab OG Chance Warmack (Alabama), S Kenny Vaccaro (Texas) and RB Eddie Lacy (Alabama) with their first three picks, but that's a scenario that could definitely happen if everything fell into place. 

MARS - Lacy has grown on me over the college football season.  Your scenario would be a major coup!  I just think Fisher might see some of Eddie George and SJax  in him.  There aren't many running backs to choose from this year and Lacy might just fit the bill with one of our first rounders, especially if we trade down for a lower first round pick to get an additional second rounder.

We might just miss out on Warmack.  That would open up a lot of possibilities, including trading down, for our first pick.

The more I look at things, the more I think it's doubtful that any of the top three offensive linemen (Joeckel, Fisher or Warmack) will still be on the board when the Rams get to make their first pick.

One of the most recent mocks at Walter Football (one of the most comprehensive mock draft sites out there) has the Rams taking S Kenny Vaccaro (Texas) at #16 and LB Manti Te'o (Notre Dame) at #22.  I think this is a very interesting possibility.  If Te'o could make the switch to OLB, that would put stud tacklers into the two most vulnerable slots on the Rams defense.  It would probably elevate them into the "premiere defense" category. 

Here's the link to the article:  http://walterfootball.com/draft2013
charlie.php 

If OL is gone when our turn at #16 comes up, then I'm leaning towards trading down so we have 4 picks in the first two rounds.  That will allow us to fill 4 spots with qulaity players.  This would give us the flexibility to come close to Best Player Available and Position Need.

It would be stupid to reach for OL in first round if no one is there obviously.  Positions and players to target by round:

Round one - traded down - two picks

Safety - Vaccaro, Elam, Reid
OLB - Ogeltree
WR - Patterson, Allen

Round two - two picks

OL - Fluker, Barrett Jones
RB - Lacy
TE - Ertz, Seifert

Plenty will change after the combine!

The more I look at things, the more I think it's doubtful that any of the top three offensive linemen (Joeckel, Fisher or Warmack) will still be on the board when the Rams get to make their first pick.

One of the most recent mocks at Walter Football (one of the most comprehensive mock draft sites out there) has the Rams taking S Kenny Vaccaro (Texas) at #16 and LB Manti Te'o (Notre Dame) at #22.  I think this is a very interesting possibility.  If Te'o could make the switch to OLB, that would put stud tacklers into the two most vulnerable slots on the Rams defense.  It would probably elevate them into the "premiere defense" category. 

Here's the link to the article:  http://walterfootball.com/draft2013

charlie.php

Why in the world the Rams take 2 defensive players with their 1st two picks when the offense was awful last year??  Our D was fine.    Some of these yaywho's need to get replaced.

I would be very surprised if the Rams took two defensive players at 16 and 22.  A safety probably but not two.  O-line either by trading down or drafting one is what will be done.  Fisher knows the o-Line is the real weakness, he will not waste the extra 1st rounder the RGIII pick on the side of the ball that played well.  Bradford needs protection, he knows it and will go there to fix it.

Bluep you bring up an interesting scenerio that actually would be great.  There is alot of talent from pick #16 through the mid-2nd round.  If we don't get who we want, we should trade down a few slots and get an extra pick.  Whether it be a 3rd rounder this year or next, the talent is very similar and very good in that window.

I have been thinking that is what will happen all along... if the OL we want is not there at 16, draft the best safety available and then dangle #22 to someone who wants to move up and maybe get a 3rd or 4th for doing it.\


so maybe we draft at 16 and then have 2 2nd rounders, 2 3rds and then a 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th....

Teams are more likely to trade up to our pick at #16.  Also, that would probably net us a 2 round pick.  We can still get a safety at #22 and of course have the round 1 pick we traded down to.

Looks like the Rams message board is building a consesus of our initial draft strategy heading into the combine.

I think we all seem to agree.  The Rams need a LT bad or even Warmack for the middle of the line.  If Fisher from Central is not there at #16 and I don't think he will going to the Chargers at 11.  Warmack might be there at 16 but if not, I agree trade out of that spot because it holds the most value.  We will get our SS at numbers 22, either Reid, Elam or the Big V.  This makes sense, use the RGIII pick over and over again to help yourself.

Trading down is easier said than done. It takes another team interested in trading up for starters. Then it takes the Rams basically saying there isn't a player at their spot they really want. Then it takes an offer that the Rams feels warrants dropping down. I think it's too much of a wild card to plan to trade down when trying to predict the Rams picks. It's a nice thought but shouldn't enter into mock drafts. It's interesting how there are a lot more comments about trading down then there are for trading up.

Little Fenway, there are more comments about trading down than up because trading down gets us extra picks and trading up COSTS picks. This team needs to wrangle up as many picks as they can get. This draft will be considered a success imo if we net 1 starter and some depth on the O line (plus mark if we get 2 starters), a big time safety, a strongside OLB, a big WR and a RB for SJ39 to train. That is 6 players and we have 7 picks. Trading down if the LT or Warmack is not there at #16 would then give us 8 picks.



BTW, I have not said this yet, but I am not sure that Austin Davis is the guy I want as a long term backup for Bradford. Might this be a year to draft a QB late since the class is pretty mid to late round QB heavy??   

ksu - excellent points.  LittleFenway - Contenders do trade up more often than people think.  These teams go after that one player they feel will fill that one glaring need to help get them over the hump.  Cowboys moved up for CB Morris Claiborne - Saints moved up for RB Mark Ingram - Steelers moved up for WR Santonio Holmes - Rams moved up to #1 for LT Orlando Pace. 

The Patriots always find a trading partner when they've wanted to move down numerous times over the years to pick up extrs picks.

I'm sure the front office and most Rams' fans are not for trading numerous  picks to move up and get LT Fisher from Central Michigan.

Austin Davis - I haven't seen enough of him yet to form an opinion on wether he would be able to step in and win for us if Bradford goes down.  However, I think it might be wise to look around in the middle of this draft or next year's draft for another developmental QB.  I would only suggest that we look for a mobile QB in the mold of Kaepernick and Wilson.

However, if Bradford doesn't take a step forward this year, I'm in favor of using one of our #1's next year on our QB of the future.

It was obvious that Les Snead had his heart set on Zeurlein in last year's draft.  I wonder what player at what position Snead has his eye on in this year's draft.  Could it be a late round QB?

RamCub... I am going to throw out a few names that could easily be flying under everyone else radar but Les Snead based on our needs and will be available in rounds 5-7...




Meshak Williams, OLB from Kansas State. He played DE mostly in a 4-3 but he is suited for a 4-3 OLB spot...

Brandon Sharpe OLB from Syracuse - another guy who played SOLB in college, position of need

Aron Mellette WR fron Elon. I have talked about the kid before. 6'3", 216 and played well at the Senior Bowl

Montori Hughes DT from Tenn-Martin.. Dude is a clone of good ol Sam Adams from the Ravens. 6'4" 330.. nuff said

Brad Sorenson QB from Southern Utah. 6'4" 237 pounds .. 9445 yards and 61 TDs in 3 years as starter. Pocket passer that could essentially mirror Bradford in practice...and might just pass him.


Zeke Motta FS Notre Dame....dude is simply a ball hawk. He goes where the ball goes. Got overshadowed by certain other defensive players but dude can go.

           

          


  

ksu - Thanks for the info!  It's neat to get a read on possible late rounders.  I'm really interested in finding out more about DT Montori Hughes and QB Brad Sorenson.  I've seen and or heard about the other players you listed.  Zeke Motta is a ballhawk that I've seen fly into the action out of nowhere.

Can't wait for the combine!

I'm not sure what the data says over the last 10-20 years but you're probably right that contenders, or at least teams that are arguably in the upper third of the league, would tend to trade up more than teams in the bottom third. Lower rated teams have more holes and will more likely go for quantity over quality. I guess my point is that it's fun to include the possibilities of the Rams trading up or down in our draft debates, however it is next to impossible to,predict that aspect of the draft with any degree of accuracy. I think in many cases it comes down to the moment when our top rated player left on the board should have gone a long time ago and its too hard to take a chance that a few teams in front of us would take him. Since Harbaugh thought kaipernick was the best player in the draft why did he wait til the 2nd round to trade up ? I guess just because in round 2 it became too tempting and he could not take any more chances that he would go ahead of him. The risk of losing him suddenly was too high. The closer you get to being able to get the player you want the more painful it becomes to lose him. They chicken out in some cases and move up when they could stay where they are and get the same player. Just goes to show you that everyone trusts their own board not Mel kipers and they are all different ::) With young onboard I would like to see the rams get best OL and best safety in the 1st round.

Austin Davis IS a mobile QB with some nice wheels.  It's his arm strength that is the question, but I know he's been working with Favre the past few seasons.  I am all for drafting a QB in the 4th or 5th that's mobile.  You all know I have been barkin this for years.  Not to mention if you do develop another good QB  = MORE DRAFT PICKS!



I'm still on this train:

#16  O-line
#22  trade down or draft WR Cordelle Patterson




I think we can get a pretty good safety later.  This will be interesting because the Rams offense was the big negative last year and Fisher was a DB and DB coach to start his career.  If Fisher loves one of the Safeties then so be it.  But then I hope Da'Rick Rogers somehow falls to the late 2nd or 3rd round.  We need some playmakers and I for one do NOT want to watch a stagnent offense for another year.