Rams News: No. 2 Pick is Up for Grabs, but Who Will St. Louis Trade For?

The St. Louis Rams have the No. 2 overall pick in the 2012 NFL Draft and appear interested in shopping it.

New coach Jeff Fisher and general manager Les Snead may not have a true interest in holding on to the pick because the Rams already have a young quarterback, and there is growing NFL interest in Baylor quarterback Robert Griffin III.

I think coach Fisher and Les have been upfront that we will listen to offers for the (hash) 2 pick, chief executive Kevin Demoff said in an email to The Associated Press. I didn't see anything in the report that differed from their statements.

The Rams now have to make a decision on who they should acquire for the pick. After finishing with just a 2-14 record, the Rams have several needs and may get more use out of adding several good players instead of just one very good one.

The offensive line was decimated by injuries. Tackles Rodger Saffold and Jason Smith, and guard Jacob Bell combined to miss several games. Smith, who was the No. 2 overall pick of the 2009 Draft, has been considered a bust by some critics after suffering serious injuries, and there might be hesitance on the part of the Rams to draft offensive tackle Matt Kalil of USC because they may have felt burned by Smith.

Kalil went into the draft as experts' consensus No. 2 pick following quarterback Andrew Luck, but the rise of Griffin has perhaps moved Kalil to the probable No. 3 or No. 4 pick.

Kalil seemed like a logical pick for the Rams at No. 2 considering his talent and success at USC, and the Rams' interest in protecting young quarterback Sam Bradford. Kalil is the brother of Carolina Panthers' Pro Bowl center Ryan Kalil.

Though the Rams likely covet Kalil, there are other offensive tackles who should find their way into the first round. Riley Reiff of Iowa, Jonathan Martin of Stanford, and Mike Adams of Ohio State aren't valued as highly as Kalil, but might be strong picks for St. Louis should the Rams trade down.

The Rams' defense, which finished 22nd in total yards allowed, also needs help. The injury woes were present for St. Louis in the secondary, so the Rams might consider trading down to try to land Morris Claiborne of LSU or Dre Kirkpatrick of Alabama. Both Claiborne and Kirkpatrick are considered locks to be selected in the early or middle part of the first round.

St. Louis might want to just stick to finding defensive backs as the team led the NFL in sacks. There is some decent depth in the defense, but it may need some top-rated talent. The Rams didn't have a Pro Bowl player in 2012, and haven't had a defensive player make the Pro Bowl since 2004.

The Rams might be best served finding a club that really wants Griffin, and then dealing for that club's draft picks. Among the teams Griffin interviewed with at the combines in Indianapolis were Miami, Washington, Minnesota and Kansas City, according to ESPN.