FanPost

My Last Mock of the Year

With schoolwork picking up, I have been distracted from this site more than I would have hoped. However, it has eased the torture that is the last month before the draft. With that said, I figured I would post one last mock before the draft while I had some down time. I will reference the general draft locations of the players on walterfootball's most recent mock draft for my mock, and it wouldn't be a good draft without a few trades too. Anyway, here we go.

1.2) Trade #2 for #10, #45, and 2015 1st round pick. The Lions trade up 8 picks to pair Sammy Watkins with Calvin. The Rams get the Lions 2014 1, 2015 1, and 2014 2. I feel the Lions were left off the hook here, but rumors are spreading that a trade up wouldn't cost as much and I feel rather confident regarding the selection I will make with the trade down.

1.10) Trade #10 for #19 and #50. The Dolphins trade up to lock up Taylor Lewan or another player they have fallen for. The Rams pick up another second round pick in a draft where they have mentioned it's depth repeatedly.

1.13) C.J. Mosley, OLB, Alabama - Finally, a pick! Mosley will, predictably, fall below his deserved spot and could even fall below 13. I do not believe that he is worth passing up at this point. He would immediately transform our LB corps into one of the strongest in the NFL. I would consider Mosley anytime after the top four are selected in this draft, and I feel that 13 is a steal.

1.19) Marquise Lee, WR, USC - I do not think the gap between Sammy Watkins and Marquise Lee is as large as is publicly thought. I think the value obtained by trading down from 2 to 19 (one 2015 first, two 2014 seconds) is worth the drop in talent. I think that Marquise Lee had a down year and that he is going to be selected much lower than he should in this draft. Selecting him at 19 would be a steal in my eyes. Allowing him to slide to the WR hungry teams in the back of the first round would be a huge mistake.

2.44) Stephen Tuitt, DL, Notre Dame - Tuitt is a first round talent that did not produce up to his potential in his last year at Notre Dame. He has incredible athleticism for his size and he would give the Rams a lot of options up front. He is a great value at this point in the second round.

2.45) Cyrus Kouandjio, OL, Alabama - Cyrus has some big injury red flags, but if those are cleared by the Rams, the potential of a player this young and this talented is immense. Obviously he would need to recover from any injury issues, but if the concerns are short term, the time taken waiting on him would certainly be worthy of a mid-first round talent when healthy.

2.50) Deone Bucannon, S, Wash State - Bucannon, in my eyes, is the best safety prospect in this draft. He can cover, tackle soundly, hit hard, had the best production of all the safeties, and had the best combine of the safeties. I do not understand how a player with his production, combine numbers, and tape should fall this far into the draft.

3.75) Austin Sefarian-Jenkins, TE, Washington - ASJ certainly has red flags but he is also an incredibly fluid athlete for his size, and could provide the Rams with a rare difference maker at TE for a third round selection. This pick is definitely more value based than need, but I have loved ASJ's playmaking ability throughout his college career and the opportunity to select him at this point is one that cannot be passed up.

4.110) Trai Turner, OG, LSU - With early focus on other positions, the need to address guard is the top priority on the board. If Fisher and his staff are capable on building an O-line on late draft selections, this is where they should begin acquiring pieces to do so.

5.153) De'Anthony Thomas, RB, Oregon - Another value selection, Thomas is too talented to pass up late in this draft. He too had a down year which I think is causing the oversight of the rest of his productive college career. I know that Tavon is a key player on our team, but I feel that De'anthony provides much more sure value than any other selection we could make.

6.188) Connor Shaw, QB, South Carolina - A rumor is spreading that the Rams love Connor Shaw, which I do not mind at all because I think he would make a great backup. I think he was undervalued at South Carolina as he always impressed whenever I watched one of his games. He is a smart, gritty, athletic, player that has demonstrated the ability to both lead and win in the toughest conference in college football.

6.214) Spencer Long, OG, Nebraska - Long was an academic all american the year before his injury. He is a decorated collegiate athlete that was unlucky to end his college career on the sour note of an injury. I think he has a lot to offer an NFL team in the way of smart, consistent play and for the cheap price of a 6th round pick. Fisher continues to build the O-line from the latter rounds of the NFL draft.

I did not mock the 7th round, as at that point it becomes extremely difficult to do more than pick names randomly for me.

So, in short, the Rams complete the construction of their LB corps (Mosley), while adding another immensely talented receiver to a list of breakout candidates that now includes Marquise, Britt, Tavon, Stedman, Quick, and Givens. They also add a dynamic 5th D-lineman (Tuitt), a potential franchise LT (Cyrus), a potential mismatch at TE (ASJ), two potential starting guards (Turner, Long), a dynamic return man (if nothing else) (De'anthony), and a back up QB that may have the potential to start (Shaw). All of this while affording the Rams with an additional 2015 1st round pick.

What do you guys think?