Rams' first-round picks seperated by five spots in the 2013 NFL Draft order, for now

The 2013 NFL Draft is not happening today. Obviously. If it were on the agenda this week, the St. Louis Rams would have two picks in the first third of the opening round, thanks to this spring's deal with the Washington Redskins for the second pick.

Based on the standings as of Week 9, the Rams would have the No. 5 and No. 11 picks in the draft. The fifth pick comes courtesy of the deal with Washington. Both teams have just three wins, but the Rams get the benefit of strength of schedule to push them down the order.

That's obviously going to change between now and the end of the season. Mocking the Draft explains why the draft order this time around will be so interesting:

In this year's draft, there were seven teams between picks 13 through 19. Given this year's draft class, strength of schedule could be the difference between a big-impact player and a solid starter. This class is expected to be heavy on pass rushers early. Those players may not be around at the mid-point of the first round. That could lead to some interesting trade scenarios.

A lot of people scoff at the notion of the Rams taking a pass rusher in the first round. I wouldn't rule ANYTHING out with Jeff Fisher and Les Snead, two pretty good football minds that aren't known for following the conventional wisdom established in 140-charter bits ... imagine that.

Right now, the conventional wisdom says the Rams will draft Texas A&M offensive tackle Luke Joeckel and Cal receiver Keenan Allen. Such a common prediction among mock drafts probably means the Rams will draft entirely different players.

Something to note, the Titans never drafted an offensive lineman in the first round during Jeff Fisher's tenure as head coach there. The Titans, actually the Oilers at that time, drafted left tackle Brad Hopkins with the 13th pick in the first round in 1993, the year before Fisher took over as a mid-season replacement. They drafted Hopkins' replacement in 2005, picking Michael Roos out of the second round. Roos played right tackle as a rookie, taking over for Hopkins in 2005.

For a far more detailed analysis of Fisher's draft history, RamsAddiction put together an outstanding fanpost in April.