The St. Louis Rams need many things, more fans chief among those needs. One way to repair relations with the fan base is fixing an offense that has struggled to score points since 2006, the last season with a recognizable link to the Greatest Show on Turf. Talented wide receivers have eluded the Rams since then, or vice versa. Even the new regime came up short chasing mediocre free agent receivers, which leaves the Rams forced to consider receiving help with their top picks in the 2012 NFL Draft.
Recent mock drafts are mixed on whether or not Oklahoma State receiver Justin Blackmon will be available with the Rams' sixth pick, to say nothing of the debate about whether or not Blackmon should be the sixth pick.
The latest 2012 NFL Mock Draft at SB Nation explored that issue.
In that one, I gave the Rams Blackmon. Here's the rationale for the pick.
Yes, he is no A.J. Green nor Larry Fitzgerald. He is still the best receiver in this draft class, and the Rams cannot afford to quibble about comparable players. Blackmon gives the Rams a legitimate receiving threat that can work outside in what will probably be a fairly conservative offense.
There are now those predicting the possibility of Minnesota or Cleveland draft Blackmon ahead of the Rams. The Vikings are mostly sending up a smoke screen, probably trying to gin up interest in their pick and the ability to draft Matt Kalil or Morris Claiborne.
Cleveland could very well pick Blackmon, given their commitment to Colt McCoy, which may or may not be sincere. They do need a receiver as badly as the Rams do. In reality, they might be forced to pick Ryan Tannehill, the Texas A&M quarterback, who Greg Cosell recently described as a better player than Christian Ponder. They could always wait for Matt Barkley next year, but Mike Holmgren et al probably will not last that long with McCoy as the top quarterback on their roster.
Cleveland could also pick Trent Richardson, filling a void in their lineup at running back and giving them a super star ball carrier to bluff their way through with McCoy under center.