2012 NFL Mock Draft: Convention Wisdom Moving Away From Fletcher Cox

Don Banks at SI.com rolled out his latest mock drafts, and final mock draft before the real deal goes down on Thursday night. Banks breaks with the recent conventional wisdom of the St. Louis Rams taking Mississippi State defensive tackle Fletcher Cox. Instead, he goes back to a more familiar name echoing the certainty of Mike Mayock.

Banks goes back black, back to Justin Blackmon, the Oklahoma State wide receiver.

There are rumblings the Rams might take a pass on Blackmon to take prized Mississippi State defensive tackle Fletcher Cox, but again, I'm not going to over-think this one. St. Louis needs a No. 1 receiving weapon for Sam Bradford to grow with, and I think Blackmon has been the target from the Rams' earliest pre-draft planning sessions.

I'm really starting to wonder myself. Mayock was very clear that he did not believe the Rams would go with Cox, though the NFL Network analyst agreed that Cox could merit such an early pick.

I still believe that Trent Richardson will be the pick if the Alabama running back is available. The question now is whether or not they would be willing to trade up to get him.