2012 NFL Draft: Jaguars Trade Changed Rams Draft Plans

If there was one prospect who was polarized the most on Turf Show Times, it'd be Justin Blackmon. Some loved him, some hated him. Reports said the Rams were interested in him, but we really haven't had any confirmation about the matter. Until now.

Michael Silver reported this morning that the reason the Rams went for Michael Brockers because they wanted him at six (a must read for all Rams fans). However, he wasn't the Rams first choice. Or the second. It turns out the Blackmon and Richardson talk wasn't smoke after all.

Silver reports that Fisher was hoping Richardson would somehow fall to six. It didn't happen, even though Fisher had heard from around the league that their was a chance it would. After Richardson was gone, Blackmon was next on the board. Silver goes on to say that the Rams had no interest in Matt Kalil, which makes sense given Fisher's drafting history. Here is how it played out:

The Bucs, Fisher and Snead believed, weren't likely to select Blackmon. When the Rams' IT director, Bill Consoli, announced that the Jags had traded up for the fifth pick (information that was revealed in the war room minutes before television viewers received the news, as Consoli was communicating with counterparts from the league's 31 other franchises), Fisher slammed his eyeglasses onto the table and uttered a one-syllable expletive.

The Rams then moved back after listening to the Cowboys (who wanted Claiborne), where they selected Michael Brockers, who would have been the pick at six if they didn't move back.

I think what is most important is the fact that the Rams made the moves. In the past regimes, it was all about hesitating. This regime doesn't do that. Make the moves, get the guy you want, the end. If you still don't think the Rams wanted Brockers that badly, I'll end it with this:

Instead, they got their man, setting off a celebration that intensified when defensive line coach Mike Waufle exultantly entered the room and gained energy after Fisher dialed up Brockers to give him the news, saying, "Michael, how's it going? Here we go. You ready to rock? Coach Waufle's jumping up and down right now …"