NFL Draft Rumors: Rams Will Keep The 33rd Pick

The St. Louis Rams did plenty of wheeling and dealing in the first round of the 2012 NFL Draft. They do not plan to start the second round on Friday night with another trade. Adam Schefter of ESPN reported that the team plans to keep the 33rd pick in the draft, the first pick of the second round.

They really have no choice. On Friday morning it was revealed that the Rams planned to nab Illinois receiver A.J. Jenkins with an early second-round pick, a backup plan for losing out on Justin Blackmon. They considered Blackmon and Jenkins nearly identical in ability.

It has been reported elsewhere that the Rams will take a receiver in the second round. Keeping the 33rd pick could signal that they plan to draft one of those receivers with that very pick. Their top options are Rueben Randle and Stephen Hill, players that many draft watchers believed would go in the first round.

Of course, the Rams could skip it, and try to get another receiver with pick No. 39. That reduces the likelihood that they get their man though, and I doubt they want to have that happen twice in the same draft.