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Yesterday, we talked about the first mock draft from the league's media arm at NFL.com from Daniel Jeremiah and his mock pick of Michigan State CB Trae Waynes. Most TSTers, like myself, sounded non-plussed at the idea of spending a top 10 pick on a cornerback with the offense having much more significant issues.
Rev it up again.
Today we get a mock from Bucky Brooks, NFL.com and NFL Network analyst, that has the Rams headed in the same direction. Here's the top nine:
| # | Team | Pick | POS | School |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tampa Bay | Jameis Winston | QB | Florida St. |
| 2 | Tennessee | Leonard Williams | DL | USC |
| 3 | Jacksonville | Randy Gregory | DE | Nebraska |
| 4 | Oakland | Shane Ray | DE | Missouri |
| 5 | Washington | Landon Collins | SS | Alabama |
| 6 | New York Jets | Amari Cooper | WR | Alabama |
| 7 | Chicago | Shaq Thompson | OLB | Washington |
| 8 | Atlanta | Vic Beasley | OLB | Clemson |
| 9 | Minnesota | Brandon Scherff | OT | Iowa |
One glaring omission jumps out...see it yet? Yeah, no Marcus Mariota.
Remember, Senior Bowl practices are just starting today so it's way early in the process. This isn't an exact science, so there's nothing wrong with this mock. But it certainly flies in the face of the conventional wisdom that has held up Jameis Winston and Marcus Mariota as interchangable components of the first two picks.
So with Mariota and all but one offensive tackle available, Brooks has the Rams going:
Marcus Peters (CB, Washington)
In all honesty, I feel the exact same way about this as the Waynes mock pick. Granted, I'm not crazy bullish on either, but it's the position issue. It just doesn't make a ton of sense looking at the Rams' performances over the second half of the season. If that's leading the way into 2015, I can't come up with a way to justify taking a corner at 10 outside of pointing at Aaron Donald as the ultimate promise of BPA. But (a) it doesn't often work out as well as Donald and (b) even if it does, that doesn't do diddly for an offense that's been in the bottom half of the league since 2006 and is bringing in a new coordinator to oversee it.