St Louis Rams: How They’ve Used the 10th Overall Pick In Nearly 80 Years

If the NFL Draft has shown us anything, it’s that there are no certainties in regards to a player’s ability to translate what they were able to accomplish in college to the NFL.  And the St. Louis Rams have had their fair share of failures, and successes, over the years.

But it’s been a very long time since they’ve been on the clock at 10.  22 years, to be exact...

You remember Jerome "The Battering Ram" Bettis, don’t you?  The 10th player selected in the 1993 NFL Draft.  The rookie who rushed for 1,429 yards [2nd in the league that year], more rushing first downs than any other player, and who ran for 100 yards seven times [t-1st].  I thought so.

You may also remember them trading him to the Steelers in 1996 for a 2nd round pick that year [Ernie Conwell], and 4th round pick in 1997 [Ryan Tucker].  No worries though, they replaced Bettis by using their 1st round pick in ’96 on...Lawrence Phillips.

But that’s a story for another day.  In regards to the 10th pick, there isn’t a whole lot of history for either the Rams or head coach Jeff Fisher.  As a matter of fact, Fisher - in his two decades as a NFL head coach - has never made a selection in the 10th spot.

For a full list of 10th picks, you can visit Draft History dot com.  For the Rams, it’s seven picks in almost 80 years:

1993 - Jerome Bettis, RB, Notre Dame
1971 - Isaiah Robertson, LB, Southern
1969 - Jim Seymour, WR, Notre Dame
1963 - Rufus Guthrie, G, Georgia Tech
*  Guthrie was also selected with the 10th pick in the AFL that year [San Diego Chargers].  He never played a down for the Rams. The highlight of his career, on his Wikipedia page reads:  "On the opening play of the game, a kick-off, Mr. Guthrie was injured."
1954 - Ed Beatty, C, Mississippi
1946 - Emil "Red" Sitko, RB, Notre Dame
1937 - Johnny Drake, RB, Purdue
*  In 1936, the year of the very first NFL Draft, there were only nine teams. That makes Johnny "Zero" Drake, taken by the Cleveland Rams, the first player selected 10th in the first round