by Tim on Apr 7, 2011 4:00 PM CDT in Events
Not Julio Jones, as he's now a Detroit Lion for the purpose of our mock. With that reality setting in, bone31crusher turns in his pick for the Rams after the jump.
St. Louis head coach Steve Spagnuolo was the former defensive coordinator of the 2007 Super Bowl champs, the New York Giants. The year the Giants won the Super Bowl, they dominated in the trenches, especially on defense. They led the NFL in sacks that year, and had very good depth at both DT and DE.DE James Hall had a terrific year last season, tallying 10.5 sacks. Former No. 2 overall pick Chris Long also had a fine season, finishing with 8.5 sacks.
This was a hard pick to make. The Rams need help at DT, but the entire DL itself is a priority, even though both Hall and Long had good seasons. I went over to SB Nation's Turf Show Times to try and get some knowledge of their needs. Besides hearing Julio Jones on every post, two other names were consistently popping up: Missouri DE Aldon Smith and Illinois DT Corey Liuget. They could use both players, but can only have one.
With the 14th pick in the 2011 NFL Draft, the St. Louis Rams select Missouri DE Aldon Smith.
My big brother, Tom Martin, former editor of SB Nation Houston and current editor at The Dream Shake, goes to Missouri. He's very big on Aldon Smith. I always thought Aldon was great in college and had potential to be a good NFL player, but I never expected him to be a 1st round pick, let alone be in the top 15.
So I looked up some film on him, and I was impressed from start to finish. He's still raw, but he's a freak athlete with a very high ceiling.
Spagnuolo likes depth at DE, and he gets it in Smith. The good thing for Spagnuolo is that he doesn't need to play Smith right away, as the Rams already have two above-average DEs. Smith will have time to develop into the stud pass rusher he's projected to be.
If Smith lives up to his potential, Coach Spagnuolo will have a terrific pass rushing defense, which is what he had with the New York Giants.
Quick recap of the players taken thus far:
1. Carolina--Cam Newton (QB--Auburn)
2. Denver--Patrick Peterson (CB--LSU)
3. Buffalo--Marcell Dareus (DT--Alabama)
4. Cincinnati--Von Miller (OLB/DE--Texas A&M)
5. Arizona--A.J. Green (WR--Georgia)
6. Cleveland--Da'Quan Bowers (DE--Clemson)
7. San Francisco--Robert Quinn (LB--North Carolina)
8. Tennessee--Nick Fairley (DT--Auburn)
9. Southern Oklahoma--Tyron Smith (OT--USC)
10. Washington--Jake Locker (QB--Washington)
11. Houston--Prince Amukamara (CB--Nebraska)
12. Minnesota--Blaine Gabbert (QB--Mizzou)
13. Detroit--Julio Jones (WR--Alabama)
14. St. Louis--Aldon Smith (DE/OLB--Mizzou)
Your reaction to Aldon Smith going off the board, BRB?
The Dolphins, via DaGoaT, are now on the clock.
Apr 2011 by Tim - 129 comments
Apr 2011 by Tim - 238 comments
Read More: 2011 nfl mock draft, 2011 brb mock draft, 2011 nfl mock draft database, James Hall (DE - STL), Prince Amukamara (CB - Nebraska), Jake Locker (QB - Washington), Chris Long (DE - STL), Julio Jones (WR - Alabama), Marcell Dareus (DL - Alabama), Da'Quan Bowers (DE - Clemson), A.J. Green (FL - Georgia), Patrick Peterson (CB - LSU), Blaine Gabbert (QB - Missouri), Aldon Smith (DE - Missouri), Robert Quinn (DL - North Carolina), Von Miller (LB - Texas A&M), Tyron Smith (OT - Southern Cal), Corey Liuget (DL - Illinois), Nick Fairley (DL - Auburn), Cameron Newton (QB - Auburn), Miami Dolphins, Houston Texans, New York Giants, St. Louis Rams
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