St. Louis Rams: News, Nuggets and Notes at Noon (Thursday Edition)

Welcome to Thursday's St. Louis Rams "News, Nuggets and Notes at Noon," the one-stop destination for all major Rams updates and other notable tidbits.  

With the 2012 NFL Combine workouts rapidly approaching, most of the NFL (and its legions of fans) have turned their focus onto the Combine.  As for the actual workouts, they will take place on this schedule (central time) and air on the NFL Network:

Saturday (8 AM): Kickers, Offensive Lineman and Tight Ends

Sunday (8 AM): Running Backs, Quarterbacks and Wide Receivers

Monday (8 AM): Defensive Linemen and Linebackers

Tuesday (8 AM): Defensive Backs 

According to a tweet from Joe Everett @rookiedraft of rookiedraft.com, St. Louis is one of four teams who have requested a post-Combine visit with defensive tackle Michael Brockers of LSU.

Brockers is pretty much a consensus projection to land in the top 15 and is a top 10 projection by many. Some feel he could also play defensive end in a 3-4 alignment, although that move would be unnecessary in St. Louis, with bookends Chris Long and Robert Quinn in place here. 

Potential future Rams wide receiver Justin Blackmon may not run in the NFL Combine, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN via this report. 

If Blackmon does not run on Sunday morning, some will wave the red flags, right or wrong. Some will say he is hiding a slower-than-expected 40-yard time.  

That could be the case, but even if he skips the 40 in Indianapolis, the red flags should be left alone unless he also avoids running it during his Pro Day.  Oklahoma State's Pro Day will be held on March 9.  

Another projected top 10 pick, Alabama running back Trent Richardson, will be unable to workout at the Combine, according to this report from nfl.com.  Richardson is recovering from a minor knee operation and plans to work out for NFL scouts on March 27.  

Continuing to look at the quickly-approaching scouting Combine, Mike Sando of ESPN posted a related NFC West update here.

I strongly suggest taking a look at a great, in-depth piece from Bleacher Report feature columnist Michael Schottey on why each Combine event and subsequent workout is important.  

Schottey breaks down each event and shares fabulous insight into what NFL scouts are looking for when observing each workout. 

Finally, for one last look at the Combine today, take a look at this article from stlouisrams.com regarding the Rams readiness for the aforementioned event.  

Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch analyzed the Rams heading into the upcoming 2012 NFL Draft as well as the aforementioned 2012 NFL Combine.  Thomas asserts that St. Louis will take a long look at Blackmon and offensive lineman Matt Kalil of USC.  

Thomas also suggests that preliminary trade discussions involving the number two overall pick may occur.

For any questions you might have regarding the number two overall pick or any other Rams-related inquiries, please share them below or at my twitter page.  I will answer as many as possible in Saturday's "Weekly Weekend Question and Answer Session."

Wishing you a great day, STL Rams nation.

Shane Gray covers the St. Louis Rams year-round. You are encouraged to check out the rest of his work here and to follow him on Twitter.