St. Louis Rams: Thursday's News and Notes at Noon (NFL Draft 1st-Round Edition)

Welcome to Thursday's St. Louis Rams "News and Notes" at Noon, your one-stop destination for all major Rams headlines and other information of interest to Rams Nation. 

Michael Lombardi says Vikings seem focused on Morris Claiborne at No. 3

Michael Lombardi of the NFL Network seems convinced the Vikings are truly interested in nabbing LSU cornerback Morris Claiborne at No. 3, as reported in this tweet: 

"Michael Lombardi‏ @michaelombardi

Minnesota seems focused on Claiborne and getting a tackle in the second round...not sure I agree.

"

The general feeling around the NFL has been that USC left tackle Matt Kalil was nearly a lock to go to Minnesota. That could still be the case and all of this could be smokescreen related but, as always, the pre-draft discussions are continuing to get more interesting.

If Claiborne goes at three, that leaves at least two of the following prospects on the board for the Rams at No. 6: Oklahoma State wide receiver Justin Blackmon, the aforementioned Kalil, Alabama running back Trent Richardson or Mississippi State defensive tackle Fletcher.  

Unless the Rams trade up, you can almost certainly scratch Richardson's name off the board.  It seems very unlikely he would fall past both Cleveland and Tampa Bay. 

Thus, it seems most likely that two of Blackmon, Kalil or Cox will be left for St. Louis at six. 

As for Cox, the NFL Network's Jason La Canfora reports via this tweet that teams may be inclined to move into the top five for the extraordinarily talented DT:

"Jason La Canfora‏ @JasonLaCanfora

Continue to hear Fletcher Cox as going very high in draft. Some teams consider jumping to 5, ahead of STL, for him.

"

So, what if Minnesota takes Claiborne and a team moves up for Cox at five?  That leaves everything on Cleveland as to who falls to the Rams.

ESPN reported recently that the Browns' brass was split on Texas A&M quarterback Ryan Tannehill and Justin Blackmon.  

If Cleveland were to grab Tannehill, it would guarantee the Rams having Kalil, Blackmon and Richardson to choose from. That would obviously give St. Louis a trio of terrific options to pick from or to dangle as trade bait.  Regardless of how it all pans out, though, St. Louis will nonetheless have an opportunity to grab a premier talent when they go on the clock.  

Right now, Blackmon seems to make the most sense in many ways, as I shared in my final seven-round mock draft yesterday, as seen here.  He has a decent chance of being on the board (as I think Cleveland may grab Richardson), and Sam Bradford desperately needs a weapons upgrade at receiver. 

Yet another option, as reported in this via Justin Gibson of Bleacher Report, could involve a trade down with Buffalo, which seems to be interested in Kalil.

Rams have taken calls for No. 6 pick 

According to this report from Ron Clements of CBSSports.com, St. Louis general manager Les Snead has already fielded calls for the No. 6 pick. 

If teams were to move up, Clements points to Texas A&M quarterback Ryan Tannehill as a likely target.  Cox could also be a motive as well, as referenced above via the La Canfora update. 

if the Rams were to trade down, depending on where they moved to, some appealing options could include wide receivers Michael Floyd or Kendall Wright, guards David DeCastro or Cordy Glenn, defensive tackles Dontari Poe or Michael Brockers, or cornerback Stephon Gilmore, among others. 

St. Louis dismisses speculation regarding Steven Jackson trade possibilities

The Rams have dismissed rumors of the Rams shopping Steven Jackson, as reported by Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

In the above-linked piece, head coach Jeff Fisher also dispelled the assertion that some have made that character concerns may not be a priority when the Rams evaluate players following the departure of former head coach Steve Spagnuolo and his famous four pillars. Fisher said:

"

When we discuss a player, when the player's name is called out (in draft meetings), the first thing that the scout identifies and discusses is his character grade. His football character grade and his personal character grade. That is discussed in detail before we move on to the player.

Were there issues in the background? What those issues were. You continue with it. If they're obvious issues, then he's no longer on our board. If they're questionable issues, we're going to do the research and the due diligence with the staff and do what we have to do to make sure. But character is a very important factor to consider, and we place a heavy value on it.

 

"

Rams must get this draft right

Columnist Bernie Miklasz of the St. Louis Post Dispatch explains why it is paramount that St. Louis gets the 2012 NFL draft right.  He does a superb job or breaking down the No. 6 pick and explains why Morris Claiborne and Matt Kalil may not be targeted by the Rams if they are available, as you can read here. 

When considering the Rams went 2-14 in 2011 and 15-65 over the past five campaigns, the Rams certainly do indeed need to nail this draft. 

Will St. Louis stay at No. 6, trade down or move up? 

As Jim Thomas of STLtoday.com shares in this piece, all options are theoretically on the table for the Rams in regard to the much-discussed No. 6 pick. 

Thomas shared his thoughts and assertions regarding the pick and Fisher expressed the proceeding words in regard to the Rams draft philosophy (via the above-linked piece): 

"

I think you can make a case that every position on this team is going to have an impact on Sam's performance, his production. You talk about the defensive line getting the ball back and giving him more snaps and giving him more series. The run game, the offensive line, keeping the defense off the field, protecting him.

Weapons are in fact a priority of ours, but there's numerous needs on this football team. So we're not going to reach, we're not going to overreact, and we're going to make the right decisions to put these pieces together.

"

Have a great day as always, STL Rams Nation.  Enjoy the 2012 NFL draft! 

Follow @ShaneGmoSTLRams

Shane Gray covers the St. Louis Rams daily as a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. You are encouraged to check out the rest of his work here. Gray also owns and operates stlramscentral.com.