Mum's the Word From the St. Louis Rams on Top Pick in the NFL Draft

ST. LOUIS — Billy Devaney is keeping his options open.

With the first round of the NFL draft just two days away, the general manager of the St. Louis Rams wouldn’t tip his hat with the team’s plan for the No. 1 overall selection.

While Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford is the overwhelming favorite to be the first player selected Thursday night, Devaney said Tuesday that the club is in negotiations with several players, but wouldn’t specify how many.

"There’s been talk with a number," Devaney said during the Rams pre-draft press conference at Rams Park. "I don’t want to say how deep it’s been, but there has been contact with a number of players."

Devaney later revealed that the club is targeting four players for the top pick — Bradford, Notre Dame quarterback Jimmy Clausen, and the top two defensive tackles — Nebraska’s Ndamukong Suh and Oklahoma’s Gerald McCoy.

"They were the candidates we started out with, and they’ve been kind of the focus since then," Devaney said.

"At the end of the day, it’s just about Week 1, it’s not about Week 8, we’ve got to make the best decision. Obviously this year is important and we recognize that, but bring in the best player for future years also," Devaney said. "Who’s going to have the greatest impact for the St. Louis Rams? It’s not just about Week 1 of this year."

Devaney said he would "pop the question" to the coaches and scouts today. That question being, "Who would you take?"

Devaney said he "has a feel" of who he would select, but wants to see if everyone’s on the same wavelength. If there were differences, then discussions would be held so by Thursday, the board is completely intact.

"We’ve just about finished this process," Devaney said. "We’ve been with the scouts now for about two weeks, and we’ll have our board completely assembled."

When going through that process, Devaney and Spagnuolo have kept their opinions to themselves until this week so as to not sway the scouts.

"We don’t want it to be tainted at all," Devaney said. "We want the scouts to give their evaluations without our opinions."

Spagnuolo added, "You don’t want to influence their thought. It’s information gathering, and then we talk."

There have also been rumors that some teams are interested in trading up to No. 1. Devaney wouldn’t say how many teams have called him about the top pick.

"There hasn’t been that many. I haven’t been keeping score," Devaney initially answered. The followup question was, "Less than five, more than five?"

Devaney smugly responded, "You’re getting warmer," drawing laughter from the media members assembled inside the Russell Training Center auditorium.

"There hasn’t been this massive movement," Devaney continued. "We’re talking, and we’re open. We’ll remain open. But there isn’t anything even close to being done. We’ll keep on talking and see what happens."

Devaney said he has an idea of what it would take for the Rams to move out of the top spot, but has not discussed specifics with any team. He did say it would have to be a "pretty darn good" offer.

Bradford is the consensus top quarterback in the draft and is coveted by a number of teams, including St. Louis.

The Rams were impressed with how Bradford conducted himself at the NFL Combine. They attended his pro day on March 29 in Norman, brought him in for a visit at Rams Park on April 12 and conducted a private workout last Friday.

Bradford did everything that was expected, proving that his surgically repaired shoulder was at full strength. He was given plays by offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur and quarterbacks coach Dick Curl when he visited Rams Park.

The two had lunch with him last Friday and asked him to recall those plays, and "came back comfortable" with Bradford’s retention.

Devaney said that not too much should be made of the attention the Rams have given Bradford, saying a final decision has not yet been made.

"We’ve spent a lot of time with the other candidates also," Devaney said. "There were probably more questions about Sam because of the injury, and we needed to have that answered. Once that was answered, you kind of knew about the intangibles and the person, so it became kind of easy.

"But then we felt the same way about other players. Every workout we went to, it was like a beauty contest. You go out to Suh, and it’s like, ‘Oh my God, I love this guy.’ McCoy’s workout at Oklahoma, it was the same thing."

Devaney added that Clausen’s pro day earlier this month in South Bend was "awesome."

"It’s always better to have options," Devaney said. "Having the first pick hasn’t changed anything."

This article can also be found at The Alton Telegraph .