2012 NFL Draft Order: Teams That'd Benefit from Trading Down
With the Super Bowl out of the way, every team in the NFL can finally turns its full front office attention to the 2012 NFL Draft, particularly now that the order is more-or-less set (see below).
That being said, don't expect the list you see to accurately reflect where clubs wind up in the ladder when all is said and done. There figures to be plenty of movement before and during the draft, with these three teams having the most to gain from moving down.
St. Louis Rams
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If ever the Rams were "smart" to wind up with the No. 2 pick in the draft, it's this year. Everyone and their mother (i.e. the Washington Redskins, the Cleveland Browns, the Miami Dolphins and the Seattle Seahawks) wants to land Heisman Trophy winner Robert Griffin III, who's easily the second-best quarterback in this draft behind presumed No. 1 overall pick Andrew Luck.
St. Louis, though, already has a young and talented (not to mention expensive) quarterback in its hands in Sam Bradford, around whom it'd be wise to place a few more players capable of catching and blocking.
Assuming the Rams decide to deal the No. 2 pick, they could easily move down and still wind up with Justin Blackmon, the top receiver in the draft, and another pick or two to fill out their wayward offensive line.
The Loser(s) of the RG3 Sweepstakes
As mentioned previously, there figures to be a veritable scrum over the No. 2 pick as the gateway to selecting Robert Griffin III, thanks in large part to the likes of Matt Barkley and Landry Jones deciding that school is pretty cool after all.
Unfortunately for those teams vying so desperately for a franchise QB, there is only one RG3 and, last I checked, he can't be split four ways.
Not easily, anyway, or even legally.
That leaves the other three RG3 hopefuls with a few choices:
1) Stick with what they have under center.
2) Splash some cash in free agency on, say, Matt Flynn or Kyle Orton.
3) Trade down for Ryan Tannehill, Brock Osweiler or Brandon Weeden.
In any of those cases, it would behoove the teams confronted with those choices to move on down the line and reap the rewards for doing so.
Philadelphia Eagles
The Eagles come into this draft with a number of glaring needs, especially at inside linebacker, wide receiver (pending DeSean Jackson's decision in free agency) and along the offensive line.
If Philly does, indeed, decide to go for a quality pass-catcher to replace D-Jax with their first-round pick, they could easily slide back from No. 15 and still be well within range for Michael Floyd, Kendall Wright, Alshon Jeffery, Mohamed Sanu and Rueben Randle.
Should linebacker take precedence, the Eagles could just as well drop down and find either Dont'a Hightower or Vontaze Burfict in their collective lap.
2012 NFL Draft Order (per Pro Football Talk)
1. Indianapolis Colts
2. St. Louis Rams
3. Minnesota Vikings
4. Cleveland Browns
5. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
6. Washington Redskins
7. Jacksonville Jaguars
8/9. Miami Dolphins and Carolina Panthers
10. Buffalo Bills
11/12. Kansas City Chiefs and Seattle Seahawks
13. Arizona Cardinals
14. Dallas Cowboys
15. Philadelphia Eagles
16. New York Jets
17. Cincinnati Bengals (Acquired from Oakland)
18. San Diego Chargers
19. Chicago Bears
20. Tennessee Titans
21. Cincinnati Bengals
22. Cleveland Browns (Acquired from Atlanta)
23. Detroit Lions
24. Pittsburgh Steelers
25. Denver Broncos
26. Houston Texans
27. New England Patriots (acquired from Saints)
28. Green Bay Packers
29. Baltimore Ravens
30. San Francisco 49ers
31. New England Patriots
32. New York Giants
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.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
