NFL Draft 2012 Results: St. Louis Rams Smart to Move out of Top 10

The St. Louis Rams, who were originally slated to have the No. 2 overall pick in the NFL draft, made multiple moves within the first hour of the NFL draft, but none of those moves resulted in a player.

And it worked to perfection.

After moving from No. 2 to No. 6 a few months ago, the Rams made another trade with the Dallas Cowboys to move back to No. 14.

With that pick, the Rams finally selected LSU defensive tackle Michael Brockers.

Brockers, who declared after his redshirt sophomore season, is still a little raw, but boy is the big man gifted. He is a terrific athlete who is absolutely phenomenal against the run, something the Rams badly need to improve. 

Brockers still needs some work on his pass rush and there is a worry that he is only a two-down player right away, but his upside trumps that fear.

You just don't see the blend of size and speed that Brockers has every day. If he hits his ceiling, this pick will look like a steal in a couple of years.

What is possibly more important than grabbing Brockers, however, is the fact the Rams absolutely stacked up picks for Friday.

Besides grabbing a player they easily could have picked at No. 6 and felt fine with, the Rams also got their hands on the No. 33, No. 39, and No. 45 picks.

Wow.

Some may point out that second-round picks aren't as valuable as Top 10 picks and that is certainly true, but there's no question in my mind that getting three early second-round picks is worth moving down 12 spots.

The Rams still get a stud in Brockers, and it's not far-fetched to see second-rounders start during their rookie seasons. 

Oh yeah, and they also now have two first-round picks in 2013 and 2014. That is some impressive work by Les Snead.

Some people may have hoped the Rams would grab an offensive player with a Top 10 pick, but trading down in this draft—a draft in which teams are dying to trade up—is always a win. Grabbing a wide receiver or running back with one of their second-round picks makes much more sense than picking Blackmon at No. 6. 

Well done, Rams.