Rob Havenstein to St. Louis Rams: Full Draft-Pick Breakdown

The second-round pick for the St. Louis Rams is official. With the No. 57 overall selection, they grabbed offensive tackle Rob Havenstein of Wisconsin. 

St. Louis initially owned the No. 41 overall pick but traded back with the Carolina Panthers. In return, the Rams gained additional third- and sixth-round selections, per Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

"

Rams get a third_ and a sixth-rounder in display.

— Jim Thomas (@jthom1) May 1, 2015"

It was a solid trade for St. Louis. The Rams have numerous needs on the offensive line, so acquiring multiple picks gives them the chance to address those holes. And that's exactly what happened with the Havenstein selection. 

St. Louis used the No. 10 overall pick to grab elite running back prospect Todd Gurley out of Georgia. He is a remarkable talent, but he won't reach his potential until St. Louis improves its run blocking. Havenstein will help toward fixing that.

Brynn Anderson/Associated Press

How Havenstein Fits with the St. Louis Rams

The Rams are returning just two starters from the 2014 offensive line. The 2014 line was already a complete mess, and that was before the group lost four key members this offseason (Jake Long, Scott Wells, Davin Joseph, Joe Barksdale). 

Greg Robinson—the No. 2 overall pick from the 2014 draft—will return as the starting left tackle and is expected to make great strides. Veteran Rodger Saffold will also return as a starting guard. 

Havenstein will step in and take over the right tackle position. He doesn't have the versatility to play anywhere else (at 6'7" he's too tall to play guard), but St. Louis doesn't need him to. The right edge was a huge need for the Rams thanks to Barksdale becoming a free agent. 

As a second-round pick on a team with an awful offensive line, Havenstein will be expected to start immediately. Thankfully, that shouldn't be an issue. 

Wisconsin has been a factory for NFL-caliber offensive linemen. Travis Frederick (Dallas Cowboys), Gabe Carimi (Atlanta Falcons), Peter Konz (Falcons), Joe Thomas (Cleveland Browns) and Kevin Zeitler (Cincinnati Bengals) are some recent examples. 

Havenstein played in 54 career games at Wisconsin including 42 starts. So, not only did play for a program that clearly knows how to prepare linemen for the NFL, but he has the necessary experience to step in and start Day 1. 

He's a nasty run-blocker, and that's something head coach Jeff Fisher surely loves. 

"

So Rams go OL. Havenstein everything you'd expect from a Wisconsin offensive tackle. Big, mauling type.

— Nick Wagoner (@nwagoner) May 2, 2015"

Wisconsin running back Melvin Gordon had an unreal 2014 campaign. He ran for 2,587 rushing yards in a single season, including 32 total touchdowns. 

Havenstein was Gordon's top run-blocker throughout that impressive season. 

Robinson is a run-blocking machine at left tackle. Now, the Rams have a mauler at both tackle positions. With Havenstein and Robinson covering the edges, Gurley will have giant run lanes to work with. 

Fisher is a run-first coach, so the Havenstein pick simply makes sense. 

Initial Reaction to the Havenstein Pick

Havenstein is not a flashy pick, and few would have predicted him landing in the second round. 

In fact, his profile on NFL.com had him pegged as going in the third or fourth round. CBS Sports graded him the same, and Walter Football had him going between Rounds 4 and 6.

Thanks to the lack of love from analysts, fans will likely call it a reach. They might not be wrong about that, either. 

Even so, the Rams had little choice at this point. They needed three starting offensive linemen (they still need two more), so it was time to act. The Rams used their luxury pick on Gurley in Round 1, so it was time to get down to business. 

St. Louis needed a lineman—not just any lineman but one who fits Fisher's philosophy and the team's style of play. 

Havenstein wasn't praised throughout the predraft process, but he'll help toward turning the Rams into a run-first team. 

Expect more offensive linemen in the third round and beyond. 

Steven Gerwel is the longest-tenured Rams Featured Columnist at Bleacher Report and served as the Rams' game-day correspondent in 2014. You can find more of Gerwel's work by visiting his writer profile or following him on Twitter.