Tom Kowalski of MLive.com reports that Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford might be moving to the top of the Rams’ draft board if his shoulder checks out okay.
In talking to a couple of well-informed folks from St. Louis last week at the Super Bowl, two interesting points came up.
The first is one that I’ve been talking about for awhile — that Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford, once he proves his injured right shoulder is OK — could move into that No. 1 spot. The Rams are desperate to replace Marc Bulger, who is not in the team’s long-term plans.
The other interesting piece of information was that the Rams had considered drafting USC quarterback Mark Sanchez with the second overall pick last year. The Jets trading up to No. 5 and taking Sanchez was considered a reach so the Rams would’ve taken plenty of heat for taking Sanchez at No. 2 — which is why they didn’t. But after the rookie performance by Sanchez, it appears the Rams — who took tackle Jason Smith — made a mistake.
Rumors like these will surface over the next couple of months leading up to the draft, so it’s wise to take them with a grain of salt. I worked with Kowalski in Detroit and can speak from experience that he’s a reputable member of the media. But as he points out in his article, the top of the draft fluctuates from one day to the next and nothing is guaranteed at this point – especially considering the scouting combine hasn’t even taken place yet.
That said, it’s an interesting rumor and one that would certainly make sense given the Rams’ needs at quarterback. Many people believe St. Louis will select defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh with the first overall pick in April’s draft but the fact of the matter is that if the Rams believe that Bradford (or Jimmy Clausen or whomever) is a franchise quarterback, then they’ll pass on Suh. There is no substitution for a franchise signal caller, no matter how good a player like Suh is.
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