2015 NFL mock draft: A.J. Cann to St. Louis Rams at No. 41

The St. Louis Rams are not far off from seriously competing in the NFC West. They have a competitive defense in place, and are focusing on fixing up their offense to better make a run at the likes of Seattle, Arizona and even San Francisco. After addressing the wide receiver position with a top prospect in Round 1 of our 2015 NFL mock draft, Joe McAtee of Turf Show Times returns to continue his work on that side of the ball.

McAtee: With the release of oft-injured Jake Long, the Rams are in serious need of re-stocking the tackle bin. That effort started in 2014 with the selection of Auburn’s Greg Robinson with the second overall pick in the 2014 NFL Draft. While I flirted with a couple options here, the top of the class has been cleaved off with seven tackles gone in the first 25 picks.

Tackle board discussions aside, I feel much more comfortable being able to take the top of the guard board here. For the Rams’ system, that puts A.J. Cann slightly ahead of Laken Tomlinson. He fits Jeff Fisher’s power running scheme to a ‘T’ and offers more injury prevention insurance than the Rams are used to. The needs at right tackle and center remain, but the Rams’ offensive line needs a near complete re-tooling. It’s not going to happen with a single pick in the 2015 NFL Draft.

Dan Kadar, SBNation.com: The only bad thing about taking Cann is that he’s locked into being a guard in the NFL. As of this choice, that’s only a problem because the Rams really don’t have a right tackle. The positive, though, is that Cann is the draft’s best pure guard. He’s a plug-and-play prospect that could easily slot into a starting position either on the left or right side. Cann is a strong blocker, but he’s shown that he can get out on the move and be athletic.

One more pick is scheduled to run today, and you’ll see it at 3:00 p.m. ET. The Falcoholic will be making it for the Atlanta Falcons.