NFL Draft 2014: Rams positioned well for trades

With two picks among the first 13, the Rams are already fielding “flirtacious” calls from other teams.

Apr 7, 2014, 2:08 PM UTC

Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports

In many ways, the St. Louis Rams hold the keys to the 2014 NFL Draft. With the second overall pick, acquired in the Robert Griffin trade two years ago from the Washington Redskins, the Rams have plenty of ammunition to acquire even more picks with a trade down.

Of course, the team that potentially makes a deal with St. Louis would be in a prime spot, able to pick either a top-flight quarterback or perhaps even defensive end Jadeveon Clowney, provided the Houston Texans don't make him their selection.

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St. Louis has been fielding calls on the second overall pick, according to MMQB. Nothing of great note has materialized yet, but it only takes one general manager who decides he needs to make a splash, per the piece:

“We have had some conversations with multiple teams,” Snead said on Sunday night. “They’re more flirtatious calls than anything. We have numbers 2 and 13, but Houston has number one. Nobody can really seriously chat with us until they are happy with at least two players. I think what might happen as we get closer to the draft, maybe it comes to fruition what Houston is going to do, maybe it doesn’t, you have more serious talks probably the week of the draft going, ‘Hey, if our player is there at 2, this is what we’re going to offer.’ I think it will get more serious.”

Snead is aware of the position he's sitting in. Last year, the draft was very weak in talent, making Eric Fisher the top pick for the Kansas City Chiefs. Fisher is a fine player, but in this year's class many pundits believe he would not even be a top five selection. All of this means great value for St. Louis if it decides to deal, per MMQB.

“I actually think there’s more than one player that people would want to move up for. I just don’t know what they’d want to give to move up,” Snead said. “At the top maybe there’s four or five players who were one step or one notch ahead of the very good, and sometimes a team might say we need to get that guy. You don’t know the value of what people would be willing to give. The fact that there could be multiple teams eyeing one of those guys could drive of the price a little bit.”

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The Rams have made it no secret they are willing to shop the pick to the highest bidder, telling SB Nation’s Ryan Van Bibber they’re open for business at the Owner’s Meetings in Florida back in March. St. Louis general manager Les Snead talked about how this time around, compared to when the Rams traded out of the No. 2 spot in 2012, their is much more uncertainty.

"I think sitting at two, this is gonna be a little bit different than the last one," Snead said at the Combine last month. "When we went out to Indy the last time, it seemed like everyone knew who pick one was gonna be [Andrew Luck]. And probably what pick two was gonna be [RGIII]. I'm not sure we're gonna leave Indy and know who pick one is gonna be."

Van Bibber believes the Rams might wait until draft night to make a move, if and when they decide to pull the trigger on a deal.

With no obvious answers like Luck or RGIII, Snead and the Rams may have to wait, maybe even until the night of the Draft itself, to swap the second pick. However, the revelation that teams are already asking about the pick is a good sign that Snead may have more bounty yet to reap from the RGIII trade.

For St. Louis, trading back has two purposes. One, the Rams will pick up more picks in a very loaded draft class to help bolster a roster already on the rise. Two, they can move back and still get the player many believe they covet, offensive tackle Jake Matthews of Texas A&M.

Matthews is the second lineman on the board for most, only behind Auburn's Greg Robinson. In theory, Matthews would come in and immediately start as a bookend to Jake Long, a former No. 1 overall pick himself.

Head coach Jeff Fisher is very familiar with the Matthews family. Jake Matthews is the son of Bruce Matthews, who had a Hall of Fame career with the Houston Oilers/Tennessee Titans. Bruce spent his last seven years playing under Fisher, who guided the Titans to the Super Bowl in 1999.

Fisher believes Jake has similar ability to his father, per the Post-Dispatch.

“With Bruce having played all the position and being selected to the Pro Bowl ... he was probably one of the more flexible offensive linemen to ever (play),” Fisher said. “I think Jake’s got some similar traits. We haven’t see Jake play center yet or guard. But athletically, he can do both I’m sure.”

Resident SB Nation expert and former NFL defensive end Stephen White reviewed film on Matthews and wrote a detailed scouting report on the youngster. Here is part of White’s conclusion on the man responsible for Johnny Manziel’s blind side:

Think about what I'm saying here. Matthews only lost on a pass-blocking assignment one time in the five games. Now look at the teams I watched him play against. You don't think LSU, Alabama, Ole Miss or Missouri have good pass rushers? Hell, No. 94 for LSU is probably still trying to figure out how he got so completely shut down by Matthews.

With Matthews, the Rams would be able to have a bookend for former No. 1 overall pick Jake Long. It would potentially be one of the top offensive lines in football, with re-signed Rodger Saffold playing inside at guard. Saffold initially signed with the Oakland Raiders before failing his physical, leaving him to be scooped up by St. Louis for five years and $31.7 million.

All told, the Rams have plenty of options heading into May 8.

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