Read More: Robert Quinn (DE – STL), St. Louis Rams

Last year the St. Louis Rams were pegged almost-right in the NFL Mock Draft. 2012 might see the same near-miss transference; if it does, what would that mean for the Rams and their omnipresent mock draft pick, Justin Blackmon?

In 2011 the Rams, sitting at No. 13, found themselves connected to Corey Liuget for most of the mock draft season—and they might have chosen him, except that a superior defensive prospect, Robert Quinn, eventually fell to them there. Quinn was strong in his first season with the Rams—though for whatever reason he didn’t play very much.

Justin Blackmon is the top prospect in his category, but the 2012 equivalent of this move comes in good news and bad news varieties for your correspondent. The good news would be if Matt Kalil were somehow still available at No. 6; an outstanding offensive lineman is the only thing that could help Sam Bradford even more than Blackmon would.

The bad news: Trent Richardson. He’s a better running back than Justin Blackmon is a wide receiver, but he’s still a running back. There are probably some great kickers out there, too.

More NFL Mock Draft coverage and analysis from SB Nation St. Louis:

Welcome to Monday’s St. Louis Rams “News and Notes at Noon,” the one-step home for all major Rams updates and other items of interest to Rams Nation. If you did indeed celebrate Easter or Resurrection Day yesterday, I hope you enjoyed it. If not, I hope you had a great day, too. 

Please forgive me, as today’s edition will be a bit briefer than normal.

I am fighting a severe migraine to the point that I can barely see the screen in trying to compile and produce this column today. It will, by necessity, be a nuts and bolts type piece today.  I apologize in advance for that and thank you for understanding.

 

Rams Line Up Pre-2012 NFL Draft Visit With Wide Receiver Michael Floyd 

According to Pro Football Talk, St. Louis has lined up a pre-draft visit with wide receiver Michael Floyd, who could go in the top 10 potentially. 

Floyd could theoretically be a target of the Rams at No. 6 or after a trade down, if one were to eventually occur.

 

Rams Line Up Visits From Cornerback Janoris Jenkins and Linebacker Mychal Kendricks, Too

According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch as reported here, St. Louis has lined up visits from both of these highly-athletic, early-round draft prospects. 

Jenkins could go in Round 1 or 2, and Kendricks could come off the board sometime after the conclusion of the first round. 

 

Peter King Predicts that Gregg Williams Could Indeed Coach Again in the NFL 

Peter King of Sports Illustrated predicts that Rams defensive coordinator Gregg Williams could return to the NFL in the future in spite of all that has occurred since Bountygate came forth. 

It will certainly be interesting to see it play out. 

 

2012 Quarterback Rankings 

Jason Smith ranks NFL QBs in this piece for nfl.com.  It is interesting to see the ranking of St. Louis quarterback Sam Bradford and where he checks in among the other NFL signal-callers in the aforementioned article. 

I expect big things and a better Bradford in 2012, as I encourage you to read about in this detailed new slideshow out today. 

 

Taking a Look at NFC West Rosters 

Mike Sando of ESPN takes a look at the NFC West in this piece and how teams look at this time.  

Of course, rosters will change dramatically by the fall with the draft and the remainder of free agency still ahead. 

 

That is going to have to be all for today, Rams Nation.  I indeed apologize, but I am indeed getting very sick and cannot even see what I am doing and feel more than a bit disorientated. 

Have a great day, STL Rams Nation, and I appreciate your thoughts and/or prayers if you would be so kind. 

Shane Gray covers the St. Louis Rams daily as a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. You are encouraged to check out the rest of his work here and to follow him on Twitter. Gray also owns and operates stlramscentral.com. 

Welcome to Wednesday’s St. Louis Rams “News and Notes at Noon,” the one-stop spot for all major daily Rams headlines and other related information of interest. 

 

Magic Johnson Beats Out Stan Kroenke and Steve Kohen to Purchase the L.A. Dodgers

According to various reports including this one from ESPN, a group led by Magic Johnson will purchase the Los Angeles Dodgers. 

As most of you know, Rams owner Stan Kroenke was bidding for the Dodgers. 

“Silent” Stan conducted a rare interview posted today by Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and touched on various topics in the piece that can be read here. 

 

Could Rams Still Trade With the Cleveland Browns in the 2012 NFL Draft? 

According to an article by Mary Kay Cabot for Cleveland.com, Rams head coach Jeff Fisher says that the Browns are “a potential trade partner” at No. 4 for the Rams No. 6 selection.

This time of year, however, everything should be taken with a grain (or two) of salt.  Smokescreens are in abundance before the NFL Draft and this year will be no different. 

In my opinion, it is highly doubtful that St. Louis moves back up after attaining extra picks to move down in the trade with the Washington Redskins and the No. 2 overall pick and the expected selection of Robert Griffin III. 

St. Louis has a plethora of roster holes, and giving up picks to move up two spots seems very unlikely with that also taken into consideration.

 

Looking at Cornerback Prospects in the 2012 NFL Draft 

There are several terrific corner prospects available this year, including Morris Claiborne, Dre Kirkpatrick, Steven Gilmore and others. 

In this clip, Tony Softli and Howard Balzer of 101Sports.com discuss this topic.  

Even though the Rams added prized free-agent Cortland Finnegan to solidify the defensive backfield, St. Louis could use additional help there, especially during this pass-happy era that the NFL is currently in. 

 

Thanks, as always, for checking in.  Have a great day, STL Rams Nation. 

Please watch for updates to today’s article later this afternoon. 

Shane Gray covers the St. Louis Rams year-round. You are encouraged to check out the rest of his work here and to follow him on Twitter.

Read More: Los Angeles Dodgers, St. Louis Rams

Magic Johnson and Stan Kasten’s bid to purchase the Los Angeles Dodgers—at more than $2 billion—reportedly went through late Tuesday night, ending a bizarre storyline in which it seemed as though Stan Kroenke, the St. Louis Rams’ new owner, already in hot water for violating the NFL’s cross-sport ownership rule, looked set to do it again. Magic and co. have saved St. Louis the hassle of freaking out about Kroenke’s perennially enigmatic behavior about then Rams’ future outside Southern California.

At least, today. Back when it seemed as though the Rams owner might win the bidding it emerged as a line of contrarian thought that having the Dodgers in Los Angeles might clearly and permanently constrain his ability to the Rams. At this point I’m not sure Stan Kroenke is convinced any rules apply to him, but surely Roger Goodell would have to make a move eventually, right? Right?

At this point, only one thing is certain—Dodgers fans will have Magic Johnson’s broad smile to look forward to from now on, instead of Kroenke’s inscrutable grin. Good for them.

The St. Louis Rams have agreed to terms with offensive tackle/guard Quinn Ojinnaka, most recently of the Indianapolis Colts, according to a tweet by Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:

The 27-year-old Ojinnaka was most likely added for depth purposes to a thin offensive line. Ojinnaka also brings versatility to St. Louis, as he has started at left tackle, right tackle and right guard in the past.

And it is that flexibility and experience at playing multiple positions that was probably of greatest appeal to the Rams.

Shane Gray covers the St. Louis Rams year round. You are encouraged to check out the rest of his work here and to follow him on Twitter.

(St. Louis, MO)–Don’t look for the St. Louis Rams to keep Greg Williams as the team’s defensive coordinator.

The NFL has suspended Williams indefinitely following charges of bounty hunting when Williams was with New Orleans.

New Rams coach Jeff Fisher hired Williams before the allegations were made public.

And he says he had no idea that Williams was running a bounty program with the Saints.

Fisher says the punishment was warranted and the rams were cutting ties with Williams at least for this season.

Fisher says the team won’t hire a new defensive coordinator, a group of coaches including himself will handle the chore.

“This organization including myself had no idea when we hired Coach Williams, the potential for this to happen,” said Rams coach Jeff Fisher.  “I’ve often been asked behind the scenes, had you known about it would you have hired him, well of course not.”