Houston owns the No. 1 pick and, obviously, will set the tone for the draft. Thing is, St. Louis -- which owns two first-round picks, at Nos. 2 and 13 -- has a chance to shape the first round, as well.
What the Rams do with the No. 2 pick -- keep it? trade it? -- will have a big impact on a lot of teams, and NFL Media insider Ian Rapoport reported Monday a source told him the Rams held a very clandestine meeting with Texas A&M's Johnny Manziel at the NFL Scouting Combine in February and kicked everyone out of the room except for GM Les Snead, head coach Jeff Fisher and Manziel before beginning the meeting.
Earlier Monday, Sports Illustrated's Peter King reported that Snead recently traveled to Texas Tech and "met at length" with Kliff Kingsbury, Manziel's offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Texas A&M in 2012, and "came away thinking Manziel could adjust to life well as an NFL passer."
A Rams contingent was in College Station, Texas, on Friday to work out a trio of A&M players (Manziel, wide receiver Mike Evans and offensive tackle Jake Matthews). All three should appeal to the Rams, especially Matthews and Evans. King reported that Manziel was "impressive" in both the workout and a post-workout meeting room session with Fisher and offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer.
Nearly two weeks ago, NFL Media analyst Daniel Jeremiah reported that he was hearing the Rams were showing interest in Manziel.
What about at No. 2: Would the Rams be thinking of taking Manziel there? At first blush -- and maybe second and third -- that seems a little out there, considering Sam Bradford is under contract. But if the Rams' decision-makers aren't sold on Bradford anymore -- and those same decision-makers aren't sure how long Manziel will be on the board -- they might go ahead and take Manziel at No. 2 and, in the process, shake up the first round.
If the Rams don't take Manziel, offensive tackle would seem to be the highest priority for St. Louis. King also reports that the Rams worked out Auburn offensive tackle Greg Robinson on Thursday. Do they have him higher on the board than Matthews, who has a family connection with Fisher? "I sense the Rams like Greg Robinson at two -- over (Clemson wide receiver) Sammy Watkins and Jake Matthews," King wrote.
NFL Media's Bucky Brooks, Charles Davis and Daniel Jeremiah all have the Rams taking Robinson at No. 2 in their most recent mock drafts.
Mike Huguenin can be reached at mike.huguenin@nfl.com. You also can follow him on Twitter @MikeHuguenin.
