Posted by ESPN.com's Mike Sando
Should the Rams trade down from the No. 2 overall spot? Not on the surface. They already have nine draft choices, including three of the top 65 and four of the top 101. The second overall choice gives them an option unavailable to any other team: taking the highest-rated defensive player in the draft.
And yet, the Rams have reason to be concerned about taking a defensive tackle that early. As good as Glenn Dorsey appears before his first NFL game, the position hasn't produced a string of recent successes that early. Teams have taken only two defensive tackles among the top five picks this decade: Gerard Warren and Dewayne Robertson.
Teams generally start taking defensive tackles after the fifth pick. The 13th through 15th picks have been particularly kind to teams drafting for the position. Ty Warren, Marcus Stroud, Tommie Harris, Brodrick Bunkley and Albert Haynesworth fit that profile.
Duplicating those successes could be difficult this year. Prevailing opinion says Dorsey and Sedrick Ellis are the top-tier defensive tackles. Both project as top-10 picks, but the third-rated defensive tackle, Kentwan Balmer, might project much later in the round. Trading back even one spot could take the Rams out of the market for a defensive tackle, the assumption being that Atlanta would strongly consider Dorsey after moving up from No. 3 (and that the Rams wouldn't value Ellis high enough to take him third).
The Rams, by all accounts, like Dorsey and Virginia defensive end Chris Long. Trading back one spot would still let them get one of those players.
Trading back a great deal further appears unlikely, but for what it's worth: Since 2000, 11 of 14 defensive ends taken in the top 13 picks have met or exceeded expectations set by Scouts, Inc. The success rate drops off for defensive ends taken later in the first round.
