Posted by ESPN.com's Mike Sando
St. Louis will presumably use their first-round choice, No. 2 overall, to upgrade one of its lines. The Rams need an eventual successor to left tackle Orlando Pace. On defense, they need to upgrade their pass rush and overall strength up front. Scouts Inc.'s Todd McShay had them taking a defensive lineman in this mock.
When we look at the Rams' roster, we also see a team that needs quality depth at linebacker. I count five linebackers on the Rams' roster, fewest in the league. Teams that run 4-3 defenses are carrying 7.9 linebackers on average, according to figures I track and update daily.
At linebacker, the Rams have Pisa Tinoisamoa, Will Witherspoon and Chris Draft, plus reserves Quinton Culberson and Tim McGarigle. They lost 15-game starter Brandon Chillar to Green Bay in free agency.
The Rams fell apart last season when they lost Pace and numerous other offensive linemen. They simply could not function offensively for stretches. It affected every aspect of their team. Sometimes injuries simply hit a position harder than a team can handle. The Bengals suffered to a similar degree when they ran out of depth at linebacker last season. They are carrying 11 linebackers right now, most in the league among 4-3 teams (the number is 10 without David Pollack, whose health remains in question).
Back to the Rams. They have drafted two linebackers since 2005 (McGarigle and 2006 third-rounder Jon Alston). They have not drafted a linebacker higher than 31st overall since the Ray Malavasi era (Mel Owens, ninth overall in 1981). They do not necessarily need to draft a linebacker early, but they need to fortify the position this season and for years to come.
The Rams have nine picks in this draft: 2, 33, 65, 101, 137, 168, 180, 217 and 252. Note: Download team by team picks here.
