14. St. Louis Rams - Aldon Smith, Missouri Tigers
St. Louis would love to grab Sam Bradford a weapon on offense here - or more accurately, they'd love to grab Julio Jones or A.J. Green at this pick. It's not going to happen, not in this mock, and in my opinion, not when it actually goes down on April 28th. No other targets are worth taking at this pick, and the Rams can't afford to make a reach. Chris Long had a great year last year, but they strengthen their line and grab the best player on their board, more than happy to land Aldon Smith, who really should have went sooner than he did.
Smith is a perfect fit opposite Long in Steve Spagnuolo's defense. They need more pass rush up front in that 4-3 alignment, and Smith is probably a top-ten talent in most drafts. Unfortunately for him, every college team had an unholy defensive line this year, but his talent and ability make it a huge long shot to fall out of the top fifteen. Again, if one of those receivers are here, they're the pick, but Smith is the pick in any other scenario in which he's available, barring some meteoric drop of one of the top five talents.
They briefly will consider somebody like Corey Liuget, who many have mocked to them and who they have expressed considerable interest in. He'd be the pick if Smith weren't available, nine times out of ten, but again, Smith is just too good to pass up. There's not much else to say about this pick, Smith will come in and sow destruction on the rest of the NFC West. Seattle and San Francisco's recent offensive line draft picks will have a new threat to deal with.