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EARTH CITY, Mo. -- It's become common practice around the mock draft game to send a wide receiver to the St. Louis Rams with the No. 10 overall pick. The outside perspective is that the Rams could use a true No. 1 receiver and the intersection of that need and value comes clear for the Rams at No. 10. That thought process is no different here at ESPN, where both Todd McShay and Mel Kiper Jr. have been making a habit of sending a wideout to the Rams. On Monday morning, McShay released his fourth mock draft and stuck with the wide receiver theme but with a little different twist. Instead of West Virginia's Kevin White, whom McShay sent to St. Louis in version 2.0, or Alabama's Amari Cooper, McShay's pick for the Rams in mock 3.0, this time it's Louisville's DeVante Parker. Why the change? Well, McShay now has Cooper and White going off the board at Nos. 3 and 7 to Jacksonville and Chicago, respectively. This falls in line with something I began hearing back at the scouting combine in Indianapolis which is that Cooper and White are widely regarded as two of the best overall prospects in the draft and neither will fall to No. 10 for the Rams. Unfortunately for the Rams in this scenario, with Cooper and White off the board, the top offensive lineman or one of the top two quarterbacks also don't fall. Iowa's Brandon Scherff goes No. 9 to the New York Giants and quarterbacks Jameis Winston and Marcus Mariota go Nos. 1 and 2. If this scenario played out -- and it very well could -- the Rams would have a tough decision to make. After talking to Jeff Fisher at the owners meetings last week, I'm less convinced than I was before (and I was already skeptical) that the Rams will take a wide receiver at No. 10. If Cooper or White fell, they'd absolutely have to consider it but I'm not sure they view Parker the same way. Likewise, Fisher indicated that bringing Britt back has him pleased with what the team has at wide receiver. As always, you have to take anything a coach or general manager says at this time of year with a grain of salt but I could see the Rams going a different direction here. McShay has also made multiple mentions of the Rams potentially moving up for Mariota and that's something I wouldn't rule out either if Mariota falls into the five to seven range. It'd be more of a surprise if they went all the way to No. 2 given what they'd have to give up to do it unless Tennessee took a little less to make a deal. With the top two wideouts, top two quarterbacks and top offensive lineman gone, this could also play into Fisher's statements about not being against taking a pass-rusher. In this draft, it's Clemson's Vic Beasley who falls to No. 13. Michigan State cornerback Trae Waynes is also available at No. 10. Perhaps the most logical move if this were to be how it plays out, though, would be to find a trade partner to move down. Go down a few spots, take the next best offensive lineman and pick up an extra pick or two. The needs on the offensive line remain glaring and after Scherff, there seems to be a consensus that the Rams could have a group of players that might fit after that including LSU's La'el Collins, Stanford's Andrus Peat, Florida State's Cameron Erving, Miami's Ereck Flowers and more.
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