ST. LOUIS -- The St. Louis Rams addressed their biggest pre-NFL draft need by taking a pair of offensive linemen, Rob Havenstein of Wisconsin in the second round and Louisville's Jamon Brown in the third on Friday night.
"It was definitely a surprise," said Havenstein, the 57th overall pick. "I'm still kind of speechless right now. It's an unbelievable opportunity, I'm so excited."
St. Louis began the draft with six picks after averaging more than nine the previous three years and took Georgia running back Todd Gurley in the first round. They added picks in the third and sixth rounds by trading down 16 picks with Carolina.
The Rams have only two offensive line starters back. Veterans Jake Long and Scott Wells were released and tackle Joe Barksdale is an unrestricted free agent.
The 6-foot-7, 321-pound Havenstein was a three-year starter at right tackle. Wisconsin set a school record last season averaging 320.1 rushing yards, third in the nation. He opened holes last year for Melvin Gordon and before that, Montee Ball.
I like it great pick. https://t.co/gFa3X0ZtCX
— Todd Gurley II (@TG3II) May 2, 2015
The 6-foot-6, 326-pound Brown was the 72nd overall pick and probably projects as a guard. He started every game his last three seasons and was second-team All-ACC as a senior, when he allowed just two sacks.
"At this point, I can't make any predictions," Brown said. "I'll just play wherever they ask me to play and if that means playing guard, I'll play guard."
Brown said he made pre-draft visits to St. Louis, Washington, Denver and Detroit.
Gurley is coming off left knee surgery in mid-November and the Rams don't know if he'll be ready for the opener. They have plenty of depth with third-round pick Tre Mason rushing for 765 yards and a 4.3-yard average last year and Zac Stacy just missing 1,000 yards as a rookie in 2013.
In his first appearance at Rams Park, Gurley characterized his rehab as "fun," then amended that to "a little slow." He's using Adrian Peterson's rapid recovery from an ACL tear as inspiration during his climb back to health.
"It's definitely a grind," Gurley said. "The biggest thing is just being patient."
While waiting for his name to be called, the running back said he told some jokes.
"I was like 'Dang, man, maybe I have bad service in here because there aren't any teams calling me right now,'" Gurley said.
Gurley was the first running back taken in the first round since 2012, and Rams general manager Les Snead quipped that coach Jeff Fisher "saved the running back."
Fisher hit it big drafting running backs in the first round when he was with the Titans, getting Eddie George and Chris Johnson. Whenever his knee is ready, Gurley believes playing in a pro-style offense at Georgia will help.
