ST. LOUIS -- After Day 2 of the 2015 NFL Draft, the St. Louis Rams finally have more options to protect quarterback Nick Foles -- and, potentially, his new backup.
In Rounds 2 and 3, the team selected tackles Rob Havenstein of Wisconsin and Jamon Brown of Louisville, along with quarterback Sean Mannion from Oregon State.
Going into Friday, general manager Les Snead and head coach Jeff Fisher knew their offensive line had serious holes -- or, more accurately, with no set answers for right guard, right tackle or center, an entire side that needed mending. Their surprise first-round pick of running back Todd Gurley, a marquee talent rehabbing from ACL surgery, merely delayed the inevitable: at some point, the Rams needed to draft an offensive lineman.
Slated to pick 41st and 72nd in the second and third rounds, St. Louis ended up trading its second-round pick to Carolina in exchange for pick Nos. 57, 89 and 201, which gave them an additional selection in the third and sixth rounds. The Panthers picked up a wide receiver, while the Rams increased their number of picks in the draft from six to eight and ensured they'd have at least three new players before the end of Day 2.
St. Louis fielded around five trade calls just before making the deal with Carolina, and felt comfortable that most of the players they wanted would be available at No. 57.
Havenstein, their second-round selection, was projected to go in the third- or fourth-round on NFL.com's draft tracker, while Brown, whom the Rams selected with their first pick in the third round, was projected as a fourth- to fifth-rounder.
Havenstein played on a solid rushing offense at Wisconsin. The Badgers averaged 320.1 yards per game rushing in 2014, and, over his career, he helped block for Montee Ball and Melvin Gordon. He also dropped over 50 pounds since he started at Wisconsin, coming in at 321 pounds by the combine.
"I stopped eating terribly," Havenstein explained. "Just making better choices and putting your mind to it."
When it comes to the strengths in his game, he emphasized work ethic.
"I'd like to think I'm a hard-working o-lineman, a tough offensive lineman," he said. "Just coming out and being a hardworking guy and being a smart player."
The Rams, meanwhile, liked Havenstein's durability -- he finished at Wisconsin with 54 career games played, 42 as a starter.
"He's ready to play," Snead said. "He's right tackle, started a ton of games, never missed any. They run the ball well up there."
With Brown, the Rams saw something interesting at his combine workout.
"A lot of his numbers in all of the drills kind of jumped into what really good starters in our league kind of do at the combine," Snead said.
Brown made a pre-draft visit to the Rams at the same time as offensive lineman Andrus Peat and wide receiver Amari Cooper, both of whom were first-round picks this year.
"The visit up there, I had fun," Brown said. "Coach Fish, I felt like we really connected, and Coach 'Bou' (Paul Boudreau), the offensive line coach, I felt that we could work well together."
Brown began his career at Louisville as a defensive tackle, but injuries on the squad and an invitation from the coach to switch to offensive line changed his course freshman year. The Cardinals' offense averaged 460.8 yards per game in his junior season.
Though currently listed as an offensive tackle, Brown is willing to move wherever the Rams need him.
"I'll just play whatever they ask me to play, whether that be inside or out," he said. "I just really want to try to help the organization any way I can, and if that means playing guard, I'll play guard. If that means play tackle, I'll play tackle."
Fisher confirmed he's leaning toward guard for Brown.
Meanwhile, despite trading for Foles during the offseason, the Rams taking a quarterback with their final pick Friday wasn't a complete surprise since Fisher and Snead signaled as late as Tuesday they'd consider drafting a signal-caller. Picked by St. Louis at No. 89, Mannion was the fourth quarterback taken in the draft, behind Jameis Winston, Marcus Mariota, and Colorado State's Garrett Grayson, who went to the Saints.
Mannion had a formal interview with the Rams at the draft combine and worked out privately for them at Oregon State. Before one of their meetings, they sent him information to study the night before.
"We talked about it the next day," Fisher said. "He had it down."
Mannion explained the information he received in the meeting wasn't completely foreign to what he'd been used to in college.
"It was a ton of similarities in terms of formations, terminology, the sorts of concepts and patterns," Mannion explained.
Though the quarterback's senior year wasn't as impressive as his junior campaign, which included tying for fourth in the nation in touchdown passes and coming in second overall with passing yards and passing yards per game, Snead pointed out most of Mannion's weapons had graduated, and the line in front of him wasn't strong. After the end of the regular season, Mannion also focused on cleaning up his footwork, which he felt helped quicken his delivery.
"I felt like I was able to kind of show that (improved footwork) at the Senior Bowl and at the combine and at my pro day," he said.
At least one former Ram -- and one who knows something about working with good quarterbacks -- felt he had a solid scouting report on Mannion. Spoiler alert: he liked what he saw:
@STLouisRams Sean Mannion , wonderful size, SON of a coach, student of the game, 43 career starts,pocket passer, throws WR open
— Torry Holt (@BigGame81) May 2, 2015
Not a bad way to welcome a quarterback to his new city.
You can follow Elisabeth Meinecke on Twitter at @lismeinecke or email her at ecmeinecke@gmail.com
