ST. LOUIS -- Lamarcus Joyner was flattered by the investment. The Florida State All-American is eager to prove his worth.
The St. Louis Rams traded up three spots in the second round with Buffalo, also giving the Bills their fifth-round pick, to take the undersized but hard-hitting Joyner with the 41st overall pick of the draft Friday night.
"That was so special," Joyner said. "That was like, `Wow, all these great guys left on the board and they traded up for me.' I owe them for that, they sacrificed to me."
Joyner made a top 30 visit to St. Louis and left with a "great vibe from all the coaches."
"It just felt like a great atmosphere and a great group of people," Joyner said. "I just felt like I was their type of player."
The 5-foot-8, 184-pound Joyner was one of four All-Americans for the national champion Seminoles and fills one of the team's pre-draft needs. He started every game his last three seasons and was a finalist for the Bronko Nagurski and Jim Thorpe awards after leading the nation's stingiest pass defense.
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"If I've got to pack on 100 pounds and move to offensive guard, whatever I need to do for the organization," Joyner said.
The Rams addressed the line on both sides of the ball in the first round, taking offensive tackle Greg Robinson with the second overall pick and defensive tackle Aaron Donald with the 13th selection. They entered the second day of the draft with a surplus of picks to use as collateral.
After the trade they still had eight selections remaining, four of them in the seventh round.
Joyner was second on the team with a career-high 69 tackles and led the Atlantic Coast Conference with 5 sacks.
"I'm aggressive, I'm physical," Joyner said. "I know no man is going to want to play 60 minutes like I am."
St. Louis lacked depth in the secondary even before releasing cornerback Cortland Finnegan due to injury concerns after the season. Joyner could provide an immediate boost in the nickel package and at free safety, and also is an accomplished return man.
Joyner started 27 games at safety and 13 at cornerback in college.
