The speculation surrounding the 2012 NFL Draft keeps swirling. It's a bumper crop of young players and a wide range of pro teams looking to fill the entire gamut of positions that were found lacking in 2011.
USC Trojans offensive tackle Matt Kalil is widely regarded by experts and evaluators as one of the very best prospects in the country. Early mock drafts all had him going to the St. Louis Rams as the No. 2 overall pick. In the past week, however, there has been some thinking that the Rams will instead opt for wide receiver Justin Blackmon while he's still on the board.
In that case, the Minnesota Vikings would be poised to step in and snare Kalil with the No. 3 pick. National Football Post is in tune with this line of thinking in their latest mock draft. Here is their rationale, which makes a ton of sense:
Quarterback Christian Ponder has shown flashes in year one, but he needs to stay healthy. Therefore, bringing in the top offensive tackle prospect in the draft who has a chance to mature into a Pro Bowl-caliber lineman seems like an easy selection at three.
I would agree that the Rams would be smart to pick up the top wide receiver prospect in the country to pair up with Sam Bradford and try to build the offensive line in later rounds or via free agency. Finding protection for Ponder would go a long way toward drastically improving the current Vikings team.
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