Cincy Jungle Mock Round 2 - The St. Louis Rams Select...

Sam Bradford had a very good rookie season. I don't think many people will dispute that. He threw for over 3500 yards, had a good completion percentage, and more of his passes went for points than for turnovers. One stat, however, remains conspicuously...well, pedestrian? Actually, let's go with 'bad'. His yards per attempt was just 5.95. A middle-of-the-road completion percentage suggests this figure isn't necessarily being dragged down by incompletions - it means his receivers simply aren't getting down the field. Only Jimmy Clausen posted a lower YPA, and at least he's got a good excuse - he's an ostrich. A legitimate human NFL quarterback should be doing better than that, and with Hankerson catching his passes, he will.

As for the receiver himself, Hankerson seems to lack truly elite speed judging by his 40 time, but that belies his true nature as a deep threat. Check out that highlight reel to see how many times the safeties are running to catch up to him. He's not overly quick but he has a great ability to separate from defenders at the second level. Additionally, he can overcome his lack of quickness on shorter routes with his excellent use of that 6'3", 215 lb frame to box out opponents. He rarely loses a jump ball and never fails to fight for one that's contested. His work ethic is reportedly fantastic, and he overcame significant difficulties adjusting to the college game early on to become one of the nation's elite NCAA receivers. With Josh McDaniels working with him it's a good bet he'll do the same thing at the pro level. It's not too difficult to envision the Bradford-Hankerson connection being one of the better ones in the game. Hankerson is exactly the type of player that the Rams' offense needs to start taking the top off of defenses, and exactly the type of player the team needs to continue building their solid young core.