2012 NFL Draft: Trent Richardson Slated As Rams' "First Choice"

With the NFL turning into a passing league and many teams' devaluation of the running back position, some Bengals fans have been clinging to hope that Alabama's Trent Richardson would fall to the team at the No.17 spot in this month's draft. For a while it seemed like a probable scenario, as Richardson underwent a knee scope early this spring and the position has been taken later in the draft each consecutive year. With gems being found in rounds two through four in recent drafts, teams feel as though they can get a quality back at virtually any point in the draft.

Lately though, it seems as if the chatter about Richardson falling is dying down. He had an outstanding workout recently and is being touted as the best running back prospect since Adrian Peterson. Evan Silva of rotoworld.com and profootballtalk.com notes that the St. Louis Rams will spring at the chance to take Richardson if he's there at No.6.

As Silva notes in the actual article that's linked, Russ Lande was a former Rams scout before becoming one of the nation's preeminent draft experts. With that background, it's hard to imagine that he wouldn't have a good pulse on what the team is looking to do in the draft in a couple of weeks. This may come as a bit of a surprise because the Rams have a still-effective Steven Jackson on the roster, but he is entering his ninth season and Richardson would make sense, if only for the future of the franchise.

If you remember, the Rams had the No.2 overall selection in the draft, but traded down to No.6 with the Washington Redskins. Washington is looking like they will be selecting Robert Griffin III with that second overall pick. What's ironic is that the Cleveland Browns were one of the teams that were in talks with the Rams to trade up and now it would seem that the Rams and the Browns will likely shape how the first round will shake out. The most likely scenario is that those two teams will end up with Richardson or Oklahoma State wide receiver, Justin Blackmon.

Either way, don't expect Richardson to fall to the Bengals if they stay put. It sounds like Richardson will not make it out of the top ten, if not the top five spots in this year's draft.