They landed Toledo offensive tackle John Greco with the second pick of the third round.
Billy Devaney, the Rams executive vice president of player personnel, said the team turned down several trade offers for the first of their seven second-day picks.
"To drop down 10-15 spots, we didn't think it was worth it," Devaney said. "When we left the building last night, we restacked the board and it was a slam dunk we were going to take Greco. We were just hoping the pick before, whoever it was going to be, wouldn't take him.
"We came in this morning expecting phone calls, and unless it was something really silly, we don't want to lose Greco. We got a few calls, but it wasn't anything of substance enough to make us want to risk losing this guy."
The Rams took Penn State cornerback Justin King and Kentucky wide receiver Keenan Burton in the fourth round, Oregon State offensive guard Roy Schuening in the fifth round and Tulsa linebacker Chris Chamberlain and Idaho linebacker David Vobora in the seventh round.
The choice of Greco was another need pick in what was truly a need-based draft for the Rams.
Depth at offensive tackle became a major issue last season after starting left tackle Orlando Pace and backups Todd Steussie and Adam Goldberg all went down with injuries.
Devaney said the Rams would have taken an offensive tackle with the 65th overall pick even if Greco had gone off the board.
"We felt that strongly about coming out with a tackle in this draft, so it worked out good for us," Devaney said.
-The 6-foot-4, 326-pound Greco started 49 consecutive games at Toledo.
He played right tackle as a freshmen, but moved to left tackle for the next three seasons after Nick Kaczur graduated.
Kaczur is the starting right tackle the New England Patriots.
"I think we have similarities," Greco said of being compared to Kaczur. "He is aggressive and powerful as a run blocker. We are both athletic, but I think we are a little bit different, too. We have different styles of play with footwork. Some people could compare us. I have heard that a lot."
Another former Toledo offensive linemen, center Andy McCollum, played for the Rams from 1999 through 2007.
Devaney said Greco will start out working at right tackle for the Rams, but he's capable of playing guard or even developing into a center.
The 5-foot-10 1 / 2 , 192-pound King had two interceptions and 15 pass breakups for the Nittany Lions last season.
With the Rams emphasizing speed, King fit the bill after running the 40-yard dash in 4.31 seconds at the NFL Combine.
King played wide receiver and cornerback as a freshmen at Penn State before strictly playing cornerback as a sophomore and a junior.
King is a junior entry to the NFL Draft, who finished high school early and graduated from college in three years. He has a degree from Penn State's College of Letters, Arts and Science.
King was among the six Penn State players arrested after an apartment fight April 1, but all charges were later dropped.
The Rams traded a fifth-round pick and a seventh-round pick to the Green Bay Packers to acquire Burton.
"There were only a few guys who we thought were real viable prospects left, and Burton was at the top of that list, so we figured, 'Why not get a guy who everybody has a real conviction about,"' Devaney said.
Burton had 77 catches for 1,036 yards and 12 touchdowns as a junior.
His numbers -- 59 catches for 685 yards and nine touchdowns -- declined a little his senior season as he battled ankle and hamstring injuries.
Burton also is an accomplished kickoff returner, and should join Dante Hall, Derek Stanley and second-round pick Donnie Avery in the battle for that job.
The Rams sent two sixth-round picks to the Washington Redskins in exchange for the fifth-round pick used for Schuening and a seventh-round.
Devaney said that Schuening, rated as a second- or third-round pick by many scouts, "stuck out like sore thumb" late in the fifth round.
Devaney said Rams running back Steven Jackson, another Oregon State product, had a high opinion on Schuening.
"He heard about him from Steven Jackson who gave him a ringing endorsement many months ago," Devaney said. "Were hoping that Jackson is pleased because we really are."
The 6-foot-1, 226-pound Chamberlain, who was being looked at as a strong safety by some NFL teams, had a school-record 165 tackles, the fifth most in Division I, last season.
Linehan said Chamberlain will work at weak-side linebacker, while Vobora will work at strong-side linebacker at first and middle linebacker maybe later.
Contact reporter Steve Korte at skorte@bnd.com or 239-2522.
