Rams 2012 Draft Picks: St. Louis Takes Janoris Jenkins - Implications for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The St. Louis Rams have taken the most intriguing prospect in the 2012 NFL Draft: cornerback Janoris Jenkins out of North Alabama, and previously Florida. Jenkins is arguably the best cornerback in the entire draft and many Tampa Bay Buccaneers fans were enamored with him - but he comes with significant baggage. He managed to somehow get kicked out of Florida, which is very hard to do when you're as talented as he is. There's no question about his on-field production, but the off-field issued scared a lot of teams off. That allowed him to fall all the way to the second round, when he could have been a top 5 pick had he stayed clean off the field.

What this means for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers:

The Bucs have lost out on the best cornerbacks in the draft, by design. They passed on Morris Claiborne and Stephon Gilmore in the first round, while they showed no interest in Janoris Jenkins. They could still take a cornerback with their third-round pick, and plenty of players should be available at that point, but they could easily go in a different direction, ignoring the position this year.

A few fan favorites are still on the board in UCF cornerback Josh Robinson and Nebraska OLB Lavonte David, and other names like LB Bobby Wagner, LB Mychal Kendricks and CB Trumaine Johnson could be available in the third round. The Bucs could stay put and wait for talent to fall to them, or they could trade up for a player they really want. Stay tuned as we'll have all the news at Bucs Nation.