ESPN NFL

Posted by ESPN.com's Mike Sando

The Rams picked up a big cornerback with potential safety skills when they used their third-round choice, 66th overall, on Iowa cornerback Bradley Fletcher.

The one potential surprise: Bradley pleaded guilty following a DUI arrest. How might this line up with the Rams' stated desire to emphsize character in the draft? I posed that question to Rams general manager Billy Devaney shortly after the Rams made the pick.

Devaney: We were aware of it. When I spoke at our pre-draft media day about the character stuff, my comment was at that time, each case will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. Just because a 19- or 20-year-old kid makes a mistake doesn't mean we are going to take him off our draft board. We will research him. If it's a one-time deal, it will not affect him. That is the case with Fletcher. He made a mistake. There are standards. It was a mistake by a college kid.

The Rams' decision to take a cornerback instead of a receiver (despite an obvious need) showed what the team thought about the wideout prospects. St. Louis didn't like the depth at receiver as much as some teams. We're seeing a run on receivers later in the third round, with Seattle just trading into the 91st spot to draft Penn State's Deon Butler. The Seahawks sent the 137th and 213th choices this year, plus a 2010 third-rounder, to the Giants for the pick they used to take Butler.