IRVINE, Calif. -- Rams general manager Les Snead stood on the sideline at Sanford Stadium in Athens, Georgia, on the night of . He was there as a distinguished alumnus of Auburn University but he was acting as a scout, on hand to watch Georgia's Todd Gurley, the best amateur running back in the country despite coming off a four-game suspension.
Snead felt his Rams -- then in St. Louis -- would be drafting somewhere in the middle of the upcoming first round. But he thought about how devalued the running back position had become in recent years, and he legitimately believed Gurley would somehow fall in their laps.