Rams make major moves to open NFL Draft

The St. Louis Rams got help for quarterback Sam Bradford, and also added talent to the defense.

General manager Les Snead and head coach Jeff Fisher made two trades in the first round of the 2013 NFL draft, moving up from pick No. 16, and moving down from pick No. 22.

First, St. Louis traded up eight spots with Buffalo and took West Virginia wide receiver Tavon Austin with the eighth overall selection in the NFL draft

Here are the specifics of the deal between Buffalo and St. Louis:

St. Louis received: pick No. 8 and pick No. 71 (3rd Round).

Buffalo received: pick No. 16, pick No. 42 (2nd Round), pick No. 78 (3rd Round), and pick No. 222 (7th Round)

The 5-8, 172-pound Austin was considered the best overall wide receiver in the draft by many draft experts despite his diminutive stature. During his West Virginia career, Austin scored 40 touchdowns receiving, rushing and returning kicks.

In a 2012 game against No. 12 Oklahoma, Austin — who ran a 4.34 forty at the NFL Combine — amassed 572 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns. Normally a wide receiver, Austin lined up at running back during that game due to injury and gashed the Sooners for 344 rush yards.

Austin was second in FBS football last season with 114 receptions and had the ninth most yards from scrimmage in the nation (1,932).

After moving up to get an offensive weapon, the Rams decided to trade down in the first round to find some help on defense.

The Rams gave pick No. 22 to the Atlanta Falcons in exchange for picks No. 30, No. 92 (3rd Round), and No. 198 (6th Round).

With the 30th overall pick in the NFL draft and their second in the first round, St. Louis selected linebacker Alec Ogletree from Georgia.

Ogletree left Georgia after his junior season when he totaled 111 tackles in 10 games, all but one of them starts. He was suspended the first four games for a failed drug test last season and had a DUI arrest a week before the combine, thus his fall to pick No. 30.

Ogletree likely fills a starting vacancy at outside linebacker for the Rams.

The Rams have been active on both draft days under coach Jeff Fisher and general manager Les Snead. Last year, they traded the second overall pick to the Redskins for a batch of premium picks, including the 22nd overall pick Thursday night.