Grading St. Louis’ Selection of Gregory Salas in 2011 NFL Draft

In a perfect world, Julio Jones would have been holding up a St. Louis Rams jersey on Thursday night. But alas, he was well out of their reach.

In lieu of Jones, the Rams used two straight picks on wide receivers later in the draft, taking Boise State’s Austin Pettis in the third round and Hawaii’s Gregory Salas in the fourth.

Personally, I love the Pettis pick, but I might like the Salas pick even more. He was very productive in Hawaii’s pass-heavy (an understatement if there ever was one) offense, and he could be just the kind of guy that Sam Bradford needs to take the next step towards greatness.

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Salas has adequate height and weight at 6’1″ and 210 pounds, but the thing scouts love about him is his competitiveness. He is the kind of guy that always wants the ball, and he doesn’t mind going over the middle to get it. Good man to have in the huddle.

The good news is that Salas has plenty of numbers to back up his intangibles. He caught 119 balls for 1,889 yards and 14 touchdowns last season; 106 for 1,590 and eight the season before that. Of course, who knows how many times he was targeted given Hawaii’s offense?

Still, a good pick, and a potential steal.

Grade: B