Bob Magaw
Footballguy
cross-posted from SP...
with the additions of drew bennett & randy mcmichael in free agency (as well as james hall on defense), the probable direction the rams will take have started to become a little clearer...
the team is looking pretty stacked on offense... its very unlikely a high pick (first two rounds) would be used on a QB, RB, WR or TE... STL used 1st round picks on orlando pace & alex barron, but otherwise haven't spent a lot of high picks on interior OL in recent years... STL seems happy with 06 first year starters incognito, stetterstrom & romberg, but like virtually all teams, they could use some OL depth...
maybe if a guy like tony ugoh was hanging around in the mid-second, they might look at him, to have a better third OT than has been in the roster in a few seasons...
one key behind the scenes addition that i'm looking forward to is tony softli, formerly a high level personnel executive with CAR, who replaces charley armey... front office-types shaw & zygmunt also have input, & ex-HC mike martz supposedly used to have final authority on draft picks, but i'm not sure if linehan wield that kind of juice in the war room... softli is an extremely bright individual, & combined different former career paths & vectors (scouting & IT) to help conceive & build a proprietary scouting database that played a role in some productive drafts in CAR (first rounders have included julius peppers, jordan gross, chris gamble, thomas davis & deangelo williams... not too many whiffs there)...
but i digressed... all signs point to reloading on defense, now that a strength has been made even stronger in the "off"-season... when your defense is as bad as STL was last season, its easy to see how they could use help literally at every level of the stop unit... to break it down further...
DL - ex-lion FA hall filled a pressing need for a bookend DE opposite leonard little... if a great DE prospect fell to their pick at #13, & the opportunity presented itself in a BPA sense, they might have to think hard about it (hall isn't young & there are some good DEs in the draft... adams won't drop, & probably not anderson, but carriker might be there, if he is good fit as 4-3 DE, & charles johnson could be there as well)...
all things being equal, a better intersection of BPA with team need might be a stud DT... branch is not supposed to be there, & okoye's stock has shot up, so that is looking increasingly iffy that he would drop to them... it is unclear if there are any other elite interior DL that would interest them... a DT is critically important with jimmy kennedy looking like a bust, & la'roi glover nearing the end of the line... better push up the middle would help the DEs in pass rush, & being stouter, tougher & more physical in the middle would help the LBs in run support...
at LB, will witherspoon was signed to a blockbuster contract from the panthers & switched from WLB to MLB (he had played some MLB before, in college & in his rookie season in CAR)... he was as good as advertised, with outstanding speed, athleticism, instincts, pursuit ability, open field tackling prowess, as well as being a leader & high character locker room presence with great work ethic... he not a classic stack & shed LB capable of blowing up FBs & pulling guards in the hole, & if an athletic, big body gets into him he can be moved... he is so quick that he can run around blocks at times, but given other holes in the overall defense at DL & secondary level, that can create at times gaping holes that can be exploited in the run game... because some scouts think WLB is his best position (it might be, but he also seems to have some mike peterson in him, who made an effortless segueway from WLB to MLB going from IND to JAX), some think they might take more of a pure MLB-type like patrick willis & install him at MLB, shunting spoon to OLB... linehan & haslett deny this is the plans... that could be taken at face value or as disinformation so another team doesn't leap over them to snare their target (if willis is even there... some mocks have him off the board by that point)... its unclear if their are any other LBs that would be good value there (timmons?)... if they stay pat, pisa tinoisamoa was re-upped last season & is seemingly in the team's long term plans... he hasn't really fulfilled the promise he showed in a brilliant rookie campaign at SLB... he has been WLB past few years, but has been seemingly constantly hurt... he is a warrior who plays in pain, but is not as effective when hobbled... if he can just stay healthy, he could be a good (if not great) WLB in the mold of speedy & athletic cover two WLBs... he is undersized, & not as big as a young derrick brooks (supposedly struggles to maintain even a SS-like 220 in-season)... SLB brandon chillar just looked like just a guy prior to last season, but he started to show some potential as the season progessed... of course, with the rams appalingly poor defensive performance in 06, that was a severe indictment on just about everybody involved (except for little & perhaps witherspoon), so he might be the kind of guy that is better in a depth & reserve capacity, & a spot STL will always be looking to improve on?
in the secondary, free agent fakhir brown was brought in by haslett & was the team's best & steadiest, most consistent CB in coverage & run support (that may not be saying a lot, & analogous to being the biggest chick magnet at a dungeons & dragons convention)... he is solid, but on some teams he would probably be at best the CB2... this process could happen internally... first rounder tye hill flashed tantalizing skills coupled with typical rookie ups & downs (exacerbated by the rawness to be expected of a prospect who until just a few years ago was a clemson RB)... a late convert to defense, he has awesome natural ability, & was one of the fastest players overall at the 06 combine, but he is not just a track guy... he is further along in his coverage skills than might be expected, & has outstanding athleticism & ball skills (i think he had 3 INTs which would have been among rookie leaders - like BAL SS dawan landry)... his tackling needs some work, & he isn't that big (about 185?), but he appears very coachable & willing to learn & improve... he will likely start across from brown this season, & if he continues to mature at his new position could be very good in a few years (though maybe never a thumper in run support)... as to former starters travis fisher & jerametrius butler, fisher has been hurt a lot recently & is expected to depart in FA... butler looked like an up 'n coming CB in 04, but blew out his knee prior to the 05 season & then seemed to land in linehan/haslett's doghouse in 06 & barely played... it wouldn't be a surprise if he were let go, too... 05 second rounder ron bartell is a physical phenom that was both one of the biggest AND fastest DBs at his combine, though being a bit raw & a project with small school derivation... after an uneventful rookie season, he began to come on at the end of the year & looks like he could be a playmaker... he is currently thought to be in line for the crucially important nickle DB role (especially in a pass wacky division like wild, wild nfc west)... with brown, hill & bartell, not sure if CB is as urgent of a need as other areas of the D like DT, LB (maybe DE), but this is a place where talent may be best aligned with their slot in BPA sense... some highly graded CBs (& safeties) could still be on the board at this juncture in the draft...
as to safety, chavous was relatively high priced free agent addition at SS... when he was younger (& faster) he started out at CB & has some coverage skills, but has played safety in recent seasons in MIN & STL... he is a good if not great open field tackler, & while he may have lost a half step, he compensates by being like a coach/DC on the field, & is one of the smartest & most knowledgable players in the game on either side of the ball (see his stellar draft commentary with mike mayock on NFL network coverage)... while not their best player on D he should be a solid player for another season or two if needed, but he is in his thirties so at some point they will have to bring in a FA or through the draft groom a successor... second year FS OJ atogwe was essentially a rookie (got virtually no playing time in his 05 rookie season) & had some very rough moments, taking some brutal, cringe-inducing angles in run support & pursuit at times... towards the end of the season, though, he seemed to get better with each game, & flashed some of the athleticism he gained notoriety for at stanford (leading team in tackles three years in a row, leading pac-10 in FFs one season, while also raking up some INTs)... he can be a playmaker capable of stripping the ball or generating turnovers with his aerial skills... if he continues to improve, he could be the kind of player the team could build around in the secondary... that said, nobody would say STL has one of the elite deep patrols in the league, so if an elite safety prospect fell to them, they could pull the trigger from BPA standpoint (especially if laron landry fell to them, though their is virtually no chance after clocking a blistering 4.35 at combine... reggie nelson looks like a playmaker but probably won't grade as high when teams stack their board)...
if i had my druthers, i'd love to see the kid from louisville, akoye (son of nigerian nightmare, so you know he has amazing NFL bloodlines)... he has massive upside at a need position... it is amazing that he is about to become a pro & is about same age as some college freshmen! while they may need a classic NT type more to supplant the epic, collossal bust kennedy, glover is borderline ancient & they could hardly get a better successor in line...
willis is one of my favorite defenders in the draft, but it is uncertain if STL would go in this direction with witherspoon already at MLB (re-mix of roles possible?)...
DE depth is arguably more important than secondary at this point, as the roster is currently constituted, but that is debateable... with hall around thirty & little even older (approaching mid-thirties), a stud DE could serve dual purpose of immediate relief in rotation, & also as longer range succession plan for the aging vets... DE is a position that can take a few years to develope, so the sooner they get started, the better... the rams were a better defense, when, among other things, they could generate pressure not only from little but wistrom in his prime...
in secondary, to sum up & recap, i'm not sure if CB is as pressing a need as some other positions already mentioned, but some good BPA opportunities could present themselves... with chavous age & atogwe's inconsistency, a stud safety falling in their laps could be a possibility (but the staff seems quite high on OJ, based on off-season comments)...
* SS/FS todd johnson is versatile & has logged some starts in CHI, but i don't think is expected to challenge for a starting role... he could provide better depth than they have had recently...
** in retrospect, one advantage to a guy like reggie nelson would be flexibility he would afford... he can play safety but is athletic, fast (clocked sub-4.4 at florida pro day) & skilled enough in coverage to play CB... he could be immediate upgrade over bartell as nickle CB, could be an upgrade over atogwe, & if chavous hits the wall at some point possibly atogwe could slide to SS & nelson could be FS... he could also start at CB with hill at some point in the future... ATL drafted rookie jimmy williams partly for his versatility, & he began as CB but may be shifted to safety this year (some scouts & the falcons it appears think this will be his most natural position in the pros)...
with the additions of drew bennett & randy mcmichael in free agency (as well as james hall on defense), the probable direction the rams will take have started to become a little clearer...
the team is looking pretty stacked on offense... its very unlikely a high pick (first two rounds) would be used on a QB, RB, WR or TE... STL used 1st round picks on orlando pace & alex barron, but otherwise haven't spent a lot of high picks on interior OL in recent years... STL seems happy with 06 first year starters incognito, stetterstrom & romberg, but like virtually all teams, they could use some OL depth...
maybe if a guy like tony ugoh was hanging around in the mid-second, they might look at him, to have a better third OT than has been in the roster in a few seasons...
one key behind the scenes addition that i'm looking forward to is tony softli, formerly a high level personnel executive with CAR, who replaces charley armey... front office-types shaw & zygmunt also have input, & ex-HC mike martz supposedly used to have final authority on draft picks, but i'm not sure if linehan wield that kind of juice in the war room... softli is an extremely bright individual, & combined different former career paths & vectors (scouting & IT) to help conceive & build a proprietary scouting database that played a role in some productive drafts in CAR (first rounders have included julius peppers, jordan gross, chris gamble, thomas davis & deangelo williams... not too many whiffs there)...
but i digressed... all signs point to reloading on defense, now that a strength has been made even stronger in the "off"-season... when your defense is as bad as STL was last season, its easy to see how they could use help literally at every level of the stop unit... to break it down further...
DL - ex-lion FA hall filled a pressing need for a bookend DE opposite leonard little... if a great DE prospect fell to their pick at #13, & the opportunity presented itself in a BPA sense, they might have to think hard about it (hall isn't young & there are some good DEs in the draft... adams won't drop, & probably not anderson, but carriker might be there, if he is good fit as 4-3 DE, & charles johnson could be there as well)...
all things being equal, a better intersection of BPA with team need might be a stud DT... branch is not supposed to be there, & okoye's stock has shot up, so that is looking increasingly iffy that he would drop to them... it is unclear if there are any other elite interior DL that would interest them... a DT is critically important with jimmy kennedy looking like a bust, & la'roi glover nearing the end of the line... better push up the middle would help the DEs in pass rush, & being stouter, tougher & more physical in the middle would help the LBs in run support...
at LB, will witherspoon was signed to a blockbuster contract from the panthers & switched from WLB to MLB (he had played some MLB before, in college & in his rookie season in CAR)... he was as good as advertised, with outstanding speed, athleticism, instincts, pursuit ability, open field tackling prowess, as well as being a leader & high character locker room presence with great work ethic... he not a classic stack & shed LB capable of blowing up FBs & pulling guards in the hole, & if an athletic, big body gets into him he can be moved... he is so quick that he can run around blocks at times, but given other holes in the overall defense at DL & secondary level, that can create at times gaping holes that can be exploited in the run game... because some scouts think WLB is his best position (it might be, but he also seems to have some mike peterson in him, who made an effortless segueway from WLB to MLB going from IND to JAX), some think they might take more of a pure MLB-type like patrick willis & install him at MLB, shunting spoon to OLB... linehan & haslett deny this is the plans... that could be taken at face value or as disinformation so another team doesn't leap over them to snare their target (if willis is even there... some mocks have him off the board by that point)... its unclear if their are any other LBs that would be good value there (timmons?)... if they stay pat, pisa tinoisamoa was re-upped last season & is seemingly in the team's long term plans... he hasn't really fulfilled the promise he showed in a brilliant rookie campaign at SLB... he has been WLB past few years, but has been seemingly constantly hurt... he is a warrior who plays in pain, but is not as effective when hobbled... if he can just stay healthy, he could be a good (if not great) WLB in the mold of speedy & athletic cover two WLBs... he is undersized, & not as big as a young derrick brooks (supposedly struggles to maintain even a SS-like 220 in-season)... SLB brandon chillar just looked like just a guy prior to last season, but he started to show some potential as the season progessed... of course, with the rams appalingly poor defensive performance in 06, that was a severe indictment on just about everybody involved (except for little & perhaps witherspoon), so he might be the kind of guy that is better in a depth & reserve capacity, & a spot STL will always be looking to improve on?
in the secondary, free agent fakhir brown was brought in by haslett & was the team's best & steadiest, most consistent CB in coverage & run support (that may not be saying a lot, & analogous to being the biggest chick magnet at a dungeons & dragons convention)... he is solid, but on some teams he would probably be at best the CB2... this process could happen internally... first rounder tye hill flashed tantalizing skills coupled with typical rookie ups & downs (exacerbated by the rawness to be expected of a prospect who until just a few years ago was a clemson RB)... a late convert to defense, he has awesome natural ability, & was one of the fastest players overall at the 06 combine, but he is not just a track guy... he is further along in his coverage skills than might be expected, & has outstanding athleticism & ball skills (i think he had 3 INTs which would have been among rookie leaders - like BAL SS dawan landry)... his tackling needs some work, & he isn't that big (about 185?), but he appears very coachable & willing to learn & improve... he will likely start across from brown this season, & if he continues to mature at his new position could be very good in a few years (though maybe never a thumper in run support)... as to former starters travis fisher & jerametrius butler, fisher has been hurt a lot recently & is expected to depart in FA... butler looked like an up 'n coming CB in 04, but blew out his knee prior to the 05 season & then seemed to land in linehan/haslett's doghouse in 06 & barely played... it wouldn't be a surprise if he were let go, too... 05 second rounder ron bartell is a physical phenom that was both one of the biggest AND fastest DBs at his combine, though being a bit raw & a project with small school derivation... after an uneventful rookie season, he began to come on at the end of the year & looks like he could be a playmaker... he is currently thought to be in line for the crucially important nickle DB role (especially in a pass wacky division like wild, wild nfc west)... with brown, hill & bartell, not sure if CB is as urgent of a need as other areas of the D like DT, LB (maybe DE), but this is a place where talent may be best aligned with their slot in BPA sense... some highly graded CBs (& safeties) could still be on the board at this juncture in the draft...
as to safety, chavous was relatively high priced free agent addition at SS... when he was younger (& faster) he started out at CB & has some coverage skills, but has played safety in recent seasons in MIN & STL... he is a good if not great open field tackler, & while he may have lost a half step, he compensates by being like a coach/DC on the field, & is one of the smartest & most knowledgable players in the game on either side of the ball (see his stellar draft commentary with mike mayock on NFL network coverage)... while not their best player on D he should be a solid player for another season or two if needed, but he is in his thirties so at some point they will have to bring in a FA or through the draft groom a successor... second year FS OJ atogwe was essentially a rookie (got virtually no playing time in his 05 rookie season) & had some very rough moments, taking some brutal, cringe-inducing angles in run support & pursuit at times... towards the end of the season, though, he seemed to get better with each game, & flashed some of the athleticism he gained notoriety for at stanford (leading team in tackles three years in a row, leading pac-10 in FFs one season, while also raking up some INTs)... he can be a playmaker capable of stripping the ball or generating turnovers with his aerial skills... if he continues to improve, he could be the kind of player the team could build around in the secondary... that said, nobody would say STL has one of the elite deep patrols in the league, so if an elite safety prospect fell to them, they could pull the trigger from BPA standpoint (especially if laron landry fell to them, though their is virtually no chance after clocking a blistering 4.35 at combine... reggie nelson looks like a playmaker but probably won't grade as high when teams stack their board)...
if i had my druthers, i'd love to see the kid from louisville, akoye (son of nigerian nightmare, so you know he has amazing NFL bloodlines)... he has massive upside at a need position... it is amazing that he is about to become a pro & is about same age as some college freshmen! while they may need a classic NT type more to supplant the epic, collossal bust kennedy, glover is borderline ancient & they could hardly get a better successor in line...
willis is one of my favorite defenders in the draft, but it is uncertain if STL would go in this direction with witherspoon already at MLB (re-mix of roles possible?)...
DE depth is arguably more important than secondary at this point, as the roster is currently constituted, but that is debateable... with hall around thirty & little even older (approaching mid-thirties), a stud DE could serve dual purpose of immediate relief in rotation, & also as longer range succession plan for the aging vets... DE is a position that can take a few years to develope, so the sooner they get started, the better... the rams were a better defense, when, among other things, they could generate pressure not only from little but wistrom in his prime...
in secondary, to sum up & recap, i'm not sure if CB is as pressing a need as some other positions already mentioned, but some good BPA opportunities could present themselves... with chavous age & atogwe's inconsistency, a stud safety falling in their laps could be a possibility (but the staff seems quite high on OJ, based on off-season comments)...
* SS/FS todd johnson is versatile & has logged some starts in CHI, but i don't think is expected to challenge for a starting role... he could provide better depth than they have had recently...
** in retrospect, one advantage to a guy like reggie nelson would be flexibility he would afford... he can play safety but is athletic, fast (clocked sub-4.4 at florida pro day) & skilled enough in coverage to play CB... he could be immediate upgrade over bartell as nickle CB, could be an upgrade over atogwe, & if chavous hits the wall at some point possibly atogwe could slide to SS & nelson could be FS... he could also start at CB with hill at some point in the future... ATL drafted rookie jimmy williams partly for his versatility, & he began as CB but may be shifted to safety this year (some scouts & the falcons it appears think this will be his most natural position in the pros)...
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