A Look At The Early Mock Drafts For A Glimpse Of The Rams' Future

[News Bot]

http://msn.foxsports.com/midwest/story/ ... ure-011614


ST. LOUIS -- 'Tis the season for NFL mock drafts -- and for St. Louis Rams fans to start dreaming about the future.

Officially, the 2014 NFL Draft is still a couple of months away -- it begins May 8 and concludes May 10 -- and that leaves plenty of time for football lovers and draft analysts alike to guess at who will go where, and when they'll go there.

FOXSports.com NFL analyst Peter Schrager released his second mock draft Wednesday.

Schrager has the Rams selecting Texas A&M left tackle Jake Matthews with the No. 2 overall pick acquired from the Redskins.

"Robert Griffin III has turned out to be the gift that somehow keeps giving for the Rams," Schrager wrote. "They've got Washington's No. 2 overall pick this year and I've heard they'd be open to swapping it for two first-round selections (one in a future year) if a team is captivated by Jadeveon Clowney. If St. Louis sits still with the pick, I think Matthews, a franchise tackle, is the guy. With edge pass rushers Chris Long and Robert Quinn up front already, I'd expect the Rams to go offensive line instead of the All-World talent in Clowney."

Rams coach Jeff Fisher has never used a first-round draft pick on an offensive lineman, but this could be the year that changes.

Matthews, an All-American in his junior and senior seasons at A&M, is the son of NFL Hall of Fame offensive lineman Bruce Matthews, who played for Fisher during his 19-year career with the Houston Oilers and Tennessee Titans.

Most outside the organization would say that offensive line is a need for the Rams, but the team will have both starters at offensive tackle returning in 2014 and might not view those positions as needy.

Left tackle Jake Long, who signed a hefty contract as a free agent last off-season, will be coming off a knee injury but isn't expected to miss much time, if any, next season. Joe Barksdale started 13 games at right tackle in his third NFL season and held his own in the run game and pass protection.

At No. 13 overall, Schrager has the Rams selecting defensive tackle Ra'Shede Hageman of Minnesota.

"In a conversation in December, one NFL scout compared Hageman's mix of physical build and athleticism to J.J. Watt's. High praise," Schrager wrote. "The Rams already have one of the top young defenses in the league. Adding another run-stuffer who can also get to the quarterback is necessary in a division that features two of the NFL's power running teams."

Hageman, who stands 6-foot-6 and weighs 311 pounds, isn't a big name for casual football fans, but draft analysts have followed his development at Minnesota, where he started out as a tight end before being moved to the defensive line and emerging as an All-Big Ten tackle.

Adding Hageman to the Rams' defensive tackle mix with 2012 first-round pick Michael Brockers and Kendall Langford would make St. Louis even more formidable up front and help keep opposing offensive linemen from getting to linebackers James Laurinaitis and Alec Ogletree.

Defensive line doesn't jump out as a big need for the Rams, but Fisher does have a history of drafting defensive linemen in the first round and it would make sense on some level to make one of the Rams' strengths even stronger.

In his first mock draft, back in early December, Schrager had the Rams selecting Matthews and Utah defensive end/outside linebacker Trevor Reilly with their two first-round picks.

Reilly would make sense as a pass-rushing outside linebacker opposite Ogletree. The 6-5, 255-pound Reilly had 100 tackles, including 16 for loss, and 8 1/2 sacks for the Utes during his senior season.

Three NFL.com writers -- Daniel Jeremiah, Bucky Brooks and Charles Davis -- released mock drafts this week, and all three had the Rams selecting different players with the No. 2 overall pick.

Jeremiah had St. Louis selecting Clemson wide receiver Sammy Watkins at No. 2, while Brooks had the Rams picking Auburn offensive tackle Greg Robinson and Davis had them picking Matthews.

With the No. 13 pick, Davis had St. Louis selecting Watkins, while Jeremiah had the Rams taking Michigan offensive tackle Taylor Lewan and Brooks mocked the team taking Ohio State linebacker Ryan Shazier.

Watkins and the offensive tackle picks make a lot of sense.

Even after moving up in the 2013 draft to select speedy-but-small wide receiver Tavon Austin, the Rams are still in need of a game-breaking wideout. Adding another perimeter playmaker to the offense should help quarterback Sam Bradford and also help the running game by taking a defender or two out of the box.

In three seasons at Clemson, Watkins had 240 receptions for 3,391 yards and 27 touchdowns. This season, he was among the FBS leaders with 101 catches for 1,464 yards and 12 touchdowns.

At CBSSports.com, draft writers Rob Rang and Dane Brugler both have the Rams taking South Carolina's stud defensive end, Clowney, with the No. 2 pick and then selecting an offensive tackle at No. 13. Rang went with Alabama's Cyrus Kouandjio there, while Brugler mocked Michigan's Lewan at that spot.

For now, anyway. There's plenty of time over the next few months for everyone to revise their picks. Repeatedly.

 

[fearsomefour]

Matthews and Hageman....Ideal first round to me.

 

[jjab360]

Matthews and Hageman....Ideal first round to me.

Not for me. I prefer Robinson to Matthews because of his power and potential. And what does Hageman add to this team that we don't already have in Brockers and Langford? They're practically the same type of player and Brockers and Langford are both still pretty young.

 

[Rams and Gators]

Left tackle Jake Long, who signed a hefty contract as a free agent last off-season, will be coming off a knee injury but isn't expected to miss much time, if any, next season.

If Jake isn't expected to miss any time then I don't want to draft an OT, I'd rather go with 2 OGs one of which could feasibly play OT at a push if Jake does end up missing a game or two. Of cause if we bring back Saffold then that would reduce to one OG.

 

[A55VA6]

Matthews and Hageman....Ideal first round to me.

I would hate this tbh.

 

[max]

I'll be happy with dynamic players who start on day one.

I want one of these guys: Watkins, Mack, Dennard, and Pryor, to go along with an OT and OG.

I don't want to spend a first round pick on a rotational DT. That's a loser move. We need points and turnovers.

 

[Thordaddy]

I'll be happy with dynamic players who start on day one.

I want one of these guys: Watkins, Mack, Dennard, and Pryor, to go along with an OT and OG.

I don't want to spend a first round pick on a rotational DT. That's a loser move. We need points and turnovers.

Yeah that's a pretty healthy way to look at it whoever we draft needs to be dynamic and IMO replace someone with more than three years experience if possible IOW I don't think any of our young starters should be subject to replacement .

 

[den-the-coach]

It all starts up front I like both Matthews & Robinson and the only way the Rams are going to win in the NFC West is to be able to hold up at the point of attack. All three defenses 49ers, Seahawks & Cardinals are awesome and the Rams defense should get better too even though they still have Tim Walton.

 

[PhxRam]

It all starts up front I like both Matthews & Robinson and the only way the Rams are going to win in the NFC West is to be able to hold up at the point of attack. All three defenses 49ers, Seahawks & Cardinals are awesome and the Rams defense should get better too even though they still have Tim Walton.

Lets hope that Walton has learned something from his first year as a D Coordinator.

Hopefully he has learned that this D is built to attack.

 

[Thordaddy]

It all starts up front I like both Matthews & Robinson and the only way the Rams are going to win in the NFC West is to be able to hold up at the point of attack. All three defenses 49ers, Seahawks & Cardinals are awesome and the Rams defense should get better too even though they still have Tim Walton.

Well IMO every team has a "window' and after three years running of being in the conference championship game IMO San Frans won't stay open forever, AZ could go right back to the cellar if Carson Palmer gets hurt and Seattle can't help but show some effects of the Percy Harvin trade and some other short term fixes.
IOW I don't think the fortunes of all three of those teams being as good as this year are a given, and I see us rising in a division that probably has peaked and could soon be in decline.

So while others wring their hands worrying about how tough our division is ,I'm not, their bottoms could fall out ( and chances are at least one will )as fast as you can say parity.

 

[PhxRam]

AZ could go right back to the cellar if Carson Palmer gets hurt

Tend to disagree.

He may be the best of the QBs on that team, but if you watch AZ enough you will know that Palmer was the reason for some of the losses. He turns the ball over WAY to much.

 

[Thordaddy]

Tend to disagree.

He may be the best of the QBs on that team, but if you watch AZ enough you will know that Palmer was the reason for some of the losses. He turns the ball over WAY to much.

I agree he giveth and he taketh away,( they use to say the great thing about Steve De Berg was he kept both teams in the game:lol:,which to some degree is true of Palmer) but he is STILL their best option so if he goes down what's behind him is likely to be ugly ,in the end though he's more an example of the kind of things that could go wrong for them .:woot:

 

[Alan]

At the beginning of the season when I (and others like X :razz predicted good things for the Cards, Palmer was my main reason. Nothing that has happened in the interim has changed that IMO.

 

[PhxRam]

At the beginning of the season when I (and others like X :razz predicted good things for the Cards, Palmer was my main reason. Nothing that has happened in the interim has changed that IMO.

Throwing multiple picks a game should have changed your opinion. If not for the play of their D, they very well could have had the same record as us.

 

[Alan]

It's all comparative. Plug in any of their QBs that started last year and they'd be lucky to finish above ,500 IMO. He's similar to Cutler in what he brings to the team. Cutler light though.

 

[PhxRam]

It's all comparative. Plug in any of their QBs that started last year and they'd be lucky to finish above ,500 IMO. He's similar to Cutler in what he brings to the team. Cutler light though.

I agree, he is the best of their bunch, but he is far from the answer in AZ

 

[Alan]

I meant any of the QBs that started the year before. Good thing you understand Al speak. :heh:
Yeah, he's not the answer. As good as their D is, it's gonna be hard for them to suck badly enough to position themselves to draft a good QB.

 

[fearsomefour]

If Jake isn't expected to miss any time then I don't want to draft an OT, I'd rather go with 2 OGs one of which could feasibly play OT at a push if Jake does end up missing a game or two. Of cause if we bring back Saffold then that would reduce to one OG.

I would think it is delusional to think he is not going to miss time with tears of both the ACL and MCL. Maybe info has changed that I have no caught. Either way, having the opportunity to draft a bookend LT that can man the spot for a decade is a no brainer move to me. Long is oft injured and is now seriously injured. Now, if you beleive there are no bookened LTs then I wouldnt spend the second overall pick on one.

 

[fearsomefour]

I'll be happy with dynamic players who start on day one.

I want one of these guys: Watkins, Mack, Dennard, and Pryor, to go along with an OT and OG.

I don't want to spend a first round pick on a rotational DT. That's a loser move. We need points and turnovers.

A DT taken in the first round would be to replace Langford if not year one then going forward. What creates a dynamic D? Playmakers up front that can control the oppositions run game, make an offense one dimensional and pressure the QB. We need points. Agreed. There can be a discussion as to the best way to obtain them. Remember the "great" draft of Tony Banks, Eddie Kennison and Phillips? That was to get a quick fix to the O and create an exciting dynamic point scoring O. No matter how much the game changes it starts (for the good teams) up front on both O and D and it ends (for the bad teams) in the same spots.

 

[PhxRam]

A DT taken in the first round would be to replace Langford if not year one then going forward. What creates a dynamic D? Playmakers up front that can control the oppositions run game, make an offense one dimensional and pressure the QB. We need points. Agreed. There can be a discussion as to the best way to obtain them. Remember the "great" draft of Tony Banks, Eddie Kennison and Phillips? That was to get a quick fix to the O and create an exciting dynamic point scoring O. No matter how much the game changes it starts (for the good teams) up front on both O and D and it ends (for the bad teams) in the same spots.

I remember being so so stoked when we drafted Phillips. He was supposed to be a game changer.

Change the game he did.

You no longer see guys with that much baggage getting drafted that high anymore.