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Rams have an eventful draft
• By Jim Thomas
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/foot...cle_7b99838d-aeb9-5e35-bff8-6ed7730c54fe.html
Who knows what will be said and written about the Class of 2014 three, four, five years down the line? But in the here and now, this rates as one of the most memorable draft weekends in “St. Louis” Rams history.
The Rams were intertwined with the two big national stories entering the draft — Johnny Manziel and Michael Sam.
But the Rams brushed off the Texas A&M quarterback. Any chance, however unrealistic, that the Rams would go Johnny Football ended on the eve of the draft when Jeff Fisher stood in front of 2,000 season-ticket holders at Rams Park and declared “Sam’s our guy” with Sam Bradford standing by his side.
The moral of that story: You can’t always believe the national pundits. There were some experts on the first day of the draft who still felt the Rams could end up taking Manziel at No. 2 overall. ... Uh, no.
Two days later, the Rams ended the draft by doing what none of the 31 other franchises apparently had the gumption to do. Namely, draft the first openly gay player in NFL history. This time, when Fisher said, “Sam’s our guy,” he was talking about the defensive end from the University of Missouri.
In between those bookends, the Rams were key players in the first round with the No. 2 and No. 13 picks, expended on Auburn offensive tackle Greg Robinson and Pittsburgh defensive tackle Aaron Donald.
So it was an eventful draft. The happiest man about all those developments was veteran wide receiver Kenny Britt, whose pornographic posting on his Instagram account was reduced to mere footnote status Saturday.
Anyway, on the second day the Rams grabbed a dynamic nickel back in Florida State’s Lamarcus Joyner in Round 2. And then, in a mild surprise, they went for a “name” running back in Tre Mason of Auburn in Round 3.
In any other draft, the selection of safety Maurice Alexander of Eureka High (and Utah State) would have been THE story on day three. From jail, to janitor at the Edward Jones Dome, to fourth-round draft pick by his hometown team.
The quarterback mystery was finally solved in Round 6 with the selection of SMU’s Garrett Gilbert, taken with a compensatory pick. Day three also included the selection of two Mizzou products, cornerback E.J. Gaines and then Sam.
In their previous 19 drafts in St. Louis, the Rams had drafted only one Mizzou Tiger (OG Tony Palmer, seventh round in 2006).
Sam was one of four seventh-rounders selected by the team. Ohio State safety Christian Bryant might have gone a couple of rounds earlier if he hadn’t suffered a season-ending ankle injury five games into the 2013 season.
“I know Christian Bryant,” said former Buckeye James Laurinaitis, the Rams’ linebacker. “And talking to the defensive coordinator at Ohio State (Luke Fickell) — we’re still friends from when I played there. He said when Christian went down their defense lost their heartbeat, and that he was the toughest guy that maybe he’s ever coached.”
So other than the ankle surgery, which may cause Bryant to be eased in slowly at Rams Park, he’s not what you’d consider a long shot.
The other two seventh-rounders, offensive tackle Mitchell Van Dyk of Portland State and center Demetrius Rhaney of Tennessee State, fall more into the category of projects, or at least developmental players.
The mammoth Van Dyk (6-8, 315) wants to be a detective when he’s done with football. He played right tackle during his time at Portland State, but coach Jeff Fisher thinks he has some left tackle qualities.
Rhaney forever will be the answer to the trivia question, who did the Rams take after Michael Sam in the 2014 draft? But give Rhaney credit, during his conference call with St. Louis reporters, he astutely noted that the Rams’ current starting center, Scott Wells, is a former seventh-round pick.
As a Green Bay Packer, Wells turned out to be a Pro Bowler and a Super Bowl champion before coming to St. Louis. So, anything is possible once you get your foot in the door.
When all was said and done, the Rams had chosen four defensive backs, three offensive linemen, two defensive tackles, plus a running back and quarterback.
It was pretty clear after passing on Sammy Watkins (and also Mike Evans) at the top of the draft, that the team might not take a wide receiver at all. That’s what happened.
They paid a price at quarterback by moving up in the second round for Joyner. By trading a fifth-round pick to Buffalo to move up three spots for Joyner, the Rams didn’t have a pick from 110 overall (Round 4) to 188 overall (Round 6). Four quarterbacks were taken during that time, including Georgia’s Aaron Murray and Alabama’s A.J. McCarron.
Was Fisher concerned when all the QBs started going off the board?
“No, because we keep looking at each other and saying, ‘We have (Lamarcus) Joyner,’ “ he said. “So just the constant reminder that we’ve got Joyner. So we’re OK right now.”
• By Jim Thomas
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/foot...cle_7b99838d-aeb9-5e35-bff8-6ed7730c54fe.html
Who knows what will be said and written about the Class of 2014 three, four, five years down the line? But in the here and now, this rates as one of the most memorable draft weekends in “St. Louis” Rams history.
The Rams were intertwined with the two big national stories entering the draft — Johnny Manziel and Michael Sam.
But the Rams brushed off the Texas A&M quarterback. Any chance, however unrealistic, that the Rams would go Johnny Football ended on the eve of the draft when Jeff Fisher stood in front of 2,000 season-ticket holders at Rams Park and declared “Sam’s our guy” with Sam Bradford standing by his side.
The moral of that story: You can’t always believe the national pundits. There were some experts on the first day of the draft who still felt the Rams could end up taking Manziel at No. 2 overall. ... Uh, no.
Two days later, the Rams ended the draft by doing what none of the 31 other franchises apparently had the gumption to do. Namely, draft the first openly gay player in NFL history. This time, when Fisher said, “Sam’s our guy,” he was talking about the defensive end from the University of Missouri.
In between those bookends, the Rams were key players in the first round with the No. 2 and No. 13 picks, expended on Auburn offensive tackle Greg Robinson and Pittsburgh defensive tackle Aaron Donald.
So it was an eventful draft. The happiest man about all those developments was veteran wide receiver Kenny Britt, whose pornographic posting on his Instagram account was reduced to mere footnote status Saturday.
Anyway, on the second day the Rams grabbed a dynamic nickel back in Florida State’s Lamarcus Joyner in Round 2. And then, in a mild surprise, they went for a “name” running back in Tre Mason of Auburn in Round 3.
In any other draft, the selection of safety Maurice Alexander of Eureka High (and Utah State) would have been THE story on day three. From jail, to janitor at the Edward Jones Dome, to fourth-round draft pick by his hometown team.
The quarterback mystery was finally solved in Round 6 with the selection of SMU’s Garrett Gilbert, taken with a compensatory pick. Day three also included the selection of two Mizzou products, cornerback E.J. Gaines and then Sam.
In their previous 19 drafts in St. Louis, the Rams had drafted only one Mizzou Tiger (OG Tony Palmer, seventh round in 2006).
Sam was one of four seventh-rounders selected by the team. Ohio State safety Christian Bryant might have gone a couple of rounds earlier if he hadn’t suffered a season-ending ankle injury five games into the 2013 season.
“I know Christian Bryant,” said former Buckeye James Laurinaitis, the Rams’ linebacker. “And talking to the defensive coordinator at Ohio State (Luke Fickell) — we’re still friends from when I played there. He said when Christian went down their defense lost their heartbeat, and that he was the toughest guy that maybe he’s ever coached.”
So other than the ankle surgery, which may cause Bryant to be eased in slowly at Rams Park, he’s not what you’d consider a long shot.
The other two seventh-rounders, offensive tackle Mitchell Van Dyk of Portland State and center Demetrius Rhaney of Tennessee State, fall more into the category of projects, or at least developmental players.
The mammoth Van Dyk (6-8, 315) wants to be a detective when he’s done with football. He played right tackle during his time at Portland State, but coach Jeff Fisher thinks he has some left tackle qualities.
Rhaney forever will be the answer to the trivia question, who did the Rams take after Michael Sam in the 2014 draft? But give Rhaney credit, during his conference call with St. Louis reporters, he astutely noted that the Rams’ current starting center, Scott Wells, is a former seventh-round pick.
As a Green Bay Packer, Wells turned out to be a Pro Bowler and a Super Bowl champion before coming to St. Louis. So, anything is possible once you get your foot in the door.
When all was said and done, the Rams had chosen four defensive backs, three offensive linemen, two defensive tackles, plus a running back and quarterback.
It was pretty clear after passing on Sammy Watkins (and also Mike Evans) at the top of the draft, that the team might not take a wide receiver at all. That’s what happened.
They paid a price at quarterback by moving up in the second round for Joyner. By trading a fifth-round pick to Buffalo to move up three spots for Joyner, the Rams didn’t have a pick from 110 overall (Round 4) to 188 overall (Round 6). Four quarterbacks were taken during that time, including Georgia’s Aaron Murray and Alabama’s A.J. McCarron.
Was Fisher concerned when all the QBs started going off the board?
“No, because we keep looking at each other and saying, ‘We have (Lamarcus) Joyner,’ “ he said. “So just the constant reminder that we’ve got Joyner. So we’re OK right now.”
