Rams News Recap: April 29

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JIm Thomas Rams Chat Highlights: April 29

Mike Waufle Talks Robert Quinn –Video

Kiper, McShay in Agreement on Rams –Wagoner
The real NFL draft is a little more than a week away, which means we are finally drawing close to the merciful end of the longest silly season of all time.

Mel Kiper, Todd McShay Mock Drafts Offer Familiar Picks for Rams –TST
Mel Kiper and Todd McShay released their final 2014 NFL mock drafts this week. They’re included in the latest issue of People, der, ESPN the Magazine. Are you ready for a surprise?

Rams Draft Preview: Tight End –Wagoner
The NFL draft is set to begin May 8 and the St. Louis Rams hold 12 picks in this year’s selection process. For the next week and a half, we’ll take a look at a different position every day with what the Rams have in place at a position, what they need, when they might address it and some possible fits.

NFL Draft: Trades You Would Make –Video

Morning Ram-blings: Early Success? –Wagoner
With all of this extra time before the NFL draft, we have even MORE time to discuss the schedule and how it could play out.

Loose Change: Rams Sorting Through Nickel Options –PD
The Rams like what they have in Janoris Jenkins and Trumaine Johnson as their starting corners, but who will play the important nickel back position now that Cortland Finnegan is gone?

Kiper and McShay Talk Best Fit for Johnny Manziel –Video

Don Banks’ NFL Draft Preview: St. Louis Rams –Videohttp://www.rams-news.com/don-banks-nfl-draft-preview-st-louis-rams-video/[/b]

 

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Morning Ram-blings: Capital spending
By Nick Wagoner

http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-rams/post/_/id/7934/morning-ram-blings-capital-spending

With two first-round picks and 12 selections overall, the St. Louis Rams are quite obviously in prime position heading into the 2014 NFL draft.

It doesn't take much knowledge of math to recognize that but that doesn't mean the Rams' potential impact on the draft can't be quantified. Over at Grantland.com, NFL writer Bill Barnwell attempted to do just that, assigning value to each team's collection of picks and then putting them in order of which teams have the most power in this year's draft.

It's no surprise to see the Rams checking in near the top of the list at No. 2 overall. Using his formula, Barnwell says the Rams have 75.1 points of approximate value, ranking only behind Cleveland, which has 79.1 points. While the Rams have the better first-round position, the Browns gain an edge by having multiple picks in the first, third and fourth rounds. The Rams don't have multiple picks in a round again until the sixth and then again in the seventh.

Had this list been put forth a year ago or in 2012, the Rams likely would have been ranked near the top, too. Such is life for them after the 2012 trade with Washington. That's certainly something the team would like to continue, but whether it can remain a power broker in future drafts will depend on if the Rams can find a trade partner for their No. 2 overall pick this year.

I.C.Y.M.I.

A roundup of Tuesday's Rams stories appearing on ESPN.com. ... In the Ram-blings, we looked at the possibility of the Rams having early success in the 2014 season. ... Next, we continued our prospect profiles with a look at South Carolina receiver Bruce Ellington. ... From there, we turned our attention to our draft positional previews with a glance at the tight ends. ... We closed the day by examining the fifth edition mock drafts of Mel Kiper Jr. and Todd McShay.

Elsewhere:

Speaking of Kiper Jr. and McShay, here are their latest mock draft efforts. First, the work of Kiper and then the effort of McShay .

Columnist Ashley Fox writes about the risk of taking players with character issues, a piece with plenty of Rams mentions.

At stltoday.com, Jim Thomas previews the safety class.

Thomas also looked at the Rams' needs in the secondary.

CBSSports.com has a fun look back at Deacon Jones, using photos.