Rams News Recap: Jan. 22

[RamBill]

Bernie: Rams Can’t Match Seattle in Talent Search
If the Rams played in another division, they’d probably have more success to show for their work under GM Les Snead and head coach Jeff Fisher.

Rams Checking Out East Carolina QB –PD
East Carolina quarterback Shane Carden’s favorite QBs are Brett Favre and Philip Rivers.

Buck says ‘there’s hope’ for St. Louis NFL efforts –PD
This space focused last week on how the perception has grown nationally that St. Louis merely is a baseball city, that it doesn’t care much about football.

Rams Still Searching for Offensive Coordinator –Wagoner
With Adam Gase officially headed to the Chicago Bears to become their offensive coordinator, the St. Louis Rams are down one more possible candidate for their vacancy for the same position.

Time Keeps Ticking Away as Rams Continue Search for New OC –FSMW
A long wait probably doesn’t mean good news in the Rams’ search for an offensive coordinator.

Nathaniel Hackett Interviewing for Rams Offensive Coordinator on Thursday –PFT
The Rams got rebuffed in their attempt to interview Rob Chudzinski and Alex Van Pelt for their offensive coordinator vacancy, so they’ve moved on to a candidate not currently employed by another NFL club.

Breaking Down Johnny Hekker’s Contract –Wagoner
And now to take care of a small piece of business I’ve been meaning to get to here but haven’t yet because of stadium proposals, offensive coordinator searches and the like.

Morning Ram-blings: On PSLs, the Rams and Chargers –Wagoner
We start today’s proceedings with some news from my colleague and pal Eric Williams, who covers the San Diego Chargers here at ESPN.com.

Pat Kirwan’s Senior Bowl WR Review –Video

Mike Mayock Talks 2015 Draft –Video

Wednesday Senior Bowl Practice Wrap –Video

Senior Bowl: Wednesday Standouts –Video

 

[RamBill]

Morning Ram-blings: Re-grading '14 class
By Nick Wagoner

http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-rams/post/_/id/15651/morning-ram-blings-regrading-14-class

EARTH CITY, Mo. -- The ultimate judgment on the St. Louis Rams' 2014 draft class will come a few years from now after we've seen how the 11 players they added have panned out.

There's no denying the early returns are strong after one season. Given just that one season, ESPN NFL draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr. took the opportunity to do an early re-grade of the class Insider on the heels of its rookie season.

After the draft, Kiper gave the Rams' class a grade of A-minus but dropped the grade to B-plus for the purpose of this exercise. Kiper cites the strong performances of defensive tackle Aaron Donald and cornerback E.J. Gaines as the brightest spots in the class and gave a tip of the cap to running back Tre Mason, cornerback Lamarcus Joyner and offensive tackle Greg Robinson as well.

But Kiper explained his choice to slightly downgrade the Rams as a demerit based on failure to find a solution at quarterback with the many extra picks the Rams had from the trade with Washington.

It's hard to disagree with the argument that the Rams didn't do enough at quarterback in the 2014 draft class. While there were no sure things at the position, they waited until the sixth round to take a flier and that player (Garrett Gilbert) didn't even make the roster out of training camp and is now with New England.

The Rams could have used a developmental quarterback somewhere else in the draft, perhaps in the fourth round when they chose safety Maurice Alexander, for example? If nothing else, they'd at least have a player with a year under his belt heading into next season rather than potentially adding a quarterback in this year's draft knowing full well he'll be unlikely to help right away if needed.

I.C.Y.M.I.

A roundup of Thursday's Rams stories appearing on ESPN.com. ... In the Ram-blings, we opened the day with a look at the San Diego stadium situation and how PSL's might not be an option there. ... We then broke down punter Johnny Hekker's new contract. ... The No. 7 play in the countdown of plays that shaped the Rams' season is the long touchdown pass from Shaun Hill to Kenny Britt. ... Finally, the Rams are still searching for an offensive coordinator but at least one outside candidate has emerged.

Elsewhere:

On ESPN Insider, I enjoyed this comparison of top cornerbacks Richard Sherman and Darrelle Revis from Field Yates.

It's never too early to look ahead to next year for fantasy football and Matthew Berry has you covered in those efforts.

At 101sports.com, John Clayton discusses the Rams' need to make a move for an offensive coordinator sooner than later.

At stltoday.com, Bernie Miklasz writes that Stan Kroenke isn't the real issue when it comes to the Rams' future in St. Louis.

Miklasz also compares the Rams' ability to stockpile talent against the Seattle Seahawks' ability to do the same.