Rams News Recap: May 27

[RamBill]

Legislators Sue Nixon, Calling Stadium Cash ‘Illegal’ –PD
Six state legislators have sued Gov. Jay Nixon and the public board that owns and operates the Edward Jones Dome to block funding of a new riverfront football stadium here.

Rams’ Defensive Line Deemed “Scary” –Latsch
The St. Louis Rams’ defensive line gained some status among the best position groups in the NFL a year ago when they added defensive tackle Aaron Donald with one of their first-round picks.

Missouri Lawmakers Sue Gov. Jay Nixon Over ‘Illegal’ Rams Stadium Money –Wagoner
The efforts to build a new $985 million football stadium and keep the St. Louis Rams in the city hit another obstacle Wednesday afternoon.

NFL’s Scariest Position Groups: Ranking the Top 10 –NFL.com
Here are the 10 position groups that I believe create the most fear in meeting rooms across the league-

Rookie Profile: Rams OL Jamon Brown –Video

Rams Begin OTAs Next Week –Latsch
The St. Louis Rams will be back on the field next week, beginning Tuesday, for the start of their organized team activities.

Rams: Here’s What To Look For As OTAs To Start Next Week
This week began the four-week period during which NFL teams are allowed to begin conducting their official team activities. In fact, every team in the NFL began using their 10 allowable sessions this week…every team except the Rams.

Rams Offseason Roster Review: Big Moves at Running Back –Wagoner
The St. Louis Rams don’t start organized team activities until June 3, but with most of the offseason heavy lifting complete, the current roster likely will make up the vast majority of players come the start of the regular season.

Does the Carson Stadium Project Have a Leg Up on Kroenke’s? –Audio

Rams Rookie OL Andrew Donnal is Used to Pushing Himself Against the Best –FSMW
Andrew Donnal, a fourth-round pick of the Rams, will be up against some strong competition in training camp.

NFC West: Needs Filled, Unfulfilled
Last year’s biggest challenger to the Seahawks, the Arizona Cardinals, saw plenty of free-agent movement in and out, while the 49ers suffered a major defection of talent and the Rams upgraded their running game significantly.

Football Outsiders: Wide receiver is Rams’ Biggest Weakness –Wagoner
In the run-up to this year’s NFL draft, it wasn’t hard to see how the mock draft community viewed the St. Louis Rams and their needs.

Morning Ram-blings: Plan ‘B’ for St. Louis –Wagoner
Whether the proposed football stadium on the north St. Louis riverfront gets built or not, there’s no doubting that the area for which it’s intended is in desperate need of some sort of a makeover.

Wagoner: Rams’ Offseason Mantra: No New Injuries –Video

Clayton and Wagoner Talk Stadiums & Relocations –Audio

Fox 2’s NFL Owners Meetings Recap –Video

James Laurinaitis Talks Possible Move & Rams Fans Frustrations –Video

 

[RamBill]

Morning Ram-blings: Greg Robinson's upside
By Nick Wagoner

http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-rams/post/_/id/18772/morning-ram-blings-greg-robinsons-upside

EARTH CITY, Mo. -- Over at TheMMQB.com earlier this week, Greg A. Bedard wrote an excellent Memorial Day tribute but buried deeper in the piece was an interesting take on St. Louis Rams left tackle Greg Robinson.

In the part where it discusses Robinson, Bedard has words from offensive line coach Paul Boudreau about the difficulty of getting young linemen up to speed on shorter notice. In some ways, it's not much different than a quarterback transitioning from a spread offense to the NFL. Robinson didn't come with much polish and certainly had no experience playing in a pro-style offense at Auburn.

So Robinson's learning curve was steeper and that was evident in the mixed results he offered. But more notable than that was what Boudreau had to say about Robinson's potential.

"Now, I coached Willie Roaf when Willie was a rookie," Boudreau told Bedard. "Willie's in the Hall of Fame. And I can tell you from a coach who coached Willie and now coaches Greg Robinson: Greg Robinson as a rookie has more talent and is a better player than Willie. Willie had a great coach at Louisiana Tech, and Willie was ahead of the curve because of the techniques he was taught, just like how we talk about preferring the Wisconsin, Iowa, Stanford and Notre Dame guys. They have one up on the guys from the spread. I'm not going to tell a spread coach he can't do it anymore. What I'm saying to the NFL is, 'Give me a chance to change this spread guy to an NFL guy. Don't restrict me.' Back in the day, we could take the Wing-T guys and convert them because we had the time. Just give me a chance to coach my guys and don't tell me I can only have them for four hours.”

Putting Robinson in company with Roaf, even on a basic talent level, is pretty high praise for the Rams' second-year tackle. Robinson undoubtedly has the physical ability to be a star. But whether he maxes out his potential will come down to mastering the intricacies of the position. If he can do it sooner than later, it'd be a boon for the Rams in 2015.

I.C.Y.M.I.

A roundup of Wednesday's Rams stories appearing on ESPN.com. ... In the Ram-blings, we opened the day with a look at St. Louis' plan B in case a stadium plan can't get done. ... In this week's Buzz video, I discuss the Rams' late start to organized team activities. ... Football Outsiders says the Rams' biggest weakness is wide receiver but is it? ... In the on going offseason roster review, we looked at the Rams' running back group.

Elsewhere:

Texans reporter Tania Ganguli has the story on the team appearing on HBO's "Hard Knocks."

John Clayton offers five reasons the Minnesota Vikings won't trade running back Adrian Peterson.

Grantland's Charles Pierce has a great read on the uneasy marriage of military money and the NFL.

101sports.com has various comic book characters reading Rams cornerback Janoris Jenkins' tweets.

At stltoday.com, Bernie Miklasz explores the possibility that Carson has surpassed Inglewood as the more likely Los Angeles stadium project.