Rams Tough Decision (clowney, Watkins, Robinson Or Matthews)

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It might just be me but the Rams decision on who they will draft (or, trade) with their #2 pick sure seems to be getting more difficult. A couple of weeks ago my personal preference was pretty easy - I wanted Clowney! But, after the past couple of days of the Combine I have to admit that I am now torn between all four of these players (Clowney, Watkins, Robinson and Matthews) and I think a pretty good argument can be made for all four players. I actually think I have leaned more toward hoping for Watkins (with Robinson as a very close 2nd) being the Rams pick but I don't think I will be too upset if the Rams pick one of the other three players.

 

[blackbart]

Clowney was already not one of my favorites and after the last two days he has fallen off my top contenders list. He has not interviewed well and only 21 reps on the bench and the last was a gift.

Today Watkins seemed to be missing something. In the biggest day of his life he did not seem to be clicking at 100%, had a drop in the gantlet and ran the drill at less than full speed. He did have a good 40 time and caught everything else but he certainly was not the best WR in today's combine. The WR class looks deep and is not the unit the Rams need to fix most.

Robinson looks to be quite a physical specimen, had a really good work out bur also showed the deficiencies we all know about. Can he be taught to be a good OT maybe he seems to have the skills.

Matthews looked great, was not the fastest but had good power and was very fluid and smooth in the drills. He is a plug and play guy and could be good at guard as well as tackle.

I would prefer a trade down but if there is no trade Matthews is the only one I would take at #2

 

[BuiltRamTough]

Clowney was already not one of my favorites and after the last two days he has fallen off my top contenders list. He has not interviewed well and only 21 reps on the bench and the last was a gift.

Today Watkins seemed to be missing something. In the biggest day of his life he did not seem to be clicking at 100%, had a drop in the gantlet and ran the drill at less than full speed. He did have a good 40 time and caught everything else but he certainly was not the best WR in today's combine. The WR class looks deep and is not the unit the Rams need to fix most.

Robinson looks to be quite a physical specimen, had a really good work out bur also showed the deficiencies we all know about. Can he be taught to be a good OT maybe he seems to have the skills.

Matthews looked great, was not the fastest but had good power and was very fluid and smooth in the drills. He is a plug and play guy and could be good at guard as well as tackle.

I would prefer a trade down but if there is no trade Matthews is the only one I would take at #2

The combine is not as important as you might think. These coaches ,scouts and GM's go off of what they see on tape. Clowney's still the favorite to go No.1 even tho he benched 21 times

 

[Ramrasta]

I have never thought that highly of Clowney. He lives off the reputation of one great season. Robinson and Matthews have the value we need if we are picking at #2. Watkins is not bad but there are so many other quality WR in the draft this year. If we took CLOWNey at #2, it would be a joke!

 

[Rams and Gators]

The combine is not as important as you might think. These coaches ,scouts and GM's go off of what they see on tape. Clowney's still the favorite to go No.1 even tho he benched 21 times

The worry with Clowney was whether or not he was willing to go all out on every play, as Mike Mayock put it "Is he an All Pro every play or just some plays?" the 21 reps and the poor interview will be further evidence for some of what they already suspected, for other they won't mind and will only see the physical upside.

I wouldn't touch him at #2 overall.

 

[laramsoriginal]

Atlanta is possibly looking to trade up so if they can offer their 2nd round in 2014 and 2015 then I would pull the trigger. At #6 there is a good chance that Mathews or Robinson are still on the board.
Im not a fan of using the 2nd overall pick on any of the players available but if a trade does happen and Clowney is there at #6...I would not mind the rams rolling the dice and taking Clowney even though rams need to fill holes at other positions

 

[mr.stlouis]

Not really feeling Clowney over those 4.... just me.

 

[Thordaddy]

I think if we were going defense with our first pick I'd rather have Mack ,he fills a need and brings pass rush at a different position.

 

[Mojo Ram]

If i had to take one of these four guys at #2...right now it looks like this:
1)Robinson
2)Matthews
3)Watkins
4)Clowney

 

[jrry32]

Clowney just can't win. I haven't read a thing about him doing poorly in interviews. Only interview things I've read are people on the internet psychoanalyzing his press conference. 21 reps on the bench? I wasn't shocked by that at all. Bench press is probably the most meaningless measurable in the combine. It's basically a test to see a guy's weight room habits and it's pass or fail. On rare occasion, if a guy does amazingly well, it'll reaffirm just how strong he is. But typically, unless you do disastrously bad(Damontre Moore), there's not much meaning in it.

For reference, a few guys that did about the same or worse from this draft class and others...keep in mind that the longer your arms are, the harder it is:
Khalil Mack - 23 reps
Anthony Barr - 15 reps
Kyle Van Noy - 21 reps
Kony Ealy - 22 reps
Trent Murphy - 19 reps
DeMarcus Lawrence - 20 reps
Kareem Martin - 22 reps
Jackson Jeffcoat - 18 reps
Marcus Smith - 23 reps
Michael Sam - 17 reps
Jarvis Jones - 20 reps
Von Miller - 21 reps
Clay Matthews - 23 reps
Ziggy Ansah - 21 reps
Chandler Jones - 22 reps
Robert Quinn - 22 reps
Aldon Smith - 20 reps
Jason Pierre-Paul - 19 reps
Carlos Dunlap - 21 reps
Greg Hardy - 21 reps
Calais Campbell - 16 reps
Kevin Williams - 23 reps

I don't think anyone would question the strength of Robert Quinn or Calais Campbell or Aldon Smith. Yet here people are criticizing Clowney for only getting 21 reps. The kid has 34.5 inch arms. Anyone expecting him to pump out 40 reps was mistaken. I would have been pleasantly surprising if he did 25 or 26.

You wanna know the crazy thing? Look at his build and just imagine what a NFL S&C Coach can do with him. He's 266 right now and it looks to me like it won't be a challenge packing 15 more pounds on his build in the NFL.

 

[Thordaddy]

Heard on XM radio that Aldon Smith was full squatting 700lbs at the same time, Bob Lilly was notoriously bad in the weight room.
Again nothing against Clowney if we want some of what he offers AND improve another are of the D,Khalil Mack fills the bill

 

[blackbart]

The combine is not as important as you might think. These coaches ,scouts and GM's go off of what they see on tape. Clowney's still the favorite to go No.1 even tho he benched 21 times

Clowney has never been favored to go #1 Houston has been expected to take a QB all along

 

[tonyl711]

too many risks involved in taking Clowney IMO, I think we trade out of #2, wouldn't hurt my feelings if we took either OT or Watkins.

 

[laramsoriginal]

Clowney just can't win. I haven't read a thing about him doing poorly in interviews. Only interview things I've read are people on the internet psychoanalyzing his press conference. 21 reps on the bench? I wasn't shocked by that at all. Bench press is probably the most meaningless measurable in the combine. It's basically a test to see a guy's weight room habits and it's pass or fail. On rare occasion, if a guy does amazingly well, it'll reaffirm just how strong he is. But typically, unless you do disastrously bad(Damontre Moore), there's not much meaning in it.

For reference, a few guys that did about the same or worse from this draft class and others...keep in mind that the longer your arms are, the harder it is:
Khalil Mack - 23 reps
Anthony Barr - 15 reps
Kyle Van Noy - 21 reps
Kony Ealy - 22 reps
Trent Murphy - 19 reps
DeMarcus Lawrence - 20 reps
Kareem Martin - 22 reps
Jackson Jeffcoat - 18 reps
Marcus Smith - 23 reps
Michael Sam - 17 reps
Jarvis Jones - 20 reps
Von Miller - 21 reps
Clay Matthews - 23 reps
Ziggy Ansah - 21 reps
Chandler Jones - 22 reps
Robert Quinn - 22 reps
Aldon Smith - 20 reps
Jason Pierre-Paul - 19 reps
Carlos Dunlap - 21 reps
Greg Hardy - 21 reps
Calais Campbell - 16 reps
Kevin Williams - 23 reps

I don't think anyone would question the strength of Robert Quinn or Calais Campbell or Aldon Smith. Yet here people are criticizing Clowney for only getting 21 reps. The kid has 34.5 inch arms. Anyone expecting him to pump out 40 reps was mistaken. I would have been pleasantly surprising if he did 25 or 26.

You wanna know the crazy thing? Look at his build and just imagine what a NFL S&C Coach can do with him. He's 266 right now and it looks to me like it won't be a challenge packing 15 more pounds on his build in the NFL.

I agree thatt bench press reps should not affect Clowney's draft status at all but having long arms does not make it harder. That is a myth.

 

[jrry32]

I agree thatt bench press reps should not affect Clowney's draft status at all but having long arms does not make it harder. That is a myth.

It's not a myth. I don't know how you can even argue otherwise. Shorter arms mean a shorter distance both going down and up to carry the weight.

 

[Flipper_336]

It's not a myth. I don't know how you can even argue otherwise. Shorter arms mean a shorter distance both going down and up to carry the weight.

Body mass has to be factored into the equation, too. There's a big difference between someone who weighs 190lbs with 33" arms doing 20 reps and another guy who weighs 305lbs with the same armspan doing the same number of reps.

 

[Thordaddy]

It's not a myth. I don't know how you can even argue otherwise. Shorter arms mean a shorter distance both going down and up to carry the weight.

It's really a matter of leverage on the muscles and connective tissue, the longer the lever(arm) the more mechanical advantage the weight has.
Most of the time in bench pressing free weights the difficult thing is the explosion to start it and the weight really coasts through a lot of the range
ALTHOUGH at one time Ralph Sampson held either the curl or bench press record in Va.'s weight room

 

[NJRamsFan]

Body mass has to be factored into the equation, too. There's a big difference between someone who weighs 190lbs with 33" arms doing 20 reps and another guy who weighs 305lbs with the same armspan doing the same number of reps.

You're correct about body mass but comparing a guy who's 190 to a guy who's 305 is missing the point. The point is two guys same size and strength but one has longer arms, the person with the longer arms will have a much harder time benching.

And for anyone thats trying to hold the 21 reps against clowned, just heard on Sports Center Herm Edwards said Warren Sapp only did 16...

 

[jrry32]

Body mass has to be factored into the equation, too. There's a big difference between someone who weighs 190lbs with 33" arms doing 20 reps and another guy who weighs 305lbs with the same armspan doing the same number of reps.

Well, we're talking NFL prospects so the assumption is that they're all relatively similar enough.

 

[Flipper_336]

..just heard on Sports Center Herm Edwards said Warren Sapp only did 16...

Where have you been?

Sapp himself admitted to only having done 16 reps during the combine coverage on Saturday afternoon.*

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