Top Ten Rams Draft Pairings (With Poll)

[Farr Be It]

Well, gentlemen. (And the not-so-gentle, and not so manly) Draft time approaches. As draft day 2018 beckons, ROD fans are weighing in as to how we should spend all those 4th and 6th rounders.

Should McSnead go for an edge rusher? A middle backer? Offensive lineman? Best available athlete surprise? (TE, RB or, gasp...a CB?)

It is said, that if a team can pick up two good players in a draft, that draft can be considered a success. Sounds like a low bar to set. When each NFL team has, on average, five to ten picks a year, and teams of scouts looking at the hundreds of college candidates each year, it would seem that they could hit on many of those picks.

But the fact is, many drafted players never make the team. First rounders often bust. Seventh rounders and undrafted players often make teams and have successful and productive careers. Just a pair of good players. That is success. Two guys, that have a long, successful career.

So examining the Rams historical drafts, under this standard, which drafts are the top ten drafts of all time? Which Ram drafts have had the best two-man pairings, all time? My question is not which drafts have been the greatest, or deepest of all time. Then, perhaps, we would be talking about the 1975 draft, 1977, 1980 or 2012.

The question I undertake in this post is this: Which two-man groupings, drafted in the same year, are the greatest in Ram history? Below, working up to number one, I humbly submit my list:

(Edit: there are other very good picks in these years, I chose what I thought to be the best pairings. Deacon Jones, and a ham sandwich is a good pairing in itself. I found that there was another very productive player that year that qualified them for this list.)



10. 1977. Nolan Cromwell and Vince Ferragamo

9. 1972 Lawrence McCutcheon and Larry Brooks

8. 1985 Jerry Gray and Kevin Greene

7. 1976 Jackie Slater and Carl Ekern

6. 2014 Aaron Donald and LaMarcus Joyner

5. 1961 Joe Scibelli and Deacon Jones

4. 1970 Jack "Hacksaw" Reynolds and Rich Saul

3. 1971 Isiah Robertson and Jack Youngblood

2. 1962 Roman Gabriel and Merlin Olsen

1. 1983 Eric Dickerson and Henry Ellard

 

[XXXIVwin]

Let’s hope Kupp and (Johnson or Ebukam or Everett or Reynolds) make the top ten.

Goff and.... (ahem,Hemingway?)

Now if two guys from 2018 are in the conversation, that would be a miracle (we do have those 6th rounders, though)

BTW— Dickerson and Ellard wins it for me.

 

[Farr Be It]

Let’s hope Kupp and (Johnson or Ebukam or Everett or Reynolds) make the top ten.

Goff and.... (ahem,Hemingway?)

Now if two guys from 2018 are in the conversation, that would be a miracle (we do have those 6th rounders, though)

BTW— Dickerson and Ellard wins it for me.

Good call. As you can see I agree. Combined, Dickerson and Ellard are the most impressive pair. There were a few runners up that almost made the top ten, including 1959 Dick Bass and Eddie Meador, and 2012 Michael Brockers and...not JJ- not Tru....but Greg Zuerlein.

Also 1980 The original Johnny Johnson and Leroy Irvin. Anybody have another?

 

[dieterbrock]

I was going to go with Tommy Polley/Adam Archuleta but went Dickerson/Ellard instead.
Great thread!

 

[OldSchool]

Went with Roman and Merlin, hard to argue against them. But my personal favorite as I never saw Merlin and Roman play would be ED and Henry Ellard. Those 2 provided lots of entertainment for me.

 

[OldSchool]

Also 1997 Orlando Pace and Dexter McLeon wasn't exactly a bad duo.

 

[dieterbrock]

I think Torry Holt/Dre Bly deserves honorable mention as well

 

[OldSchool]

Too bad the rest of SJax's draft was just horrible. Good lord no wonder we were bad but our drafts between about 2002 and 2007 were just atrocious. That's why the Rams were bad for so long our drafts were disgustingly bad.

 

[dieterbrock]

And with an asterisk * Jim Everett/Tom Newberry deserves mention also....

 

[fearsomefour]

No Tony Banks and Lawrence Phillips?
F U Rich Brooks.

 

[Frogbelly]

Let’s hope Kupp and (Johnson or Ebukam or Everett or Reynolds) make the top ten.

Goff and.... (ahem,Hemingway?)

Now if two guys from 2018 are in the conversation, that would be a miracle (we do have those 6th rounders, though)

BTW— Dickerson and Ellard wins it for me.

Dickerson an Ellard for me too. But with that fire power, who was the qb in 83, 84 and 86? It was Dieter Brock in 85, I'm pretty sure. The Rams perennially had good defenses back then. I think.

 

[OldSchool]

Dickerson an Ellard for me too. But with that fire power, who was the qb in 83, 84 and 86? It was Dieter Brock in 85, I'm pretty sure. The Rams perennially had good defenses back then. I think.

83 was Ferragamo, 84 was him and Kemp and 86 should have been Everett's first year along with Bartkowski and Dils.

 

[Farr Be It]

Also 1997 Orlando Pace and Dexter McLeon wasn't exactly a bad duo.

I had a bunch of honorable mentions I was going to list. I was just tired as crap when I finished putting it together and posting all the pics. That was one I almost listed along with Holt/Bly in ‘98 and a few others. I also almost listed it by threes, as there were a number of drafts with 3 really good players. But then I saw the majority of drafts really dropped off after one or two quality players.

With all this data I have I think there’s another draft post in there somewhere before draft day.

 

[LesBaker]

Dickerson shouldn't be on the list simply because of how he acted at the end.

I went from being a big fan of his to really disliking him.

I was living in Indianapolis when he got traded and there were occasional stories (credible) about how selfish he was. His assholeishness even got him suspended for several games by the Colts front office.

 

[LesBaker]

I had a bunch of honorable mentions I was going to list. I was just tired as crap when I finished putting it together and posting all the pics. That was one I almost listed along with Holt/Bly in ‘98 and a few others. I also almost listed it by threes, as there were a number of drafts with 3 really good players. But then I saw the majority of drafts really dropped off after one or two quality players.

With all this data I have I think there’s another draft post in there somewhere before draft day.

It's good work and a fun topic so I think I speak for everyone when I say good job.

Yeah Holt/Bly shoulda made the list. But it's tough decision making because the list is pretty effing good.

 

[fearsomefour]

Dickerson shouldn't be on the list simply because of how he acted at the end.

I went from being a big fan of his to really disliking him.

I was living in Indianapolis when he got traded and there were occasional stories (credible) about how selfish he was. His assholeishness even got him suspended for several games by the Colts front office.

Who cares?

 

[Memphis Ram]

1994 Isaac Bruce and Toby Wright

1998 Grant Wistrom & Leonard Little

 

[LesBaker]

Who cares?

I do because with Everett the Rams could have had one of the top 3 or 4 QB/RB tandems and may have actually made some noise in the playoffs and had a great run for several years rather than falling apart.

I agree that he should have been paid way more money and that it was a mistake to not give him more, but he sat out. He quit on his team.

And that could have been an excellent team and behind that OL the Rams would have been on top of the division often.

 

[RamBall]

I chose Dickerson and Ellard, mainly because the others were all before I discovered football. But who knows Donald and Joyner still have some say in how high they can move up this list.

 

[DaveFan'51]

All great Players, Obviously, But I Picked * 1961 - Deacon Jones and Joe Scibelli Because the are Both in the Hall of Fame!

The only other pairing, that we had to chose from, That can say that is *1971 - Isiah Robertson and Jack Youngblood!!

You could call these two selections '1a' and '1b'!!