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Trade with Washington paved way to Rams' line-heavy 2015 draft
By Nick Wagoner
http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-ra...ngton-paved-way-to-rams-line-heavy-2015-draft
EARTH CITY, Mo. -- So a cornerback, a running back, a defensive tackle, a wide receiver, a linebacker and an offensive tackle walk into a coin toss. Sounds like the start of a football joke, right? Well, technically that's exactly what it was.
Before last year's game between the St. Louis Rams and Washington Redskins, Rams coach Jeff Fisher sent Janoris Jenkins, Zac Stacy, Michael Brockers, Stedman Bailey, Alec Ogletree and Greg Robinson to midfield to handle coin toss duties. Most days, nobody would've batted an eyelash as Fisher has long offered different players the opportunity to do the job.
2012 NFL Draft Trade
Here's how the final haul broke down in the trade between St. Louis and Washington.
Rams received:
DT Michael Brockers
CB Janoris Jenkins
RB Isaiah Pead
OL Rokevious Watkins
LB Alec Ogletree
WR Stedman Bailey
RB Zac Stacy
OT Greg Robinson
Redskins received:
QB Robert Griffin III
The common denominator was too obvious to ignore. Those six players were the six still on the Rams active roster acquired with picks from the team's trade (and subsequent trades with other teams) with Washington in 2012. If Fisher wanted to go for an encore this year, he could and keep the numbers and positions the same by plugging in Isaiah Pead for Zac Stacy at running back (Pead was on injured reserve last year). But Fisher has already said he probably won't be going for a repeat when the Rams visit Washington on Sunday.
What might be more appropriate is for Fisher to send a different group of players to midfield this weekend, namely the five offensive linemen the Rams selected in this year's NFL draft: tackle Rob Havenstein, guard Jamon Brown, tackle Andrew Donnal, guard Cody Wichmann and tackle Isaiah Battle (who is on the practice squad).
Were it not for the 2012 trade that landed so many picks, the Rams likely wouldn't have been in position to restock their offensive line (or any position of weakness) this year.
“It had a lot to do with it," Fisher said. "Just particularly because of our needs early on once we got here. The trade certainly helped us and we benefited from it. You look at your roster, go into this year’s draft and it’s an opportunity to build your offensive line. Not that we saved that for last, but we just didn’t have any other options there other than try to plug people in. So, now we’ve got a young group that we think is going to grow together.”
As Fisher points out, it didn't necessarily have to be the offensive line that would be the last thing the team addressed. It should serve as another cautionary tale of the dangers of spending big free-agent money, however. As the Rams rebuilt their roster using the stockpile of draft picks from Washington and the extra picks they got from moving those choices, they were often able to focus on selecting the best player available. The roster was so barren that the Rams couldn't really go wrong by drafting a player of any position with those extra selections.
But before those drafts, the Rams found themselves investing money rather than draft capital in the offensive line. They handed big free-agent contracts to center Scott Wells and tackle Jake Long, both of whom had their best football behind them before arriving in St. Louis. In 2012 and 2013, the first two years under Fisher and general manager Les Snead, the Rams spent a total of one draft pick on an offensive lineman, fourth-rounder Barrett Jones.
Finally, with the last of their picks from the trade with Washington, the Rams used the No. 2 overall pick on Robinson in 2014 and began the process of rebuilding the line through the draft. With the roster mostly stocked at other positions and Wells and Long released in March, the Rams pushed their draft chips in on this year's crop of offensive linemen.
Whether those choices work out or not will be determined in time but Havenstein and Brown are already starting with Wichmann and Donnal serving as depth.
“We felt like it was going to be a good year, but we didn’t know that two years ago," Fisher said. "You just don’t know. You do your work. We spent a lot of time on it. Obviously, it has paid off for us so far.”
By Nick Wagoner
http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-ra...ngton-paved-way-to-rams-line-heavy-2015-draft
EARTH CITY, Mo. -- So a cornerback, a running back, a defensive tackle, a wide receiver, a linebacker and an offensive tackle walk into a coin toss. Sounds like the start of a football joke, right? Well, technically that's exactly what it was.
Before last year's game between the St. Louis Rams and Washington Redskins, Rams coach Jeff Fisher sent Janoris Jenkins, Zac Stacy, Michael Brockers, Stedman Bailey, Alec Ogletree and Greg Robinson to midfield to handle coin toss duties. Most days, nobody would've batted an eyelash as Fisher has long offered different players the opportunity to do the job.
2012 NFL Draft Trade
Here's how the final haul broke down in the trade between St. Louis and Washington.
Rams received:
DT Michael Brockers
CB Janoris Jenkins
RB Isaiah Pead
OL Rokevious Watkins
LB Alec Ogletree
WR Stedman Bailey
RB Zac Stacy
OT Greg Robinson
Redskins received:
QB Robert Griffin III
The common denominator was too obvious to ignore. Those six players were the six still on the Rams active roster acquired with picks from the team's trade (and subsequent trades with other teams) with Washington in 2012. If Fisher wanted to go for an encore this year, he could and keep the numbers and positions the same by plugging in Isaiah Pead for Zac Stacy at running back (Pead was on injured reserve last year). But Fisher has already said he probably won't be going for a repeat when the Rams visit Washington on Sunday.
What might be more appropriate is for Fisher to send a different group of players to midfield this weekend, namely the five offensive linemen the Rams selected in this year's NFL draft: tackle Rob Havenstein, guard Jamon Brown, tackle Andrew Donnal, guard Cody Wichmann and tackle Isaiah Battle (who is on the practice squad).
Were it not for the 2012 trade that landed so many picks, the Rams likely wouldn't have been in position to restock their offensive line (or any position of weakness) this year.
“It had a lot to do with it," Fisher said. "Just particularly because of our needs early on once we got here. The trade certainly helped us and we benefited from it. You look at your roster, go into this year’s draft and it’s an opportunity to build your offensive line. Not that we saved that for last, but we just didn’t have any other options there other than try to plug people in. So, now we’ve got a young group that we think is going to grow together.”
As Fisher points out, it didn't necessarily have to be the offensive line that would be the last thing the team addressed. It should serve as another cautionary tale of the dangers of spending big free-agent money, however. As the Rams rebuilt their roster using the stockpile of draft picks from Washington and the extra picks they got from moving those choices, they were often able to focus on selecting the best player available. The roster was so barren that the Rams couldn't really go wrong by drafting a player of any position with those extra selections.
But before those drafts, the Rams found themselves investing money rather than draft capital in the offensive line. They handed big free-agent contracts to center Scott Wells and tackle Jake Long, both of whom had their best football behind them before arriving in St. Louis. In 2012 and 2013, the first two years under Fisher and general manager Les Snead, the Rams spent a total of one draft pick on an offensive lineman, fourth-rounder Barrett Jones.
Finally, with the last of their picks from the trade with Washington, the Rams used the No. 2 overall pick on Robinson in 2014 and began the process of rebuilding the line through the draft. With the roster mostly stocked at other positions and Wells and Long released in March, the Rams pushed their draft chips in on this year's crop of offensive linemen.
Whether those choices work out or not will be determined in time but Havenstein and Brown are already starting with Wichmann and Donnal serving as depth.
“We felt like it was going to be a good year, but we didn’t know that two years ago," Fisher said. "You just don’t know. You do your work. We spent a lot of time on it. Obviously, it has paid off for us so far.”
