Draft preview: Linebackers + Rams Needs/PD

[RamBill]

Draft preview: Linebackers
• By Jim Thomas

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/draf...cle_4e53dabe-d49e-55ed-ada1-fe6d0ac6bbdb.html

CREAM OF THE CROP

Player, position, school, height, weight

VIC BEASLEY, OLB/DE, Clemson, 6-3, 246

Atlantic Coast Conference defensive player of year had 21½ tackles for loss, 12 sacks.

RANDY GREGORY, OLB/DE, Nebraska, 6-5, 235

Loads of pass-rush talent, combined with lots of off-field issues.

ELI HAROLD, OLB/DE, Virginia, 6-3, 247

Underrated among slew of 2014 edge rushers; could sneak into Round 1.

ERIC KENDRICKS, WLB/ILB, UCLA, 6-0, 232

UCLA’s first Butkus Award winner after recording 149 tackles, four sacks.

SHAQ THOMPSON, OLB, Washington, 6-0, 228

Fast, instinctive, athletic; was two-way player for Huskies (two starts at running back).

DON’T OVERLOOK

OLB/DE Loreno Mauldin, Louisville; MLB Bernardrick McKinney, Mississippi State; OLB/DE Nate Orchard, Utah; MLB Denzel Perryman, Miami; ILB/WLB Paul Dawson, TCU.

FUN FACT

Washington’s Thompson was drafted in the 18th round of the 2012 baseball draft by the Boston Red Sox. He struck out 37 times in 39 at-bats playing rookie ball in Fort Myers, Fla.

QUOTABLE

“There were a couple of media people that made a joke out of it. But it was motivation to me. Used it as motivation going into my freshman year. Met some great people there. Met this thing called failure. Learned how to beat it.” — Washington’s SHAQ THOMPSON, on his brief baseball career.

RAMS’ NEEDS

The addition of Akeem Ayers in free agency gave the team at best a starting strong-side linebacker, and at worst depth and a role player with pass-rush skills. It looks as if the Rams are looking for more depth, as evidenced by the pre-draft visits of Mississippi State’s Bernardrick McKinney and Louisville’s Deiontrez Mount. Interestingly, edge-rushers Vic Beasley (Clemson) and Bud Dupree (Kentucky) also have been in.

RATING THE FIELD

In this day of multiple fronts and 3-4 edge-rushers, the line between defensive end and outside linebacker has been blurred. For purposes of this draft series, we’ve listed the larger edge rushers at defensive end, the smaller ones at outside linebacker. In any event, Beasley and Gregory have top 10 talent. Kendricks and Thompson are more traditional linebackers, who probably won’t rate a first-round selection but are talented prospects.

 

[RamBill]

Would the Rams take a chance on Gregory?
• By Jim Thomas

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/foot...cle_096f2ce0-e7cc-566e-a583-cedae09a45f6.html

If you’re looking for pass-rush ability, and pass-rush ability only, the “champion” in the 2015 draft seems to be Nebraska’s Randy Gregory.

And in a draft littered with all kinds of elite-caliber edge-rushers, that’s quite a statement.

“It’s a real good group,” said a veteran NFC scout, speaking on condition of anonymity. “They’re going to fly off the board.”

It’s a group that includes Dante Fowler of Florida, Shane Ray of Missouri, Vic Beasley of Clemson and Bud Dupree of Kentucky at the head of the class. For purposes of the Post-Dispatch draft series some are listed as defensive ends and some are listed as linebackers.

And oh yeah, there’s Gregory.

“I didn’t scout all of those other guys,” said the scout. “But I’ve scouted a lot of them. And if they’re better than Randy Gregory, then holy (cow), this is one helluva year.

“Because I don’t see how anybody can stop this guy once he’s going. He’s like an Aldon Smith or Jason Pierre-Paul type. He’s so long, so explosive, so fast, so athletic.”

Gregory is an Air Force brat (both parents served) who moved eight times growing up. He went the junior-college route initially before landing at Nebraska. He burst on the scene in Lincoln in 2013 with 19 tackles for loss and 10½ sacks, earning team MVP honors.

He then was slowed by nagging injuries last season but still finished with a team-high seven sacks as well as 10 tackles for loss.

With the 2014 season in mind, there are some questions about his durability in the NFL, as well as questions about his ability to defend the run at a lean 6 feet 5, 235 pounds. But his instincts and natural pass-rush skills can take the breath away of even the most hardened scouts.

“I had Randy Gregory as my top edge rusher, and once I started getting wind of the stuff off the field, I moved him behind Dante Fowler,” said former NFL scout and current NFL.com analyst Daniel Jeremiah. “So I continue to move him down a little bit, but ability-wise, I would put him up with anybody.”

Those off-field issues make Gregory the biggest boom or bust prospect in the draft, surpassing even Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston on that front.

Gregory failed a drug test at the NFL Scouting Combine, in February, and failed at least two more while playing at Nebraska.

“I blame myself,” Gregory told NFL.com late last month. “And I know it sounds cliché, but there’s really no one else I can blame.”

Gregory says those issues are behind him, but there have been indications from league sources that his off-field issues go beyond that.

“He’s explosive. He can do anything athletically you’d ever want,” said Russ Lande, a former Rams scout who now works as a draft analyst for several media outlets. “But I would not take Gregory in the first round despite the rare physical talent. The odds of guys with that much baggage succeeding are slim and none.”

Once regarded as a potential top-five pick and a certain top 10 selection, he now is expected to slide. How much so remains to be seen. But with so many other skilled edge-rushers available this year, why take a chance on Gregory?

Lande’s opinion aside, no one expects Gregory to slide out of the first round. But he’s not going in the top five; that seems like a safe bet.

In fact, when it’s time for the Rams to make their selection at No. 10 — assuming they don’t trade out of the spot either way —they could be staring at Gregory.

Would they take another problem player from Nebraska — 19 years after their ill-fated selection of Cornhuskers running back Lawrence Phillips?

No, the Rams don’t need another pass rusher. They have a roster brimming with them — from Robert Quinn to Chris Long to Aaron Donald — all the way to backup ends William Hayes and Eugene Sims, as well as recent free-agent linebacker pickup Akeem Ayers.

But coach Jeff Fisher loves pass rushers and loves collecting them.

“It would not be inconceivable to take another defensive end (or rush linebacker),” Fisher said last month. “It’s not out of the realm of possibilities.”

There were Internet reports earlier in the pre-draft process that Gregory was scheduled to visit Rams Park. But such a visit could not be confirmed by the Post-Dispatch.

Fisher and general manager Les Snead certainly haven’t been shy about drafting players with off-field issues. Cornerback Janoris Jenkins and linebacker Alec Ogletree are two examples.

Last year, about a week after signing with the Rams as a undrafted free agent, former Florida State defensive back Greg Reid spent part of his spring in jail because of a probation violation for a past marijuana-related arrest.

So the Rams could be tempted if Gregory is on the board. But that would mean ignoring more pressing needs, such as offensive linemen, in the first round.

 

[RamBill]

Rams draft preview: Linebacker
By Nick Wagoner

http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-rams/post/_/id/17933/rams-draft-preview-linebacker-2

EARTH CITY, Mo. -- The NFL draft is set to begin April 30 and the St. Louis Rams hold six picks in this year's selection process. For the next week and a half, we'll take a look at a different position every day with what the Rams have in place at a position, what they need, when they might address it and some possible fits.

We continue the countdown with a look at this year's crop of linebackers.

In place: James Laurinaitis, Akeem Ayers, Alec Ogletree, Daren Bates, Jo-Lonn Dunbar, Marshall McFadden, Korey Toomer.

What's needed: After moving quickly in free agency to add Ayers to the mix, the Rams don't have a lot of need for help at the position. Ayers and Dunbar will compete for a starting spot opposite Ogletree and Laurinaitis remains as the rock in the middle of the defense. And though he doesn't technically count as a linebacker, safety Mark Barron has played a role similar to one for the Rams figures to get more opportunities this year. The addition of Ayers gives the Rams better quality depth behind the starters whether it's him or Dunbar coming off the bench. Bates is the team's best special teams player and McFadden and Toomer can compete to continue in their special teams jobs as well. The Rams don't have a lot of need here at the moment but they probably wouldn't mind adding another capable body, particularly one who could serve as Laurinaitis' backup and perhaps even develop into his long-term replacement down the road.

Possible fits: Finding 4-3 linebackers in the draft isn't an easy task. There's plenty of pass-rusher types who would fit in a 3-4 defense and some who could probably handle a Von Miller type role as a pass rushing outside linebacker in a 4-3. But in terms of pure 4-3 linebackers, it's a class lacking in options. Among the few names that could make sense for what the Rams need are UCLA's Eric Kendricks, Washington's Shaq Thompson, Mississippi State's Bernardrick McKinney, Louisville's Deiontrez Mount, Miami's Denzel Perryman, Florida's Neiron Bell and TCU's Paul Dawson. Others, like Clemson's Vic Beasley, Kentucky's Bud Dupree, Nebraska's Randy Gregory and Virginia's Eli Harold might be better suited as ends who need to add size in a 4-3 or slide into a role like Miller played for the Broncos when they employed a 4-3. The Rams have expressed interest in plenty of those names, including pre-draft visits with McKinney, Dupree, Beasley and Mount.

Verdict: The Rams clearly have interest in many of these players but whether that's due diligence or genuine interest remains to be seen. Players like Gregory, Beasley and Dupree might be considered ends but either way, the Rams would have to take them in the first round to land them. Of that group, Beasley seems like the most likely to draw the Rams' eye. Otherwise, guys like McKinney and Thompson might be there in the second but it seems using a valuable pick on a linebacker that early would be superfluous. The guess here is that the Rams add a linebacker at some point in the draft but it doesn't happen until Day 3. The only caveat to add is if one of the pass rushing types slips to No. 10 and the Rams view him as clearly the best player on the board.