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Quality more than quantity counts in Rams' draft
• By Jim Thomas
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/foot...cle_4d00716b-c714-5e43-805b-81d67fcdad03.html
Normally in any given year, an NFL team turns over about one-third of its roster. During regime changes it can jump to half the roster.
But that’s not the Rams’ profile as they enter the 2015 draft, which runs Thursday through Saturday. Counting seven players who were on injured reserve, the Rams had 60 players under contract at the end of the 2014 campaign.
As coach Jeff Fisher and general manager Les Snead embark on their fourth draft in St. Louis, 50 of those 60 players are still under contract, a surprising 83.3 percent of the roster.
The Rams have all five of their wide receivers back from a year ago, all five of their tight ends, all six running backs, all 11 safeties and cornerbacks, five of six linebackers and seven of nine defensive linemen.
“I think it shows the progress we’ve made since the time we got here, and the numbers that we had (previously) on the active roster before the draft,” Fisher said. “And look at the numbers of college free agents that we’ve brought it.”
At times, the number of rookie free agents has topped two dozen in the past.
“Those numbers at the end of the draft will be down for obvious reasons, particularly because we have a lot of guys under contract,” Fisher continued.
Now, you can debate whether the Rams have the right players under contract, or if the rebuilding efforts of Fisher and Snead will bear fruit in 2015. But the Rams, right or wrong, feel they have a lot of pieces in place.
“It’s nice to look at the depth chart right now and have a good feel about the depth chart as compared to a couple of years ago, when we had blank spaces at many, many positions,” Fisher said. “We feel like we’ve improved, and we also feel like not only with what we did in free agency, but what we’re getting ready to do here this weekend, is really gonna help us.”
The Rams are at the stage where they need quality more than quantity in this year’s draft, and that’s a good thing considering they have only six picks. That matches the lowest number of picks in their 20 previous drafts in St. Louis. They had only six picks in the 1997 draft, a year they shipped a bundle of picks to the New York Jets in order to move up to No. 1 overall for Ohio State offensive tackle Orlando Pace.
The bonanza of picks harvested from the RGIII trade in 2012, and subsequent spinoff trades, has ended. The Rams selected 28 picks in the ’12, ’13 and ’14 drafts — 9.3 per year. This year, they have to make every pick count, especially their picks in the first four rounds.
After that fourth-round pick, No. 119 overall, the Rams don’t have another pick until late in the sixth round (No. 215 overall) and early in the seventh (No. 227). By then, you’re practically throwing darts at the draft board.
One of the Rams’ target areas in those first four rounds has to be the offensive line. Unlike the rest of the roster, only six of 11 players are back from a year ago there. Only four offensive linemen under contract have even started an NFL regular-season game. And those four players — Rodger Saffold (60), Greg Robinson (12), Tim Barnes (4), and free-agent pickup Garrett Reynolds (27) — have a modest 103 combined NFL starts.
Even if the Rams end up re-signing right tackle Joe Barksdale, they probably need to come out of this draft with at least two offensive linemen. The most logical first-round selections at No. 10 overall are Iowa guard/tackle Brandon Scherff and Stanford offensive tackle Andrus Peat.
Scherff is strong as a house (480-pound hang clean in the weight room), is tough as they come (played in a game five days after knee surgery) and is a punishing run blocker.
Peat has a massive frame at 6-7, 313 pounds. Some scouts feel he’s the most talented tackle prospect to come out in several years. Some question his temperament — does he have that necessary mean streak? But he’s easily the best left tackle prospect in this year’s draft.
At No. 10 overall, the Rams almost certainly will have a crack at one if not both of those offensive line headliners. But the Rams have checked out plenty of blockers, as evidenced by the fact that 12 of their 22 confirmed pre-draft visitors were offensive linemen.
The list included Peat, T.J. Clemmings (Pittsburgh), La’el Collins (LSU), Cameron Erving (Florida State), Ereck Flowers (Miami, Fla.) and D.J. Humphries (Florida) — who all project as first-rounders.
It also included A.J. Cann (South Carolina), Tre Jackson (Florida State), Ali Marpet (Hobart) and Laken Tomlinson (Duke) — who all should go in Rounds 2-3.
But Scherff’s name was not among the pre-draft visits confirmed by the Post-Dispatch. Teams are allowed to bring up to 30 players in for such visits, so Scherff may have come in undetected.
Why is this important? Well, in the first three drafts by Fisher and Snead, 10 draft picks paid pre-draft visits to Rams Park, including all five first-rounders taken and all four second-rounders. So as they say in the poker business, it’s a pretty good tell.
The Rams did have a formal visit with Scherff at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis.
But the Rams could go in other directions than the obvious in Round 1. If the first three Fisher-Snead drafts have shown anything, it’s to expect the unexpected. They are not afraid to take risks or make things happen, as evidenced by their seven draft trades from 2012-14.
So again assuming the Rams stay at 10, they could have an opportunity to take the best cornerback in the draft, generally thought to be Michigan State’s Trae Waynes. Largely because of drug-related issues, two of the top edge-rushers could be available: Missouri’s Shane Ray and Nebraska’s Randy Gregory.
Even though they have all of their wide receivers back, should Alabama’s Amari Cooper or West Virginia’s Kevin White somehow fall to 10, the Rams would be hardpressed to pass on of those talents. (Some media mocks have even shown the Rams taking Louisville wide receiver DeVante Parker.)
The trade rumors already have started, including one which had the Rams shipping defensive tackle Michael Brockers to Chicago, which picks seventh overall. Rams executive vice president Kevin Demoff did his best to squash that one by saying via text: “Better chance of Wainwright pitching this week than Brockers being traded.”
The fun officially gets underway at 7 p.m. Thursday.
ABOUT THE DRAFT
ON THE AIR
• Round 1, 7 p.m. Thursday, NFL Network and ESPN
• Rounds 2-3, 6 p.m. Friday, NFL Network and ESPN2
• Rounds 4-7, 11 a.m. Saturday, NFL Network and ESPN
RAMS PICK
No. 10 overall in first round (six picks total)
AT STLTODAY.COM
• Jeff Gordon chats live from the draft on Thursday, Friday and Saturday
• Live updates from Rams Park throughout the draft
• Instant pick-by-pick updates
• Video analysis from the Post-Dispatch, CBS and Sports Illustrated
• Beat the clock in our interactive Draft Quiz
WANT MORE?
Get the latest news on our PD football app. Download at stltoday.com/apps
• By Jim Thomas
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/foot...cle_4d00716b-c714-5e43-805b-81d67fcdad03.html
Normally in any given year, an NFL team turns over about one-third of its roster. During regime changes it can jump to half the roster.
But that’s not the Rams’ profile as they enter the 2015 draft, which runs Thursday through Saturday. Counting seven players who were on injured reserve, the Rams had 60 players under contract at the end of the 2014 campaign.
As coach Jeff Fisher and general manager Les Snead embark on their fourth draft in St. Louis, 50 of those 60 players are still under contract, a surprising 83.3 percent of the roster.
The Rams have all five of their wide receivers back from a year ago, all five of their tight ends, all six running backs, all 11 safeties and cornerbacks, five of six linebackers and seven of nine defensive linemen.
“I think it shows the progress we’ve made since the time we got here, and the numbers that we had (previously) on the active roster before the draft,” Fisher said. “And look at the numbers of college free agents that we’ve brought it.”
At times, the number of rookie free agents has topped two dozen in the past.
“Those numbers at the end of the draft will be down for obvious reasons, particularly because we have a lot of guys under contract,” Fisher continued.
Now, you can debate whether the Rams have the right players under contract, or if the rebuilding efforts of Fisher and Snead will bear fruit in 2015. But the Rams, right or wrong, feel they have a lot of pieces in place.
“It’s nice to look at the depth chart right now and have a good feel about the depth chart as compared to a couple of years ago, when we had blank spaces at many, many positions,” Fisher said. “We feel like we’ve improved, and we also feel like not only with what we did in free agency, but what we’re getting ready to do here this weekend, is really gonna help us.”
The Rams are at the stage where they need quality more than quantity in this year’s draft, and that’s a good thing considering they have only six picks. That matches the lowest number of picks in their 20 previous drafts in St. Louis. They had only six picks in the 1997 draft, a year they shipped a bundle of picks to the New York Jets in order to move up to No. 1 overall for Ohio State offensive tackle Orlando Pace.
The bonanza of picks harvested from the RGIII trade in 2012, and subsequent spinoff trades, has ended. The Rams selected 28 picks in the ’12, ’13 and ’14 drafts — 9.3 per year. This year, they have to make every pick count, especially their picks in the first four rounds.
After that fourth-round pick, No. 119 overall, the Rams don’t have another pick until late in the sixth round (No. 215 overall) and early in the seventh (No. 227). By then, you’re practically throwing darts at the draft board.
One of the Rams’ target areas in those first four rounds has to be the offensive line. Unlike the rest of the roster, only six of 11 players are back from a year ago there. Only four offensive linemen under contract have even started an NFL regular-season game. And those four players — Rodger Saffold (60), Greg Robinson (12), Tim Barnes (4), and free-agent pickup Garrett Reynolds (27) — have a modest 103 combined NFL starts.
Even if the Rams end up re-signing right tackle Joe Barksdale, they probably need to come out of this draft with at least two offensive linemen. The most logical first-round selections at No. 10 overall are Iowa guard/tackle Brandon Scherff and Stanford offensive tackle Andrus Peat.
Scherff is strong as a house (480-pound hang clean in the weight room), is tough as they come (played in a game five days after knee surgery) and is a punishing run blocker.
Peat has a massive frame at 6-7, 313 pounds. Some scouts feel he’s the most talented tackle prospect to come out in several years. Some question his temperament — does he have that necessary mean streak? But he’s easily the best left tackle prospect in this year’s draft.
At No. 10 overall, the Rams almost certainly will have a crack at one if not both of those offensive line headliners. But the Rams have checked out plenty of blockers, as evidenced by the fact that 12 of their 22 confirmed pre-draft visitors were offensive linemen.
The list included Peat, T.J. Clemmings (Pittsburgh), La’el Collins (LSU), Cameron Erving (Florida State), Ereck Flowers (Miami, Fla.) and D.J. Humphries (Florida) — who all project as first-rounders.
It also included A.J. Cann (South Carolina), Tre Jackson (Florida State), Ali Marpet (Hobart) and Laken Tomlinson (Duke) — who all should go in Rounds 2-3.
But Scherff’s name was not among the pre-draft visits confirmed by the Post-Dispatch. Teams are allowed to bring up to 30 players in for such visits, so Scherff may have come in undetected.
Why is this important? Well, in the first three drafts by Fisher and Snead, 10 draft picks paid pre-draft visits to Rams Park, including all five first-rounders taken and all four second-rounders. So as they say in the poker business, it’s a pretty good tell.
The Rams did have a formal visit with Scherff at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis.
But the Rams could go in other directions than the obvious in Round 1. If the first three Fisher-Snead drafts have shown anything, it’s to expect the unexpected. They are not afraid to take risks or make things happen, as evidenced by their seven draft trades from 2012-14.
So again assuming the Rams stay at 10, they could have an opportunity to take the best cornerback in the draft, generally thought to be Michigan State’s Trae Waynes. Largely because of drug-related issues, two of the top edge-rushers could be available: Missouri’s Shane Ray and Nebraska’s Randy Gregory.
Even though they have all of their wide receivers back, should Alabama’s Amari Cooper or West Virginia’s Kevin White somehow fall to 10, the Rams would be hardpressed to pass on of those talents. (Some media mocks have even shown the Rams taking Louisville wide receiver DeVante Parker.)
The trade rumors already have started, including one which had the Rams shipping defensive tackle Michael Brockers to Chicago, which picks seventh overall. Rams executive vice president Kevin Demoff did his best to squash that one by saying via text: “Better chance of Wainwright pitching this week than Brockers being traded.”
The fun officially gets underway at 7 p.m. Thursday.
ABOUT THE DRAFT
ON THE AIR
• Round 1, 7 p.m. Thursday, NFL Network and ESPN
• Rounds 2-3, 6 p.m. Friday, NFL Network and ESPN2
• Rounds 4-7, 11 a.m. Saturday, NFL Network and ESPN
RAMS PICK
No. 10 overall in first round (six picks total)
AT STLTODAY.COM
• Jeff Gordon chats live from the draft on Thursday, Friday and Saturday
• Live updates from Rams Park throughout the draft
• Instant pick-by-pick updates
• Video analysis from the Post-Dispatch, CBS and Sports Illustrated
• Beat the clock in our interactive Draft Quiz
WANT MORE?
Get the latest news on our PD football app. Download at stltoday.com/apps