Rams News Recap: April 22

[RamBill]

Rams Draft Preview: Running back –Wagoner
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.

St. Louis Stadium Group States Its Case –PD
The St. Louis stadium task force made its formal presentation Wednesday afternoon to the NFL at league headquarters in New York, a session that included a multimedia presentation and a question-and-answer period with league officials and members of the NFL’s Los Angeles opportunities committee.

Rams Have Plenty of Draft Options for O-Line –PD
Iowa’s Brandon Scherff is widely regarded as the best offensive lineman in the draft. He lifts weights in mass quantities, shrugs off knee injuries as if there were insect bites, and excels at run-blocking.

NFL Draft: Offensive Linemen + Rams Needs –PD

Why the Rams Will Likely Address the O-Line in First Few Draft Rounds –Stalter
Do a Google search on “2015 NFL mock drafts” and then locate the Rams at No. 10. There’s a possibility that you’ll find five different prospects listed next to the Rams’ selection in the first five mocks you click.

Jared Cook Excited About Rams’ New OC –Latsch
Rams tight end Jared Cook was smiling ear to ear on Monday morning as he talked about his team’s new offensive coordinator, Frank Cignetti, with a group of reporters.

NFL Draft Needs: Rams –Silva

Could the Rams Make A Draft Day Trade? –Video

Will 2015 be a Pro Bowl Season for Rodger Saffold? –Audio

Will the Rams have a Plethora of Options Available at #10 –Audio

Jim Thomas Talks St. Louis Stadium Plan –Audio

2015 Rams Schedule Release Highlights –Video

Marshall Faulk Breaks Down the Rams’ 2015 Schedule –Video

 

[RamBill]

Morning Ram-blings: St. Louis makes its case
By Nick Wagoner

http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-rams/post/_/id/17850/morning-ram-blings-st-louis-makes-its-case

EARTH CITY, Mo. -- In the grand scheme of things, what took place at the NFL offices on Wednesday morning and afternoon probably won't be the difference between the St. Louis Rams staying or moving on to Los Angeles.

There are so many moving parts to this whole deal that a 45-minute session in which the St. Louis stadium task force made its case to league executives and the six-owner committee on Los Angeles Opportunities might qualify as more of a getting to know you (and your proposal) session than anything. But any chance for the task force to further its cause is an important one giving the battle they're facing to keep the Rams.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch offered a few details of the meeting in this story.

In addition, the task force released a statement Wednesday evening, though it didn't reveal much other than that it will continue to press on in pursuit of getting something done.

“We were honored to be invited by the NFL to make a stadium presentation today on behalf of St. Louis," the statement read. "We will continue to proceed on the path we’re on.”

The statement also said that the four men representing the task force were leaders Dave Peacock and Bob Blitz,�developer’s representative John Loyd and HOK vice president and design principal Eli Hoisington.

It's also worth noting that NFL commissioner Roger Goodell was said to have attended the meetings. Same for Rams vice president of football operations Kevin Demoff.

Further details of the meeting weren't immediately available but it's expected that Peacock and Co. will have more public comment as soon as Friday. Still standing at the center of the issue are the group's efforts to set up the public financing aspect of the deal as well as land acquisition, which is believed to be progressing at the moment.

The Inglewood and Carson projects were also presented Wednesday though it's unclear who handled that job for the Inglewood project. Rams owner Stan Kroenke was present for the Inglewood presentation, according to the Post-Dispatch.

Also of note on this topic, on Tuesday the city of Carson passed a measure to have its stadium proposal for the San Diego Chargers and Oakland Raiders move forward without a public vote.

For what it's worth, questions obviously still remain on all of the stadium projects though it's fair to say the St. Louis and Carson projects have more than Inglewood at this point.

I.C.Y.M.I.�

A roundup of Wednesday's Rams stories appearing on ESPN.com. ... In the Ram-blings, we opened the day with a look at NFL Nation's season predictions. ... In this week's Buzz Video, I discussed the possibility of a draft trade for the Rams. ... We then took a peek at the Rams' preseason schedule. ... Finally, we continued our draft preview series with a look at the running backs.

Elsewhere:

Rams defensive end Chris Long joined Trey Wingo to discuss the team's schedule.

Todd McShay offered up Mock Draft 5.0 Insider on ESPN Insider.

NFL decision makers take you inside the draft room.

At 101sports.com, Bernie Miklasz discussed the latest on the Los Angeles and Rams front.

At stltoday.com, Jim Thomas looks at this draft's running back class.