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Rams ready to 'shop' at Senior Bowl
• By Jim Thomas
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/foot...cle_72a91c35-0b09-5fd4-bdf6-3e0ac155d7cc.html
The Rams have done a fair amount of “shopping” at the Senior Bowl since general manager Les Snead and coach Jeff Fisher took over the program in 2012.
Among the Senior Bowl players the team ended up drafting are defensive tackle Aaron Donald, safety T.J. McDonald, cornerback Janoris Jenkins, wide receiver Brian Quick and running back Isaiah Pead. Obviously, some have worked out better than others.
“Never do you have a preference for a senior,” Snead said. “I think though, when you take a senior vs. a younger kid, you usually know that senior is probably gonna be more ready to play than the younger kid.
“Now there’s a lot of young kids (underclassmen) coming out. We see the names every day. So you better be able to work it both ways.”
But the approach in player development usually differs between the drafted senior as compared to the drafted underclassmen.
“I’ve used this example many times in Aaron (Donald) and Greg (Robinson); Greg being a redshirt sophomore, Aaron being a four-year starter,” Snead said.
In essence, Donald started twice as many college games as Robinson, and partly as a result of that extra college experience arrived in the NFL as a more polished product.
“Doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take Greg,” Snead said. “It just means Greg’s gonna learn some of the things that Aaron learned in those (last two seasons in college) out here in the NFL. So you just have to have a different plan for success. Historically, I think seniors are more mentally mature and ready than the younger kids.”
In the case of Senior Bowl alums Donald, Jenkins and McDonald, for example, all came into the NFL as day one starters. But early success obviously isn’t an absolute for seniors. It took Quick until his third NFL season to blossom into an opening-day starter.
As the draft evaluation process hits high gear in Mobile, Ala., annual site of the Senior Bowl, the Rams already have their draft board trimmed to fewer than 500 prospects.
It was set for the first time last summer and trimmed down and altered in December. There will be a re-set of sorts after this month’s college all-star games, and another after the NFL scouting combine in late February. And then one final one in the spring after the campus pro days and private workouts.
Usually, the December board turns out to be the most accurate, Snead said, only half-joking.
“Because — guess what? — that’s them playing football,” he said.
In contrast, the combine and pro days and private workouts are all about stopwatches, agility drills and interviews. At least at the Senior Bowl, and the few other college all-star events, players are getting after each other in practice and playing a game at the end of the week.
As the most prestigious of the all-star games in terms of getting better talent, the Senior Bowl is a valuable measuring stick.
“They get to go compete against guys that are gonna be in the NFL,” Snead said. “So you get to go and see their competitiveness.”
You see wide receivers work against press coverage, something that doesn’t happen much in college. Running backs working on blitz pickup and catching passes out of the backfield.
And quarterbacks from spread offenses lining up under center and throwing into windows that are already tighter than what they saw most of the time in college.
As the Fisher-Snead regime prepares for its fourth season in St. Louis, Snead said the Rams’ personnel department and coaching staff have a sense for what the Rams’ roster is and isn’t.
“You’ve got a good feel now for who they are, what our strengths are, what our weaknesses are,” he said. “What players’ roles are. So it gets a little, probably, clearer to say, ‘Hey, we’ve got specific needs. Let’s go address that.’”
So it’s less about amassing quantity, which was one of the goals of the Robert Griffin III trade — to replenish a talent-depleted roster — and more about addressing specific needs on a roster that in general has fewer holes than a year, or two, or three years ago.
And with only five picks at the moment — the team could be awarded an extra compensatory pick or two at the owners meetings in March — the Rams need to hit on most of those picks.
One of the biggest needs obviously is a quarterback, and there should be some intriguing possibilities at the Senior Bowl even though it’s not regarded as a strong or deep draft at the position.
Baylor’s Bryce Petter, Oregon State’s Sean Mannion, Colorado State’s Garrett Grayson and East Carolina’s Shane Carden are among the QBs expected to attend.
The Rams almost certainly will be looking at the offensive line once again, particularly on the interior, but also at the tackle position.
Then again, this could be the year where someone like Donald stands out at the Senior Bowl. On paper, defensive tackle didn’t shape up as a huge position of need for the Rams a year ago. But the Rams certainly aren’t sorry they made that pick.
The lone University of Missouri participant this year is defensive end Markus Golden, who could be a first-round selection.
• By Jim Thomas
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/foot...cle_72a91c35-0b09-5fd4-bdf6-3e0ac155d7cc.html
The Rams have done a fair amount of “shopping” at the Senior Bowl since general manager Les Snead and coach Jeff Fisher took over the program in 2012.
Among the Senior Bowl players the team ended up drafting are defensive tackle Aaron Donald, safety T.J. McDonald, cornerback Janoris Jenkins, wide receiver Brian Quick and running back Isaiah Pead. Obviously, some have worked out better than others.
“Never do you have a preference for a senior,” Snead said. “I think though, when you take a senior vs. a younger kid, you usually know that senior is probably gonna be more ready to play than the younger kid.
“Now there’s a lot of young kids (underclassmen) coming out. We see the names every day. So you better be able to work it both ways.”
But the approach in player development usually differs between the drafted senior as compared to the drafted underclassmen.
“I’ve used this example many times in Aaron (Donald) and Greg (Robinson); Greg being a redshirt sophomore, Aaron being a four-year starter,” Snead said.
In essence, Donald started twice as many college games as Robinson, and partly as a result of that extra college experience arrived in the NFL as a more polished product.
“Doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take Greg,” Snead said. “It just means Greg’s gonna learn some of the things that Aaron learned in those (last two seasons in college) out here in the NFL. So you just have to have a different plan for success. Historically, I think seniors are more mentally mature and ready than the younger kids.”
In the case of Senior Bowl alums Donald, Jenkins and McDonald, for example, all came into the NFL as day one starters. But early success obviously isn’t an absolute for seniors. It took Quick until his third NFL season to blossom into an opening-day starter.
As the draft evaluation process hits high gear in Mobile, Ala., annual site of the Senior Bowl, the Rams already have their draft board trimmed to fewer than 500 prospects.
It was set for the first time last summer and trimmed down and altered in December. There will be a re-set of sorts after this month’s college all-star games, and another after the NFL scouting combine in late February. And then one final one in the spring after the campus pro days and private workouts.
Usually, the December board turns out to be the most accurate, Snead said, only half-joking.
“Because — guess what? — that’s them playing football,” he said.
In contrast, the combine and pro days and private workouts are all about stopwatches, agility drills and interviews. At least at the Senior Bowl, and the few other college all-star events, players are getting after each other in practice and playing a game at the end of the week.
As the most prestigious of the all-star games in terms of getting better talent, the Senior Bowl is a valuable measuring stick.
“They get to go compete against guys that are gonna be in the NFL,” Snead said. “So you get to go and see their competitiveness.”
You see wide receivers work against press coverage, something that doesn’t happen much in college. Running backs working on blitz pickup and catching passes out of the backfield.
And quarterbacks from spread offenses lining up under center and throwing into windows that are already tighter than what they saw most of the time in college.
As the Fisher-Snead regime prepares for its fourth season in St. Louis, Snead said the Rams’ personnel department and coaching staff have a sense for what the Rams’ roster is and isn’t.
“You’ve got a good feel now for who they are, what our strengths are, what our weaknesses are,” he said. “What players’ roles are. So it gets a little, probably, clearer to say, ‘Hey, we’ve got specific needs. Let’s go address that.’”
So it’s less about amassing quantity, which was one of the goals of the Robert Griffin III trade — to replenish a talent-depleted roster — and more about addressing specific needs on a roster that in general has fewer holes than a year, or two, or three years ago.
And with only five picks at the moment — the team could be awarded an extra compensatory pick or two at the owners meetings in March — the Rams need to hit on most of those picks.
One of the biggest needs obviously is a quarterback, and there should be some intriguing possibilities at the Senior Bowl even though it’s not regarded as a strong or deep draft at the position.
Baylor’s Bryce Petter, Oregon State’s Sean Mannion, Colorado State’s Garrett Grayson and East Carolina’s Shane Carden are among the QBs expected to attend.
The Rams almost certainly will be looking at the offensive line once again, particularly on the interior, but also at the tackle position.
Then again, this could be the year where someone like Donald stands out at the Senior Bowl. On paper, defensive tackle didn’t shape up as a huge position of need for the Rams a year ago. But the Rams certainly aren’t sorry they made that pick.
The lone University of Missouri participant this year is defensive end Markus Golden, who could be a first-round selection.
