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Rams set for Senior Bowl week
By Nick Wagoner
http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-rams/post/_/id/15535/rams-set-for-senior-bowl-week
EARTH CITY, Mo. -- Whether it's a coincidence or not, the St. Louis Rams have become big proponents of using the offseason's biggest all-star game as a finding ground for a number of their draft picks.
This week's Senior Bowl, set to take place again in Mobile, Alabama, is the most well-known game of the all-star season and has proved in the past three years to be a popular place for the Rams to nail down evaluations of players.
General manager Les Snead said that isn't necessarily by design but also doesn't deny that drafting talented seniors can help get results a little faster.
"Never do you have preference for a senior," Snead said. "I think when you take a senior versus a younger kid, usually you know that senior is probably going to be more ready to play than the younger kid. There’s a lot of young kids coming out and you see the names every day. So you better be able to work it both ways. I think the development plan for success is different for each one."
In the three years with Snead as the general manager and Jeff Fisher as coach, the Rams have actually struck a balance between taking more polished seniors and grabbing younger players with upside. They have erred toward upside on players like offensive tackle Greg Robinson and defensive tackle Michael Brockers but they've also drafted former Senior Bowlers such as receiver Brian Quick, cornerback Janoris Jenkins, running back Isaiah Pead, safety T.J. McDonald and, the biggest prize of all in defensive tackle Aaron Donald.
Although Robinson went 11 spots higher than Donald in the draft, the Rams knew they were getting a much more polished product in Donald, something that was exceedingly clear when Donald dominated the 2014 Senior Bowl.
"Greg being a redshirt sophomore, Aaron being a four year starter, they’re really only one year apart, I don’t know the calendar age but Greg got redshirted, started let’s call it 24 games," Snead said. "Aaron didn’t get redshirted, started 48 games and he got 24 more starts than Greg. Doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take Greg. It means Greg is going to learn some of the things Aaron learned in those last 24 out here in the NFL so you have just got to have a different plan for success. Historically, I think seniors are more mentally mature than the younger kids."
This year, the Rams once again head to the Senior Bowl with a preliminary draft board in place. Obviously, the scouting staff has been working all year on many of those who will play in Mobile but the week offers a chance for the coaches to get a first look at some top prospects and some lesser-known prospects an opportunity to perform against better competition.
According to Snead, the Rams have already narrowed their board of players to less than 500 following the December meetings in which the area scouts return to town and start sifting through prospects with Snead. Coincidentally, Snead finds that the initial board they have now is often more accurate than ones that will come later after things like the scouting combine.
"You’re always doing studies on where’d you have him and how did he turn out?" Snead said. "We set it in the summer for the first time then December we come back and do a little bit of a reset and then maybe post-all-star, post-combine then we go through the spring and then one final [board]. So you analyze how you do your boards, usually the one in December is where you’re right because that’s them playing football."
This Senior Bowl should have the Rams taking a closer look at the quarterbacks and offensive linemen in place. Oregon State's Sean Mannion, East Carolina's Shane Carden, Baylor's Bryce Petty, Alabama's Blake Sims, Colorado State's Garrett Grayson and Auburn's Nick Marshall are the six signal-callers in place. None are expected to be first-round choices but any could emerge as an intriguing option for a team like the Rams later on.
All told, even if the Senior Bowl isn't the end all, be all for the Rams' evaluation efforts, it is an important piece in the process.
"The Senior Bowl is really good," Snead said. "Seniors, they get to go compete against guys that are going to be in the NFL so you get to see their competitiveness. Let’s talk wide receivers. A lot of times, they are not getting pressed in college. In this game you get to go see them press. It doesn’t mean that will be a deal breaker but you can see how they get off the press, how far is he away to get off so there’s things you can see at the Senior Bowl that all of a sudden these kids coming from the college offenses haven’t done. A lot of times you don’t do that in college. That’s what the Senior Bowl is to me."
By Nick Wagoner
http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-rams/post/_/id/15535/rams-set-for-senior-bowl-week
EARTH CITY, Mo. -- Whether it's a coincidence or not, the St. Louis Rams have become big proponents of using the offseason's biggest all-star game as a finding ground for a number of their draft picks.
This week's Senior Bowl, set to take place again in Mobile, Alabama, is the most well-known game of the all-star season and has proved in the past three years to be a popular place for the Rams to nail down evaluations of players.
General manager Les Snead said that isn't necessarily by design but also doesn't deny that drafting talented seniors can help get results a little faster.
"Never do you have preference for a senior," Snead said. "I think when you take a senior versus a younger kid, usually you know that senior is probably going to be more ready to play than the younger kid. There’s a lot of young kids coming out and you see the names every day. So you better be able to work it both ways. I think the development plan for success is different for each one."
In the three years with Snead as the general manager and Jeff Fisher as coach, the Rams have actually struck a balance between taking more polished seniors and grabbing younger players with upside. They have erred toward upside on players like offensive tackle Greg Robinson and defensive tackle Michael Brockers but they've also drafted former Senior Bowlers such as receiver Brian Quick, cornerback Janoris Jenkins, running back Isaiah Pead, safety T.J. McDonald and, the biggest prize of all in defensive tackle Aaron Donald.
Although Robinson went 11 spots higher than Donald in the draft, the Rams knew they were getting a much more polished product in Donald, something that was exceedingly clear when Donald dominated the 2014 Senior Bowl.
"Greg being a redshirt sophomore, Aaron being a four year starter, they’re really only one year apart, I don’t know the calendar age but Greg got redshirted, started let’s call it 24 games," Snead said. "Aaron didn’t get redshirted, started 48 games and he got 24 more starts than Greg. Doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take Greg. It means Greg is going to learn some of the things Aaron learned in those last 24 out here in the NFL so you have just got to have a different plan for success. Historically, I think seniors are more mentally mature than the younger kids."
This year, the Rams once again head to the Senior Bowl with a preliminary draft board in place. Obviously, the scouting staff has been working all year on many of those who will play in Mobile but the week offers a chance for the coaches to get a first look at some top prospects and some lesser-known prospects an opportunity to perform against better competition.
According to Snead, the Rams have already narrowed their board of players to less than 500 following the December meetings in which the area scouts return to town and start sifting through prospects with Snead. Coincidentally, Snead finds that the initial board they have now is often more accurate than ones that will come later after things like the scouting combine.
"You’re always doing studies on where’d you have him and how did he turn out?" Snead said. "We set it in the summer for the first time then December we come back and do a little bit of a reset and then maybe post-all-star, post-combine then we go through the spring and then one final [board]. So you analyze how you do your boards, usually the one in December is where you’re right because that’s them playing football."
This Senior Bowl should have the Rams taking a closer look at the quarterbacks and offensive linemen in place. Oregon State's Sean Mannion, East Carolina's Shane Carden, Baylor's Bryce Petty, Alabama's Blake Sims, Colorado State's Garrett Grayson and Auburn's Nick Marshall are the six signal-callers in place. None are expected to be first-round choices but any could emerge as an intriguing option for a team like the Rams later on.
All told, even if the Senior Bowl isn't the end all, be all for the Rams' evaluation efforts, it is an important piece in the process.
"The Senior Bowl is really good," Snead said. "Seniors, they get to go compete against guys that are going to be in the NFL so you get to see their competitiveness. Let’s talk wide receivers. A lot of times, they are not getting pressed in college. In this game you get to go see them press. It doesn’t mean that will be a deal breaker but you can see how they get off the press, how far is he away to get off so there’s things you can see at the Senior Bowl that all of a sudden these kids coming from the college offenses haven’t done. A lot of times you don’t do that in college. That’s what the Senior Bowl is to me."