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Rams tied for eighth most homegrown players
By Nick Wagoner
http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-rams/post/_/id/17974/rams-tied-for-eighth-most-homegrown-players
When Jeff Fisher and Les Snead arrived as head coach and general manager of the St. Louis Rams back in 2012, they made the usual promises you hear from people in their positions about building through the NFL draft.
Every coach and general manager vows to build through the draft and supplement in free agency. But after making the big trade with Washington that set them up with extra picks for three years, Snead and Fisher have actually followed through on that vow.
Three years later, the Rams are tied with the Atlanta Falcons as teams having the eighth-most original draftees on their roster. A Rams team that before Fisher and Snead's arrival was devoid of talent in general and especially talent arriving via the NFL draft, now sits with 27 players who are original Rams draftees.
While it's interesting to note the Rams' commitment to building through the draft, it's also noteworthy that most of the teams with more homegrown players on the roster have had far more success than St. Louis. Which also means those teams are probably doing a better job of developing that talent.
Cincinnati, Green Bay, Minnesota, New England, San Francisco, Baltimore and Houston are the teams with more of their own original draftees. Save for the Vikings and the Texans, that group consists of teams that have all had major success in recent seasons. And even those two teams have been to the playoffs at least once in recent years.
Still, we don't yet have a complete picture of how well the Rams have developed that talent because most of it is still so young. Those answers should be coming soon, though, and we'll have a fuller picture of whether they've not only followed through on the plan to build via the draft but done it well.
By Nick Wagoner
http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-rams/post/_/id/17974/rams-tied-for-eighth-most-homegrown-players
When Jeff Fisher and Les Snead arrived as head coach and general manager of the St. Louis Rams back in 2012, they made the usual promises you hear from people in their positions about building through the NFL draft.
Every coach and general manager vows to build through the draft and supplement in free agency. But after making the big trade with Washington that set them up with extra picks for three years, Snead and Fisher have actually followed through on that vow.
Three years later, the Rams are tied with the Atlanta Falcons as teams having the eighth-most original draftees on their roster. A Rams team that before Fisher and Snead's arrival was devoid of talent in general and especially talent arriving via the NFL draft, now sits with 27 players who are original Rams draftees.
While it's interesting to note the Rams' commitment to building through the draft, it's also noteworthy that most of the teams with more homegrown players on the roster have had far more success than St. Louis. Which also means those teams are probably doing a better job of developing that talent.
Cincinnati, Green Bay, Minnesota, New England, San Francisco, Baltimore and Houston are the teams with more of their own original draftees. Save for the Vikings and the Texans, that group consists of teams that have all had major success in recent seasons. And even those two teams have been to the playoffs at least once in recent years.
Still, we don't yet have a complete picture of how well the Rams have developed that talent because most of it is still so young. Those answers should be coming soon, though, and we'll have a fuller picture of whether they've not only followed through on the plan to build via the draft but done it well.
