So what did you think of our draft?(Take the poll)

[Mojo Ram]

I have longed for this identity as a team. I remember when the Rams would straight beat the crap out of their opponents, I hope we are dominant like that once again.
The GSOT was insane fun, but if I had my way we would bludgeon our way to a Lombardi....

Co-sign

 

[junkman]

Of the 4 OL they drafted I think Havenstein will push hard to start. Regardless of whether they bring Barks back I think the kid is just as good as him in pass pro and better than him in the running game. Difference is that Rob "The Body" H-Stein will improve week to week. Rams need to get him a mouthpiece that resembles the metal teeth that James Bond villain had in the 80's...

Richard Keil playing Jaws in "Moonraker". I saw it in the theaters, not the best Bond movie. I just could never buy in to Roger Moore as Bond.

Not their best draft.

-Grumpy32

Metamucil provides safe, effective overnight relief.

 

[Alan]

Just got back from Jamaica . Ya mon! :banana:

Did not like this draft at all and I believe the draft went south from the very start when we drafted Gurley. I say this not having done any research (as in looking at tape) on any of the players we chose. I'm basing my opinion on what the majority of the prospect rankings and profiles I've read from the usual suspects, CBS (Prisco & Brugler), NFL.com and Walter Football (mainly for their projected rounds) to name three of them.

So as to keep my own thoughts to be unenfluenced by any of I haven't read any of my fellow RODites thoughts on this so keep that in mind.

FWIW, here are some of my thoughts: AVERAGE READING TIME 3 DAYS.

Gurley
Key facts:
http://www.nfl.com/draft/2015/profiles/todd-gurley?id=2552475
WEAKNESSES
"Missed three games in 2013 due to ankle injury and tore his ACL in 2014. Questions about whether he'll return back to his play speed are a big concern."
" He played less than 40 percent of his team's offensive snaps over the last three years, so there is plenty of tread still on the tires. Has the talent to be a top-five NFL running back, but ACL tear clouds the short-term picture."
Who did we draft? The Gurley/Marshawn Lynch 2.0 pre ACL injury Gurly or the post ACL injury Gurley? As we all know, all too well, once you have suffered an ACL injury your are morelikey to suffer another one. I didn't like the pick of Stacy because I felt he was always getting dinged up and he's continued that trend in the NFL. Will Gurley? How can you read the above without coming away thinking 'injury prone'?

Having said that, what with the legal cloud hanging over Collins head and Scherff off the boards, I didn't like many of the alternatives at #10. Based on my research and what I read in our own mock draft I didn't like Peat or Flowers at #10 but they went at #11 and #13 some professionals who know much more than I desagree with my take on that.

IMO we should have traded down but did we have a dance partner? I'll break that down a little further by asking did we want too much? More on this later.

The Gurley pick negatively effected this draft above and beyond just the uncertainty about the player himself, I think think it had a huge negative effect on the rest of the draft.

Havenstein
Key facts:
http://walterfootball.com/draft2015OT.php
Projected Round (2015): 4-6.
"At the Senior Bowl, Havenstein struggled in the pass-blocking one-on-ones. He was beaten by speed rushers consistently. Havenstein was decent at the Combine, but he looks like a limited athlete for the NFL."

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/prospectrankings/2015/OT
Overall Ranking #114. Positional ranking #12. Projected round 3-4.
"WEAKNESSES: Limited to right guard in the NFL with ordinary athleticism for the position and will be vulnerable against NFL speed rushers."

http://www.nfl.com/draft/2015/profiles/rob-havenstein?id=2552363
WEAKNESSES
Stiffness in knees causes him to come out of stance way too tall. Is almost never under the pads of opponent. Too often has to sumo wrestle at impact to get defender centered. Initial lateral quickness not good enough to count on him with back-side cut-offs. Keeps hands too low pre-punch. Unathletic build with zero bubble. Some scouts worry about stiffness becoming an even greater problem after first few years in the league.
DRAFT PROJECTION: Round 3 or 4

BOTTOM LINE
Three-year starter who doesn't look the part in his uniform, but teams should worry more about how the dish tastes rather than how it is plated. With surprising feet to pair with good length and balance, Havenstein has the tools to be a starting right tackle in the league. He will be adequate when asked to zone block, but he can fire out and use his hips to leverage defenders out of run lanes.

So we draft a player with our second round pick (a fairly low second round pick after the trade (#25th)?
How is this guy not a lightly cheaper version of JB? With a 2nd round pick?:eek: Was there a better OT available when we picked him? I'd say no but that brings us back to that first round pick and the trade down, both of which of which I'll say more about later.
His best position is at RG? A posotion at which our best, so far, O-line Saffold is ideally suited for? Saffold is good at LG be has played great at RG so right off the bat we've weakened ourselves.

Mind boggling pick were it not for the fact the cupboard was already bare.

Jamon Brown
Key facts:
http://www.nfl.com/draft/2015/profiles/jamon-brown?id=2552340
DRAFT PROJECTION: Round 4 or 5

SOURCES TELL US
"He could go much higher than anyone thinks because he'll be on boards as a tackle or as a guard. He can move and he has some power so he will hit more teams draft boards than some of the other guys in the draft." - NFC Executive

http://walterfootball.com/draft2015OT.php
Projected Round (2015): 4-6.

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/prospectrankings/2015/OT
Overall Ranking #264. Positional ranking #22. Projected round 7-FA.

Some possible upside but he screams backup. Which we needed but with the 8th pick in the 3rd round? :eek:

Sean Mannion
One of the three second tier QBs anf I liked Grayson better but I won't complain.

Donnal
Key facts:
Not even on Walter's radar.

http://www.nfl.com/draft/2015/profiles/andrew-donnal?id=2552352
WEAKNESSES
Doesn't have much power in his legs and won't generate very much push in run game. Gets driven off the line of scrimmage at times. Shuffles and gets base too narrow when sliding to a high pass rush attack point. Lacks physical composure when bull rushed. Upper body and hands don't carry much power. Leaner when finding targets on second level.
DRAFT PROJECTION; Round 5 or 6

BOTTOM LINE
Donnal is limited from an athletic and strength standpoint but understands the nuances of the position and how to play with technique. With an ability to pass protect and experience at both guard and tackle, he should be drafted and has a legitimate shot at making a roster.

What can I say about Donnal that isn't obvious?

As usual, I won't talk about players below the 4th round but at first glance it seems to be the worst 4-6 round haul in Snisher's tenure at the Rams.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000490234/article/winners-and-losers-from-day-2-of-nfl-draft
NFC West run defenses: After grabbing the draft's best bruising runner in Todd Gurley, they picked up a road-grading right tackle Rob Havenstein in the second round and athletic guard Jamon Brown in the third. It doesn't hurt that last year's first round pick, left tackle Greg Robinson, flat-out blows defenders off the ball in the running game. The Rams are set up to challenge Marshawn Lynch and the Seahawks as the division's dominant ground attack.

Gurley effect, trade effect and final thoughts:

Reach after reach after reach.

By not picking up one of the top picks and trading down in the 2nd round we were forced to take marginal players that SCREAM perennial backups to me. Were it not for our complete lack of alternatives on the O'line I could easily see none of these guys amking the team except for Gurley and he's a huge question mark in my mind.

Why did I decry not trading down in the 1st round and bad mouth them for trading down in the 2nd round? If we had traded down in the 1st round we would still have been able to get a high quality player in this very shallow draft. When we moved down in the second round we moved out of the small pool a good players and into the the marginal/backup players pool. Especially at the key O-line positions we had holes at. On the plus side, had we not traded own and still picked Brown we would have, again, not seriously addressed the QB position. But again, had we not fallen in love with Gurley traded down in the 1st round we could have probably picked Grayson in the 3rd with the extra pick/s we would have received in the trade down.

Here's what I think is part of the problem and one of the reasons I don't like Fisher:
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/colu...cle_27062850-9236-5086-8f21-f40c851e32d2.html
"Asked how many potential starters he had found within the pile, Fisher said, “I don’t want to say they’re options, but they’re real players. These guys have played a lot of football in college. You look at the number of games played and starts with respect to all four of the offensive linemen that we drafted. It’s solid. They’re durable. They’re smart. They’re durable and they’re going to fit in.”

No real difference in what he said here and his attitude about vets on our team. The only real difference is that these are college vets versus pro vets. IMO he puts way too much weight on experience and far too little weight on ability. That's a huge part of the reason we start guys like Joseph, Wells and Lankford over our backups and Donald despite the fact that our back up O-line players must have at least as much talent as washed up players like Wells and Joseph and in Donalds case, far far more talent (a fact that was obvious immediately to all the rest of us).

I give that draft a D+ if the Gurley pick doesn't pan out and a C+ if it does. With the choices available I chose WTF.

Sorry to start out on such a negative note my first day posting after my vacation.

 

[kurtfaulk]

Just got back from Jamaica . Ya mon! :banana:

Did not like this draft at all and I believe the draft went south from the very start when we drafted Gurley. I say this not having done any research (as in looking at tape) on any of the players we chose. I'm basing my opinion on what the majority of the prospect rankings and profiles I've read from the usual suspects, CBS (Prisco & Brugler), NFL.com and Walter Football (mainly for their projected rounds) to name three of them.

So as to keep my own thoughts to be unenfluenced by any of I haven't read any of my fellow RODites thoughts on this so keep that in mind.

FWIW, here are some of my thoughts: AVERAGE READING TIME 3 DAYS.

Gurley
Key facts:
http://www.nfl.com/draft/2015/profiles/todd-gurley?id=2552475
WEAKNESSES
"Missed three games in 2013 due to ankle injury and tore his ACL in 2014. Questions about whether he'll return back to his play speed are a big concern."
" He played less than 40 percent of his team's offensive snaps over the last three years, so there is plenty of tread still on the tires. Has the talent to be a top-five NFL running back, but ACL tear clouds the short-term picture."
Who did we draft? The Gurley/Marshawn Lynch 2.0 pre ACL injury Gurly or the post ACL injury Gurley? As we all know, all too well, once you have suffered an ACL injury your are morelikey to suffer another one. I didn't like the pick of Stacy because I felt he was always getting dinged up and he's continued that trend in the NFL. Will Gurley? How can you read the above without coming away thinking 'injury prone'?

Having said that, what with the legal cloud hanging over Collins head and Scherff off the boards, I didn't like many of the alternatives at #10. Based on my research and what I read in our own mock draft I didn't like Peat or Flowers at #10 but they went at #11 and #13 some professionals who know much more than I desagree with my take on that.

IMO we should have traded down but did we have a dance partner? I'll break that down a little further by asking did we want too much? More on this later.

The Gurley pick negatively effected this draft above and beyond just the uncertainty about the player himself, I think think it had a huge negative effect on the rest of the draft.

Havenstein
Key facts:
http://walterfootball.com/draft2015OT.php
Projected Round (2015): 4-6.
"At the Senior Bowl, Havenstein struggled in the pass-blocking one-on-ones. He was beaten by speed rushers consistently. Havenstein was decent at the Combine, but he looks like a limited athlete for the NFL."

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/prospectrankings/2015/OT
Overall Ranking #114. Positional ranking #12. Projected round 3-4.
"WEAKNESSES: Limited to right guard in the NFL with ordinary athleticism for the position and will be vulnerable against NFL speed rushers."

http://www.nfl.com/draft/2015/profiles/rob-havenstein?id=2552363
WEAKNESSES
Stiffness in knees causes him to come out of stance way too tall. Is almost never under the pads of opponent. Too often has to sumo wrestle at impact to get defender centered. Initial lateral quickness not good enough to count on him with back-side cut-offs. Keeps hands too low pre-punch. Unathletic build with zero bubble. Some scouts worry about stiffness becoming an even greater problem after first few years in the league.
DRAFT PROJECTION: Round 3 or 4

BOTTOM LINE
Three-year starter who doesn't look the part in his uniform, but teams should worry more about how the dish tastes rather than how it is plated. With surprising feet to pair with good length and balance, Havenstein has the tools to be a starting right tackle in the league. He will be adequate when asked to zone block, but he can fire out and use his hips to leverage defenders out of run lanes.

So we draft a player with our second round pick (a fairly low second round pick after the trade (#25th)?
How is this guy not a lightly cheaper version of JB? With a 2nd round pick?:eek: Was there a better OT available when we picked him? I'd say no but that brings us back to that first round pick and the trade down, both of which of which I'll say more about later.
His best position is at RG? A posotion at which our best, so far, O-line Saffold is ideally suited for? Saffold is good at LG be has played great at RG so right off the bat we've weakened ourselves.

Mind boggling pick were it not for the fact the cupboard was already bare.

Jamon Brown
Key facts:
http://www.nfl.com/draft/2015/profiles/jamon-brown?id=2552340
DRAFT PROJECTION: Round 4 or 5

SOURCES TELL US
"He could go much higher than anyone thinks because he'll be on boards as a tackle or as a guard. He can move and he has some power so he will hit more teams draft boards than some of the other guys in the draft." - NFC Executive

http://walterfootball.com/draft2015OT.php
Projected Round (2015): 4-6.

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/prospectrankings/2015/OT
Overall Ranking #264. Positional ranking #22. Projected round 7-FA.

Some possible upside but he screams backup. Which we needed but with the 8th pick in the 3rd round? :eek:

Sean Mannion
One of the three second tier QBs anf I liked Grayson better but I won't complain.

Donnal
Key facts:
Not even on Walter's radar.

http://www.nfl.com/draft/2015/profiles/andrew-donnal?id=2552352
WEAKNESSES
Doesn't have much power in his legs and won't generate very much push in run game. Gets driven off the line of scrimmage at times. Shuffles and gets base too narrow when sliding to a high pass rush attack point. Lacks physical composure when bull rushed. Upper body and hands don't carry much power. Leaner when finding targets on second level.
DRAFT PROJECTION; Round 5 or 6

BOTTOM LINE
Donnal is limited from an athletic and strength standpoint but understands the nuances of the position and how to play with technique. With an ability to pass protect and experience at both guard and tackle, he should be drafted and has a legitimate shot at making a roster.

What can I say about Donnal that isn't obvious?

As usual, I won't talk about players below the 4th round but at first glance it seems to be the worst 4-6 round haul in Snisher's tenure at the Rams.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000490234/article/winners-and-losers-from-day-2-of-nfl-draft
NFC West run defenses: After grabbing the draft's best bruising runner in Todd Gurley, they picked up a road-grading right tackle Rob Havenstein in the second round and athletic guard Jamon Brown in the third. It doesn't hurt that last year's first round pick, left tackle Greg Robinson, flat-out blows defenders off the ball in the running game. The Rams are set up to challenge Marshawn Lynch and the Seahawks as the division's dominant ground attack.

Gurley effect, trade effect and final thoughts:

Reach after reach after reach.

By not picking up one of the top picks and trading down in the 2nd round we were forced to take marginal players that SCREAM perennial backups to me. Were it not for our complete lack of alternatives on the O'line I could easily see none of these guys amking the team except for Gurley and he's a huge question mark in my mind.

Why did I decry not trading down in the 1st round and bad mouth them for trading down in the 2nd round? If we had traded down in the 1st round we would still have been able to get a high quality player in this very shallow draft. When we moved down in the second round we moved out of the small pool a good players and into the the marginal/backup players pool. Especially at the key O-line positions we had holes at. On the plus side, had we not traded own and still picked Brown we would have, again, not seriously addressed the QB position. But again, had we not fallen in love with Gurley traded down in the 1st round we could have probably picked Grayson in the 3rd with the extra pick/s we would have received in the trade down.

Here's what I think is part of the problem and one of the reasons I don't like Fisher:
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/colu...cle_27062850-9236-5086-8f21-f40c851e32d2.html
"Asked how many potential starters he had found within the pile, Fisher said, “I don’t want to say they’re options, but they’re real players. These guys have played a lot of football in college. You look at the number of games played and starts with respect to all four of the offensive linemen that we drafted. It’s solid. They’re durable. They’re smart. They’re durable and they’re going to fit in.”

No real difference in what he said here and his attitude about vets on our team. The only real difference is that these are college vets versus pro vets. IMO he puts way too much weight on experience and far too little weight on ability. That's a huge part of the reason we start guys like Joseph, Wells and Lankford over our backups and Donald despite the fact that our back up O-line players must have at least as much talent as washed up players like Wells and Joseph and in Donalds case, far far more talent (a fact that was obvious immediately to all the rest of us).

I give that draft a D+ if the Gurley pick doesn't pan out and a C+ if it does. With the choices available I chose WTF.

Sorry to start out on such a negative note my first day posting after my vacation.

Flowers was off the board at #9. So it was peat, waynes, Parker or gurley. It was an easy choice and they sounded like they would have taken him no matter who was still on the board.

They tried to move back again in the second but the texans renigged so they just bit the bullet and took the player they wanted.

.

 

[RAGRam]

 

[Stranger]

I have longed for this identity as a team. I remember when the Rams would straight beat the crap out of their opponents, I hope we are dominant like that once again.
The GSOT was insane fun, but if I had my way we would bludgeon our way to a Lombardi....

There was just something about watching those 70's Rams teams. It was pure football, and we just dominated. Those regular season games against the Steelers were awesome!

Bottom line: Seems pretty clear that Jeff Fisher's plan is to just run over everybody in the league. The team's seventh round might have produced better picks than all but its first one in Gurley.

Can't wait for the slugfests against Seattle. We will be by far their toughest opponent going forward. I am quite confident that they are concerned.

 

[Ramhusker]

Just got back from Jamaica . Ya mon! :banana:

Did not like this draft at all and I believe the draft went south from the very start when we drafted Gurley. I say this not having done any research (as in looking at tape) on any of the players we chose. I'm basing my opinion on what the majority of the prospect rankings and profiles I've read from the usual suspects, CBS (Prisco & Brugler), NFL.com and Walter Football (mainly for their projected rounds) to name three of them.

So as to keep my own thoughts to be unenfluenced by any of I haven't read any of my fellow RODites thoughts on this so keep that in mind.

FWIW, here are some of my thoughts: AVERAGE READING TIME 3 DAYS.

Gurley
Key facts:
http://www.nfl.com/draft/2015/profiles/todd-gurley?id=2552475
WEAKNESSES
"Missed three games in 2013 due to ankle injury and tore his ACL in 2014. Questions about whether he'll return back to his play speed are a big concern."
" He played less than 40 percent of his team's offensive snaps over the last three years, so there is plenty of tread still on the tires. Has the talent to be a top-five NFL running back, but ACL tear clouds the short-term picture."
Who did we draft? The Gurley/Marshawn Lynch 2.0 pre ACL injury Gurly or the post ACL injury Gurley? As we all know, all too well, once you have suffered an ACL injury your are morelikey to suffer another one. I didn't like the pick of Stacy because I felt he was always getting dinged up and he's continued that trend in the NFL. Will Gurley? How can you read the above without coming away thinking 'injury prone'?

Having said that, what with the legal cloud hanging over Collins head and Scherff off the boards, I didn't like many of the alternatives at #10. Based on my research and what I read in our own mock draft I didn't like Peat or Flowers at #10 but they went at #11 and #13 some professionals who know much more than I desagree with my take on that.

IMO we should have traded down but did we have a dance partner? I'll break that down a little further by asking did we want too much? More on this later.

The Gurley pick negatively effected this draft above and beyond just the uncertainty about the player himself, I think think it had a huge negative effect on the rest of the draft.

Havenstein
Key facts:
http://walterfootball.com/draft2015OT.php
Projected Round (2015): 4-6.
"At the Senior Bowl, Havenstein struggled in the pass-blocking one-on-ones. He was beaten by speed rushers consistently. Havenstein was decent at the Combine, but he looks like a limited athlete for the NFL."

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/prospectrankings/2015/OT
Overall Ranking #114. Positional ranking #12. Projected round 3-4.
"WEAKNESSES: Limited to right guard in the NFL with ordinary athleticism for the position and will be vulnerable against NFL speed rushers."

http://www.nfl.com/draft/2015/profiles/rob-havenstein?id=2552363
WEAKNESSES
Stiffness in knees causes him to come out of stance way too tall. Is almost never under the pads of opponent. Too often has to sumo wrestle at impact to get defender centered. Initial lateral quickness not good enough to count on him with back-side cut-offs. Keeps hands too low pre-punch. Unathletic build with zero bubble. Some scouts worry about stiffness becoming an even greater problem after first few years in the league.
DRAFT PROJECTION: Round 3 or 4

BOTTOM LINE
Three-year starter who doesn't look the part in his uniform, but teams should worry more about how the dish tastes rather than how it is plated. With surprising feet to pair with good length and balance, Havenstein has the tools to be a starting right tackle in the league. He will be adequate when asked to zone block, but he can fire out and use his hips to leverage defenders out of run lanes.

So we draft a player with our second round pick (a fairly low second round pick after the trade (#25th)?
How is this guy not a lightly cheaper version of JB? With a 2nd round pick?:eek: Was there a better OT available when we picked him? I'd say no but that brings us back to that first round pick and the trade down, both of which of which I'll say more about later.
His best position is at RG? A posotion at which our best, so far, O-line Saffold is ideally suited for? Saffold is good at LG be has played great at RG so right off the bat we've weakened ourselves.

Mind boggling pick were it not for the fact the cupboard was already bare.

Jamon Brown
Key facts:
http://www.nfl.com/draft/2015/profiles/jamon-brown?id=2552340
DRAFT PROJECTION: Round 4 or 5

SOURCES TELL US
"He could go much higher than anyone thinks because he'll be on boards as a tackle or as a guard. He can move and he has some power so he will hit more teams draft boards than some of the other guys in the draft." - NFC Executive

http://walterfootball.com/draft2015OT.php
Projected Round (2015): 4-6.

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/prospectrankings/2015/OT
Overall Ranking #264. Positional ranking #22. Projected round 7-FA.

Some possible upside but he screams backup. Which we needed but with the 8th pick in the 3rd round? :eek:

Sean Mannion
One of the three second tier QBs anf I liked Grayson better but I won't complain.

Donnal
Key facts:
Not even on Walter's radar.

http://www.nfl.com/draft/2015/profiles/andrew-donnal?id=2552352
WEAKNESSES
Doesn't have much power in his legs and won't generate very much push in run game. Gets driven off the line of scrimmage at times. Shuffles and gets base too narrow when sliding to a high pass rush attack point. Lacks physical composure when bull rushed. Upper body and hands don't carry much power. Leaner when finding targets on second level.
DRAFT PROJECTION; Round 5 or 6

BOTTOM LINE
Donnal is limited from an athletic and strength standpoint but understands the nuances of the position and how to play with technique. With an ability to pass protect and experience at both guard and tackle, he should be drafted and has a legitimate shot at making a roster.

What can I say about Donnal that isn't obvious?

As usual, I won't talk about players below the 4th round but at first glance it seems to be the worst 4-6 round haul in Snisher's tenure at the Rams.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000490234/article/winners-and-losers-from-day-2-of-nfl-draft
NFC West run defenses: After grabbing the draft's best bruising runner in Todd Gurley, they picked up a road-grading right tackle Rob Havenstein in the second round and athletic guard Jamon Brown in the third. It doesn't hurt that last year's first round pick, left tackle Greg Robinson, flat-out blows defenders off the ball in the running game. The Rams are set up to challenge Marshawn Lynch and the Seahawks as the division's dominant ground attack.

Gurley effect, trade effect and final thoughts:

Reach after reach after reach.

By not picking up one of the top picks and trading down in the 2nd round we were forced to take marginal players that SCREAM perennial backups to me. Were it not for our complete lack of alternatives on the O'line I could easily see none of these guys amking the team except for Gurley and he's a huge question mark in my mind.

Why did I decry not trading down in the 1st round and bad mouth them for trading down in the 2nd round? If we had traded down in the 1st round we would still have been able to get a high quality player in this very shallow draft. When we moved down in the second round we moved out of the small pool a good players and into the the marginal/backup players pool. Especially at the key O-line positions we had holes at. On the plus side, had we not traded own and still picked Brown we would have, again, not seriously addressed the QB position. But again, had we not fallen in love with Gurley traded down in the 1st round we could have probably picked Grayson in the 3rd with the extra pick/s we would have received in the trade down.

Here's what I think is part of the problem and one of the reasons I don't like Fisher:
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/colu...cle_27062850-9236-5086-8f21-f40c851e32d2.html
"Asked how many potential starters he had found within the pile, Fisher said, “I don’t want to say they’re options, but they’re real players. These guys have played a lot of football in college. You look at the number of games played and starts with respect to all four of the offensive linemen that we drafted. It’s solid. They’re durable. They’re smart. They’re durable and they’re going to fit in.”

No real difference in what he said here and his attitude about vets on our team. The only real difference is that these are college vets versus pro vets. IMO he puts way too much weight on experience and far too little weight on ability. That's a huge part of the reason we start guys like Joseph, Wells and Lankford over our backups and Donald despite the fact that our back up O-line players must have at least as much talent as washed up players like Wells and Joseph and in Donalds case, far far more talent (a fact that was obvious immediately to all the rest of us).

I give that draft a D+ if the Gurley pick doesn't pan out and a C+ if it does. With the choices available I chose WTF.

Sorry to start out on such a negative note my first day posting after my vacation.

Or this just might go to show how little we know? I was feeling the same way as this draft was unfolding. I love Gurley but can't help but be concerned about the knee. I thought, at first, we got screwed with the Carolina trade but 20/20 hindsight brings to light what they must have been planning. They weren't in love with the pundit's favorites. They were drafting for a scheme fit and that was pounding the ball in the NFC West. They obviously aren't worried about throwing the ball much and when they do, it's going to be screens, quick hitters, play action, and Foles on the move. I heard someone say, "we are going old school", that we are " bucking the passing trend of the NFL". Well, it looks like that is exactly what the plan is and part of that mindset is "we are going to run it and we are going to continue to run it until you stop us!" Our bed looks to be made. We might as well get comfy and enjoy the ride. A healthy Gurley means lots of playoff appearances for the rest of the decade. An unhealthy Gurley could mean a crippled up Foles and a shell shocked Mannion. A lot rides on Todd Gurley and Tre Mason, our " killer T's".

 

[Alan]

kurtfaulk pointing out my error:
Flowers was off the board at #9. So it was peat, waynes, Parker or gurley. It was an easy choice and they sounded like they would have taken him no matter who was still on the board.

They tried to move back again in the second but the texans renigged so they just bit the bullet and took the player they wanted.

Thanks kf. I looked at ESPN's top 32 and thought it was the draft tracker. Didn't get to look at it closely until this morning because ESPN and ESPN2 were the caribbean versions and they decided to air a stupid NBA playoff game instead of the draft. I'm trying to quickly catch up and when I do that I tend to miss things and I should have looked closer. I won't learn from this though.

Had I been forced to chose among those players at #10 I'd have chosen Parker without hesitation. So it was an easy choice for me too but a completely different player. It's not just the fact that we didn't draft one of the consensus good OTs, it was also who we took. I wanted Martin with our second first round pick last year but taking Donald was fine with me because again, he was the BPA in my mind AND there were no red flags concerning him.

I agree with you about Snisher's mind set concerning Gurley. Obviously I don't agree with it. Hate this whole draft except for drafting a QB high. Of course there weren't many good players to be had in this draft so if you're going to screw up royally like they did (IMO), better to do it this year than last year. Last year, even if you screwed up you still probably got a good player.

I'm glad the Texans didn't go through with the trade as we were already in the marginal player pool. Why go any deeper in the quicksand than necessary?

 

[Ky Ram]

I thought it was a good draft. I don't care about draft grades from the experts because they're just projecting based on an eye test like the rest of us. They just happen to get paid for it.
I initially hated the Gurley pick, but am now on board with "whatever". The front office thinks of him as a transcendent talent so who am I to argue?
We picked big body, durable guys to add to our o-line, and it was imperative we got some guys who have the physical traits who can be coached up. I have no issues there. If we get three starters out of this draft on the o-line ill be ecstatic.
I wanted the o-line addressed and they did that in a major way. That by itself made it a good draft to me.

 

[Alan]

Ramhusker doubting our acumen:eek::
Or this just might go to show how little we know? I was feeling the same way as this draft was unfolding. I love Gurley but can't help but be concerned about the knee. I thought, at first, we got screwed with the Carolina trade but 20/20 hindsight brings to light what they must have been planning. They weren't in love with the pundit's favorites. They were drafting for a scheme fit and that was pounding the ball in the NFC West. They obviously aren't worried about throwing the ball much and when they do, it's going to be screens, quick hitters, play action, and Foles on the move. I heard someone say, "we are going old school", that we are " bucking the passing trend of the NFL". Well, it looks like that is exactly what the plan is and part of that mindset is "we are going to run it and we are going to continue to run it until you stop us!" Our bed looks to be made. We might as well get comfy and enjoy the ride. A healthy Gurley means lots of playoff appearances for the rest of the decade. An unhealthy Gurley could mean a crippled up Foles and a shell shocked Mannion. A lot rides on Todd Gurley and Tre Mason, our "killer T's".

"killer T's", I like it!

They certainly didn't agree with the pundits that's for sure and let's hope they were right. As for scheme fit, they weren't very consistent there. 3 of the 4 O-line players were projected to fit best in a power blocking scheme and one was thought to be a better fit in a zone blocking scheme. But again, that's relying on the opinions of those same pundits they disagreed with so drastically in other areas so...

I'm not sure that the NFL has ever shown itself to be a cyclical sport. Most of the changes to the game that have made it a passing league in recent years have not come about because of innovative thinking. It's been almost completely due to changes in the rules and I doubt stone age thinking will fly in this day and age. As I look back at the history of the NFL game I really can't find any examples where trying to turn back the clock has been successful, can you? If we do well I think it will be despite our shortcomings on the offensive side of the ball and not because of them. I hope I'm wrong.

But all that aside, it's not his philosophy I have a problem with in this case, it's the players he chose to execute it.

 

[FRO]

Reminds me of the 2011 draft. Was pumped with the first pick. Was underwhelmed with the rest of the draft.

 

[DaveFan'51]

This made me lol big time. Funny as hell!

DITTO!!

 

[Prime Time]

Alan having zero reasons to complain about anything.
Just got back from Jamaica . Ya mon! :banana:

 

[PARAM]

Did not like this draft at all and I believe the draft went south from the very start when we drafted Gurley. I say this not having done any research (as in looking at tape) on any of the players we chose. I'm basing my opinion on what the majority of the prospect rankings and profiles I've read from the usual suspects, CBS (Prisco & Brugler), NFL.com and Walter Football (mainly for their projected rounds) to name three of them.

And that is a major reason I like this draft. It didn't go the way "experts" would have thought. It went the way Fisher's and Snead's desires were aligned.

Or this just might go to show how little we know?

And this too. ^^^^^^

As was also mentioned, I liked the fact they seemed to say, "we can't trade down? oh well, we're still drafting the guy we want right here even if it's higher than most think he should go"

 

[DaveFan'51]

Just got back from Jamaica . Ya mon! :banana:

Did not like this draft at all and I believe the draft went south from the very start when we drafted Gurley. I say this not having done any research (as in looking at tape) on any of the players we chose. I'm basing my opinion on what the majority of the prospect rankings and profiles I've read from the usual suspects, CBS (Prisco & Brugler), NFL.com and Walter Football (mainly for their projected rounds) to name three of them.

So as to keep my own thoughts to be unenfluenced by any of I haven't read any of my fellow RODites thoughts on this so keep that in mind.

FWIW, here are some of my thoughts: AVERAGE READING TIME 3 DAYS.

Gurley
Key facts:
http://www.nfl.com/draft/2015/profiles/todd-gurley?id=2552475
WEAKNESSES
"Missed three games in 2013 due to ankle injury and tore his ACL in 2014. Questions about whether he'll return back to his play speed are a big concern."
" He played less than 40 percent of his team's offensive snaps over the last three years, so there is plenty of tread still on the tires. Has the talent to be a top-five NFL running back, but ACL tear clouds the short-term picture."
Who did we draft? The Gurley/Marshawn Lynch 2.0 pre ACL injury Gurly or the post ACL injury Gurley? As we all know, all too well, once you have suffered an ACL injury your are morelikey to suffer another one. I didn't like the pick of Stacy because I felt he was always getting dinged up and he's continued that trend in the NFL. Will Gurley? How can you read the above without coming away thinking 'injury prone'?

Having said that, what with the legal cloud hanging over Collins head and Scherff off the boards, I didn't like many of the alternatives at #10. Based on my research and what I read in our own mock draft I didn't like Peat or Flowers at #10 but they went at #11 and #13 some professionals who know much more than I desagree with my take on that.

IMO we should have traded down but did we have a dance partner? I'll break that down a little further by asking did we want too much? More on this later.

The Gurley pick negatively effected this draft above and beyond just the uncertainty about the player himself, I think think it had a huge negative effect on the rest of the draft.

Havenstein
Key facts:
http://walterfootball.com/draft2015OT.php
Projected Round (2015): 4-6.
"At the Senior Bowl, Havenstein struggled in the pass-blocking one-on-ones. He was beaten by speed rushers consistently. Havenstein was decent at the Combine, but he looks like a limited athlete for the NFL."

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/prospectrankings/2015/OT
Overall Ranking #114. Positional ranking #12. Projected round 3-4.
"WEAKNESSES: Limited to right guard in the NFL with ordinary athleticism for the position and will be vulnerable against NFL speed rushers."

http://www.nfl.com/draft/2015/profiles/rob-havenstein?id=2552363
WEAKNESSES
Stiffness in knees causes him to come out of stance way too tall. Is almost never under the pads of opponent. Too often has to sumo wrestle at impact to get defender centered. Initial lateral quickness not good enough to count on him with back-side cut-offs. Keeps hands too low pre-punch. Unathletic build with zero bubble. Some scouts worry about stiffness becoming an even greater problem after first few years in the league.
DRAFT PROJECTION: Round 3 or 4

BOTTOM LINE
Three-year starter who doesn't look the part in his uniform, but teams should worry more about how the dish tastes rather than how it is plated. With surprising feet to pair with good length and balance, Havenstein has the tools to be a starting right tackle in the league. He will be adequate when asked to zone block, but he can fire out and use his hips to leverage defenders out of run lanes.

So we draft a player with our second round pick (a fairly low second round pick after the trade (#25th)?
How is this guy not a lightly cheaper version of JB? With a 2nd round pick?:eek: Was there a better OT available when we picked him? I'd say no but that brings us back to that first round pick and the trade down, both of which of which I'll say more about later.
His best position is at RG? A posotion at which our best, so far, O-line Saffold is ideally suited for? Saffold is good at LG be has played great at RG so right off the bat we've weakened ourselves.

Mind boggling pick were it not for the fact the cupboard was already bare.

Jamon Brown
Key facts:
http://www.nfl.com/draft/2015/profiles/jamon-brown?id=2552340
DRAFT PROJECTION: Round 4 or 5

SOURCES TELL US
"He could go much higher than anyone thinks because he'll be on boards as a tackle or as a guard. He can move and he has some power so he will hit more teams draft boards than some of the other guys in the draft." - NFC Executive

http://walterfootball.com/draft2015OT.php
Projected Round (2015): 4-6.

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/prospectrankings/2015/OT
Overall Ranking #264. Positional ranking #22. Projected round 7-FA.

Some possible upside but he screams backup. Which we needed but with the 8th pick in the 3rd round? :eek:

Sean Mannion
One of the three second tier QBs anf I liked Grayson better but I won't complain.

Donnal
Key facts:
Not even on Walter's radar.

http://www.nfl.com/draft/2015/profiles/andrew-donnal?id=2552352
WEAKNESSES
Doesn't have much power in his legs and won't generate very much push in run game. Gets driven off the line of scrimmage at times. Shuffles and gets base too narrow when sliding to a high pass rush attack point. Lacks physical composure when bull rushed. Upper body and hands don't carry much power. Leaner when finding targets on second level.
DRAFT PROJECTION; Round 5 or 6

BOTTOM LINE
Donnal is limited from an athletic and strength standpoint but understands the nuances of the position and how to play with technique. With an ability to pass protect and experience at both guard and tackle, he should be drafted and has a legitimate shot at making a roster.

What can I say about Donnal that isn't obvious?

As usual, I won't talk about players below the 4th round but at first glance it seems to be the worst 4-6 round haul in Snisher's tenure at the Rams.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000490234/article/winners-and-losers-from-day-2-of-nfl-draft
NFC West run defenses: After grabbing the draft's best bruising runner in Todd Gurley, they picked up a road-grading right tackle Rob Havenstein in the second round and athletic guard Jamon Brown in the third. It doesn't hurt that last year's first round pick, left tackle Greg Robinson, flat-out blows defenders off the ball in the running game. The Rams are set up to challenge Marshawn Lynch and the Seahawks as the division's dominant ground attack.

Gurley effect, trade effect and final thoughts:

Reach after reach after reach.

By not picking up one of the top picks and trading down in the 2nd round we were forced to take marginal players that SCREAM perennial backups to me. Were it not for our complete lack of alternatives on the O'line I could easily see none of these guys amking the team except for Gurley and he's a huge question mark in my mind.

Why did I decry not trading down in the 1st round and bad mouth them for trading down in the 2nd round? If we had traded down in the 1st round we would still have been able to get a high quality player in this very shallow draft. When we moved down in the second round we moved out of the small pool a good players and into the the marginal/backup players pool. Especially at the key O-line positions we had holes at. On the plus side, had we not traded own and still picked Brown we would have, again, not seriously addressed the QB position. But again, had we not fallen in love with Gurley traded down in the 1st round we could have probably picked Grayson in the 3rd with the extra pick/s we would have received in the trade down.

Here's what I think is part of the problem and one of the reasons I don't like Fisher:
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/colu...cle_27062850-9236-5086-8f21-f40c851e32d2.html
"Asked how many potential starters he had found within the pile, Fisher said, “I don’t want to say they’re options, but they’re real players. These guys have played a lot of football in college. You look at the number of games played and starts with respect to all four of the offensive linemen that we drafted. It’s solid. They’re durable. They’re smart. They’re durable and they’re going to fit in.”

No real difference in what he said here and his attitude about vets on our team. The only real difference is that these are college vets versus pro vets. IMO he puts way too much weight on experience and far too little weight on ability. That's a huge part of the reason we start guys like Joseph, Wells and Lankford over our backups and Donald despite the fact that our back up O-line players must have at least as much talent as washed up players like Wells and Joseph and in Donalds case, far far more talent (a fact that was obvious immediately to all the rest of us).

I give that draft a D+ if the Gurley pick doesn't pan out and a C+ if it does. With the choices available I chose WTF.

Sorry to start out on such a negative note my first day posting after my vacation.

I think you'll upgrade your opinion once you do a little Studying on your own. I did!!

 

[Yamahopper]

I don't ever consider grading a draft till see them in pads at camp. That's a short leash, but if you know what to look for it gives a indication.

Ecstatic about Gurley. Can't see how he misses, he the most natural runner the Rams drafted since ED. But if in one in a million he goes the Trent Richardson route then three of the others in the draft class have to be perennial all pro's to keep it from being a dumpster fire. No different than if Bradford would have been Jimmy Claussen like. That's all that draft would have been known for

Not a thing against Mannion, but I really don't believe in taking flyers on QB's that early. Such a low percentage ever make it into the top third o. QB's. You might have to carry the guy for a couple years then find out his top end is as a backup. NFL is full of backup QB's, about a dozen teams count on them as their #1's.

They made their choices so lets see how it works out.

 

[den-the-coach]

I'm not going to get into projections because that's in the eye of the projector, however, Havenstein is the biggest question mark as many loved him in the top of the 4th, but not the bottom of the 2nd, funny? Also I will go on record I love the Brown selection, he is more of a Guard, but playing LT will serve him well and we know that under Bobby Petrino Louisville passed quite often so Brown's pass blocking should be fine.

Andrew Donnal is the one that has many wondering, but if nothing else Kirk Ferentz and his son Brian can flat out coach offensive linemen so we know that Donnal did receive outstanding coaching at the collegiate level, but I concur with most that seemed like a reach and someone you could have had later.

Cody Wichmann seemed drafted at the right time and played all over the offensive line with RG being his best position and watched him against Leonard Williams and he held up very well so that pick seemed on point.

The 7th round IMO could be very effective players. Like Hager as not only do they throw special team coach John Fassel a bone, but Hager has good speed as well and was the only guy who could tackle for Baylor and that leaves my favorite pick of all Memphis DE Martin Ifedi.

How can you not like Memphis? Great city, music, food etc..Plus Isaac Bruce is an alum so I'm partial to Memphis players..I think he's has an excellent chance to stick as a DT.

Havenstein is the linchpin to this draft, Gurley barring injury will be as advertised, but if Frankenstein can provide the Rams with solid RT play nobody will complain. The Rams went for high production players even Bud Sasser's senior season was very productive and he has a legit shot to unseat Givens.

And BTW as to Sean Mannion, well, that must of been one hell of a pro day and as I posted previously he's tall and smart. Did I post how smart he is?

 

[Alan]

Prime Time thinking everything was roses without any fertilizer.

So 4 days into out vacation someone pooped in the pool and they had to close it down for the rest of the day. My daughter and I liked the pool much better than the ocean because of the games like pool volleyball we were constantly playing. Part of the result of that incident was that the management decided to add shit loads more chlorine in the pool. They put in so much that both of us developed some kind of reaction to it and were pretty miserable the rest of the stay. To make it even worse, my wife was able to point out that not only did she not have the rash we did, she had advised us no spend much more time in the ocean with her. Bhudda I hate when that happens!.

BTW, I just reread what I wrote in that post and I made so many mistakes typing that I'm surprised anyone could even understand it.

PARAM liking to swim against the tide:
And that is a major reason I like this draft. It didn't go the way "experts" would have thought. It went the way Fisher's and Snead's desires were aligned.

Yeah you know I'd be more in tune with your thoughts here If I had greater confidence in Snisher's "desires."

DaveFan'51 thinking I'm more nergetic than I am:
I think you'll upgrade your opinion once you do a little Studying on your own. I did!!

I wasn't planning on doing any more research on this because after all, why do the work myself when I can learn from guys like you. It's way too late to rely on anyone's research, especially as we'll soon see them in action and can judge for ourselves. In the meantime, which part (if it wasn't the whole thing ) did you disagree with and what article changed your mind?

 

[Alan]

Yamahopper forgetting the value of a good backup:
You might have to carry the guy for a couple years then find out his top end is as a backup. NFL is full of backup QB's, about a dozen teams count on them as their #1's.

Would you think that if he turns out to be a GOOD backup that using second third rounder was worth it? I would have given your left arm to have had a very good backup QB last year.

 

[LazyWinker]

My thoughts: Not only is Gurley the best player in this draft, he's only 20 years old!!! He looks to be progressing well. I'm not worried about him getting his speed back. I think the ACL has a greater effect on a players ability to cut. Since he's a running back and cutting is a big part of what he does, I hope they take their time with him and Tre Mason plays well enough for them to not have to rush him back.

I'm happy with the selections of Havenstein, Brown, Donnal, and Wichus. They're all similar in that they are big bodied and are powerful. Defensive players are going to have to start complaining about how they're getting beaten up by the Rams offense.

Mannion seems to have the skill set they want and will be a project for the team.

Sasser was 2nd in the SEC receiving and Matty Mauk was throwing him the ball. He doesn't have any athletic qualities that stand out but has a knack for getting open and catching the ball.

Bryce from Baylor and the Defensive End from Memphis seem like good guys to bring in to compete for a spot.

I say well done team!!! Gurley is the man and the offensive line is going to beat up opposing defenses.