St. Louis Rams draft wrap-up/Wagoner + Fisher/Snead Presser

[RamBill]

St. Louis Rams draft wrap-up
By Nick Wagoner

http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-rams/post/_/id/18131/st-louis-rams-draft-wrap-up

EARTH CITY, MO. -- A wrap-up of the St. Louis Rams' draft.

Best move: Fully committing to an offensive identity. Whether or not you agree with Rams coach Jeff Fisher's offensive philosophy doesn't really matter much at this point. Fisher has long since made it clear that he wants to run the ball and run it a lot. Some would argue that it's an antiquated way to approach the game and that argument has some merit. But at least Fisher and Co. have finally devoted themselves to being good at it by investing heavily in seeing that philosophy through. They spent their first seven picks on offense, including four offensive linemen and a potential star at running back. The simple act of having a clear direction is an upgrade for this offense.

Riskiest move: Taking running back Todd Gurley with the No. 10 selection. There's little doubt that Gurley is a top-10 talent, even as a running back in a quarterback-driven league. But Gurley is coming off a torn left anterior cruciate ligament and nobody knows exactly when he's going to be ready to play again. Plenty of players have recovered from ACLs and gone on to long and prosperous careers, but the risk factor for a running back who is constantly taking hits is much higher. I absolutely understand why the Rams took Gurley because he gives them the potential game-changing back to make Jeff Fisher's offense what it wants to be, but if he never fully returns to form, it will be a costly miss.

Most surprising move: Opting for Sean Mannion over other quarterback options. It was clear the Rams had interest in Mannion and signals from the organization were that -- depending on who you ask -- he was favored by some, and Garrett Grayson and Bryce Petty were by others. There had been a lot of buzz connecting the Rams and Petty, but the Rams went for Mannion with Petty on the board when the team picked at No. 89 in the third round. The reason? Mannion offered a combination of physical tools and pro-style experience that boosted him above the rest. It's not a major surprise the Rams went with Mannion, but, really, the Rams didn't offer many surprises in this draft at all.

File it away: Looking for this year's late-round sleeper who might have a chance to surprise like cornerback E.J. Gaines did? Try seventh-round defensive end Martin Ifedi. Ifedi is 6-foot-3, 275 pounds. He managed to set Memphis' career sack record (22.5) and finished with 36 tackles for loss despite being slowed by a knee injury. That isn't to say Ifedi will be able to produce right away but given a year or two, he might develop into a useful piece of the defensive line.

My take: This was mostly a meat and potatoes draft in which the Rams devoted all of their most valuable resources to an offense that needed it. The offensive line received much-needed reinforcements and a potential star running back could help the running game finally take off. Aside from Gurley, there's not much sizzle here but the Rams at least did the right thing by picking a path and sticking with it for the entirety of the draft. Thumbs up

 

[RamBill]

Watch Jeff Fisher and Les Snead’s post draft press conference from Rams Park.
(15:00)

Watch Fisher/Snead Presser

 

[-X-]

Rams Day Two Press Conference – Head Coach Jeff Fisher and Les Snead – May 1, 2015

(On how the trade with the Carolina Panthers came about)
Snead: “I think on that one, you’re picking early in the second round and there’s still good players left on the board and teams kind of identify one. They probably simmer on it all day and say, ‘That’s the guy we want.’ They may have had him rated as a late first or something like that and they say, ‘Let’s go get him. Let’s go get our guy.’ So, we had a lot of phone calls.”

(On if the trade was feasible because they saw a strong group of offensive linemen still on the board that they liked)
Fisher: “That’s exactly the case. We did, we had a good group. As a matter of a fact, we had expected a number of the guys to come off in the group and that didn’t happen. We had two guys come off prior to that pick. Then, right prior to the trade, I think we were on the phone with five teams.”
Snead: “We probably missed a call or two. There were a lot of teams calling in.”

(On if they think that the string of wide receivers coming off the board peaked other teams’ interest in that particular position)
Fisher: “Everybody has different needs. Obviously, he (Panthers second round pick, Devin Funchess) was important to them. He’s a good player. Tall, big target, so you can see why they had an interest in him. At that point, our group was large. It was good. We felt like we had a chance just to trade out. Really looking at the group, we also thought the three was probably a little more important than a four and a five. So, we opted to go with Carolina and we got the three.”

Snead: “So what he’s saying there is we could have gone back not as far and gotten maybe a four and fifth rounder, but instead took the three and the sixth rounder to go back a little bit farther.”

(On if at that point they look at other teams’ needs to see who they think has interest in an offensive linemen)
Snead: “You’ll take their team needs. You’ll take who they visited, who they worked out – if you have that info and try to predict…if we’re looking for an OL so to speak, if someone picked an OL in the first round, they may be less likely to go to him the next time. So try to use all of that data to make these types of decisions.”

(On if the draft picks thus far in 2015 are helping to put the final pieces together to form his type of team identity)
Fisher: “Yes. It really helped with both of the offensive linemen today and of course Todd (Gurley) yesterday. Yes, we’re building this team for the future and I think we’re establishing an identity right now.”

(On what they like about OLs Rob Havenstein and Jamon Brown)
Snead: “With big Rob, he is ready to play. He’s a right tackle, started a ton of games – never missed any. They run the ball well up there. Went to the Senior Bowl. All of that translated to the Senior Bowl. He’s just a guy that knows his strengths and weaknesses and how to use them. The other kid (Brown) in (Louisville Head) Coach (Bobby) Petrino’s offense, he’s going to play on the right and left side, but depending you know they flip flop them – strong/weak, whatever they call them, so it’s gives him some versatility. He’s playing left and right. But what was interesting, too, when he did the combine workout, a lot of his numbers in all of the drills kind of jumped into what really good starters in our league do at the combine. There’s an element of upside there with the kid. I think those are the two things that we liked about him.”

Fisher: “We’ve got two big, strong, physical players that extend plays, that finish plays, that go downfield. They’re mauler-type. They’re very, very aggressive, so they’re going to fit our style.”

(On if Havenstein projects at right tackle and where Brown fits)
Fisher: “Yes, most likely. He’s very athletic. As Les said, Brown’s moved around. You can watch him play both tackles. On two consecutive plays he might be flipping, but he’s also done some guard work, so I think we would probably project him as a guard right now.”

(On if they would still like to add a veteran to the offensive line)
Fisher: “Well, we’ve got Garrett (Reynolds). Garrett’s done a nice job here just in the short time he’s been here in the last couple weeks. But there’s always that chance that we would add somebody.”

(On if today’s draft lessens their interest in bringing Joe Barksdale back)
Fisher: “No. We still have interest in bringing Joe back.”

(On QB Sean Mannion)
Snead: “He’s a nice case study. He started four years there, all-time pass leader in terms of yards in Pac 12 history. But, what’s interesting following him is his skill players have all been drafted. As a sophomore, he had two guys in Marcus Wheaton and Brandon Cooks. As a junior, he had just Brandon Cooks. As a senior, he had a group of tight ends and a not so good offensive line. Big, tall, pro-style quarterback, tough – all the things you look for. Smart, knows the system. And I think when we went and did the private (workout), I think that’s what solidified him for us. I know, (Quarterbacks Coach) Chris Weinke, (Offensive Coordinator) Frank Cignetti did a lot of work on him. Great job at the private that really solidified, ‘Hey, that was the fit for us.’ If you want to call it of that final four QBs besides the most talked about two.”

(On how much the fact that Mannion played in a pro-style offense help the decision to draft him)
Fisher: “Well his understanding of terminology, of defenses, decision-making. We sent some information, let him study the night before. We talked about it the next day and he had it down. He’s exceptionally smart. Again, I think the thing that I was most impressed with was his ability to make every throw; the different touches, the deep balls, the shorter throws and then the footwork. I thought his footwork in the pocket and getting out of the pocket was much better than I saw on tape. He had a great pro-day and like we said he had a great workout for us.”

(On how they looked at Mannion’s 2014 season compared to his other seasons)
Snead: “I told Coach Fish, if you were a fan of Sean Mannion, I almost told our video guy to just delete the Oregon State 2014 film just so…you don’t want that to be your first exposure to the kid because he had lost a lot of weapons. A couple of his really good offensive lineman had gotten injured and missed the season so he was under duress, but when he had some weapons-I know this-they went to two bowl games his sophomore and his junior year. (Former Oregon State Head Coach) Mike Riley’s done a good job there. They’re probably undermanned every time they go play somebody in the Pac-12 and that group with Mike and Sean at QB, they just won games when they had just enough skill. So, that’s why at that point I was like, ‘Let’s delete 2014 and just watch the ’12 and ’13 stuff.’”

(On how Mannion handled himself during his tough 2014 campaign)
Fisher: “He did a great job. Unfortunately for him we’ve seen numerous times where he’s got hit right in the chin and he’ll get back up and back under center and throw a comeback for a first-down. He’s that kind of player. Those things don’t bother him. Has excellent numbers in the red zone, or the scoring territory plus 20. He’s just an excellent thrower, particularly cause his height, his vision and his release and the velocity on the ball. He throws a lot of touchdown passes inside the 20-yard line.”

Snead: “I think Coach Fish made a good point. We broke down this QBs, we did a lot of work on them and situational, threw a lot of TDs in the red zone, whereas some of the other QBs may throw a lot just on some deep balls in college football. Also, in analyzing the picks, a lot of his picks came when they’re down by 28 and everybody’s bringing the house and he’s just trying to win a game. So, you try to breakdown and analyze the situations in how it would be different if he got to a place with better surroundings.”

(On if Mannion is similar to QB Nick Foles)
Fisher: “Yeah, there are similarities there. Tall, good target, good release.”

(On if they worked out all six quarterbacks in one weekend)
Snead: “I think we can say that now. Yes, all six.”

(On if they were surprised that no quarterbacks were selected in the second round of the draft)
Snead: “Maybe a little bit, but what happens in that second round when you’re trying to figure out the draft, there’s still good, positional players left that are going to probably play upwards of four downs a series for a team where some of these guys are probably not playing opening day. So, I think all teams are more tempted and probably right to go pick the player who may play four downs for you.”

(On if Havenstien and Brown’s experience will help them prepare for the NFL faster)
Fisher: “Well it was a factor. I mean, we look at games played and games started and both of them their numbers were somewhat similar, but it’s definitely a factor. It’s durability, it’s reliability. It’s important and experience. If you’re not going to miss a game in college or rarely missed a game the odds are you’re going to do the same here.”

(On if there are any concerns about Havenstein’s injury history)
Snead: “We really looked at him and the nice thing is because of the surgery scrutinized him. The medical staff OK’d it. Like Coach Fisher said, when you do the research, you’ll like it because when guys play a lot guys they’re going to get banged up. Football it’s an aggressive sport. What you do like when you do the research is, ‘Hey the guy doesn’t miss practice, he doesn’t miss games. He just got banged up and toughed it out.’”

(On how much work Havenstein needs in pass protection)
Snead: “The key to probably a right tackle who’s obviously going to be less athletic than the left tackle, that’s why he’s playing right-is he knows his strengths and weaknesses. So, he knows what can beat him and what can’t. I think those guys over time learn to use all that knowledge to know his weaknesses, not get himself into a place where those weaknesses are going to be exposed. The smartness probably comes in handy there.”

(On what Mannion did off of the field that solidified him as the selection)
Snead: “All the draft-nicks would say after his pro day he was buzzing. I think Coach Fish saw that on the plane. We had on the iPad. When you go see it live, you just see a guy that’s tall, quick release, improved his release and the ball is coming out of his hand. He’s driving it, as (Quarterbacks) Coach (Chris) Weinke would say, ‘through the receiver with timing.’”

(On RB Zac Stacy’s status after his comments last night)
Fisher: “Yeah, we’ve been so busy I haven’t addressed it with Zac. We’ll get to that, but I can understand his concerns. I think his first comment was ‘Yikes.’ Somebody said something to me, he tweeted that. We’ll address it. Zac’s a team guy and I can appreciate his concern, but we’ve not talked about with him yet.”

(On if Stacy’s status has not changed)
Fisher: “That is correct.”

 

[RamBill]

Top pick Todd Gurley arrived in St. Louis and the Rams made three picks in the second and third rounds to highlights day two of the NFL Draft. The Rams selected Gurley, the running back from Georgia on Thursday with the tenth pick in the draft. On Friday, the Rams concentrated on their offensive line taking tackle Rob Havenstein from Wisconsin in the second round and Jamon Brown, another tackle from Louisville in the third round. The Rams traded down in the second round to acquire another third round pick. With that choice, the Rams selected quarterback Sean Mannion from Oregon State. Sports Director Martin Kilcoyne talks over the Rams draft so far with head coach Jeff Fish.

Watch Fox2 Day 2 Rams Draft Report

 

[RamBill]

Fox 2 Sports reporter Charlie Marlow went one on one with top pick Todd Gurley. Includes some Georgia highlights.

Watch Gurley Interview

 

[BonifayRam]

Press Conference – Head Coach Jeff Fisher and Les Snead – May 1, 2015

Snead said: Yes, we’re building this team for the future and I think we’re establishing an identity right now.”

Snead said on Havenstein: “With big Rob, he is ready to play. He’s a right tackle

Snead said of Jamon Brown: The other kid (Brown) he’s going to play on the right and left side, it’s gives him some versatility. He’s playing left and right.

Fisher said on Jamon Brown: "very athletic ....would probably project him as a guard right now.”

Fisher said: Garrett’s done a nice job here just in the short time he’s been here in the last couple weeks.

Fisher said on Barksdale: We still have interest in bringing Joe back.” :snicker: :fighting:

Snead commenting on Havenstein's pass protection:
over time learn to use all that knowledge to know his weaknesses, not get himself into a place where those weaknesses are going to be exposed. The smartness probably comes in handy there.”

From the above they see Havenstein as a off the shelf ready to play ORT in contention with Reynolds with Jamon Brown taking up the interior swing OG position.

 

[RamBill]

Watch Rams insider Myles Simmons breakdown the five Rams selected on the final day of the NFL Draft. Includes college highlights for each player.

Watch Simmons Breakdown Day 3's Picks