The Battle Plan

[12intheBox]

I've been thinking a bit about the selection of Battle. No question in my mind the Rams made the right decision in red shirting him. Yeah, they took a risk waiving him but it was a calculated one.

But why draft him in the first place?

I'm wondering if the decision to pull the trigger has anything to do with the development of GRob. Are we hedging our bets here? Battle is a left tackle - that's just what he is - if he comes around anyway.

I'm probably overthinking the whole thing - depth is a good thing and all - it just struck me that GRob's slow progression may have been a factor.

 

[RamFan503]

Score more points than Pittsburg. Rinse and repeat.

OH... Not what you meant by battle plan?

 

[CGI_Ram]

GRob is not as far behind as many think, IMO. Left tackle is a premium spot and there is a reason for that - it's not an easy spot to fill. My patience remains high, for this reason.

Battle? He's a talented player. You draft those guys and hope for the best. That's all the Rams did. Nothing related to GRob.

 

[WestCoastRam]

Everything I've read seems to suggest that Battle is more of a competitor with Havenstein next year.

I don't know that we can assume he's left tackle material just yet.

 

[RamFan503]

I think they may have drafted Battle as not only a backup plan but we still need swing tackles for back-up. I'm not sure he has no chance of being able to play RT/LT. If nothing else and he is starter material, he becomes good trade bait.

 

[OldSchool]

You can never have too much talent on the roster. If they feel he could be a good backup at LT or RT then a 5th rounder is a very small price to pay. A 5th rounder for a backup who they feel could play if needed in case of injury as well. How many 5th rounders from the Snead/Fisher drafts are still on the team? I seem to remember looking this up recently in a discussion about him and want to say it was 2 of 5 picks in the 5th round are still on the team. I could be wrong though on that either not many 5th rounders are coming in as a starter day one, most all are development type players.

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

They took Battle with their 5th round pick because they felt it was good value. I believe they had a higher grade on him and kind of did the BPA thing. As a fifth rounder they felt he was too good to pass up no matter which position he plays.

It may also be that they weren't sure what they had in Williams at the time. If the Rams can manage to hang onto Battle all year and coach him up to be a good OLT, they could probably get more than a fifth in a trade. OLT is a position of great value.

If he ends up being too good to trade they could look at it as competition. Battle to OLT, GRob to ORT, or ORG. Or wouldn't it be something if our tackles ended up being Williams and Battle one day? Either way I think it was a good gamble.

 

[Ramhusker]

I think you pick Battle like we did to get ahead of the learning curve. You get him in camp a year early, show him the NFL ropes, get to know him, get him started on our O., give the coaches a chance to work on his weaknesses and hone his strengths. Like already stated, not too many 5th rounders make it in the league. By drafting him early, maybe you turn him into what would be considered a 2nd round talent next year. It's a move to speed up this rebuild and hedge some bets. At worst, you maybe have created a solid swing Tackle. That's something every good team has in their pocket.