The Official Rams Off-Season Thread

[tfry]

I was less than inspired by the Brockers pick, but the Rams absolutely nailed rounds 2-5 IMO. We could easily look back at this draft and see 5-6 starters.

I'm mixed on Pead and kind of wish we grabbed LaVonte David instead. However RB was a need and Pead looks like a solid 3rd down option.

Curious but what do we do about our LBs? We don't have much other than JL. Are there any free agents still out there? Hopefully some veterans get cut now that the draft is over and we can pick up a little depth.

Overall this is the best draft we have had inthe past 8-9 years IMO.

[Beano]

Originally Posted by tfry

Overall this is the best draft we have had inthe past 8-9 years IMO.

When you look at the last 8 or 9 years, where's the challenger to this crown?

I think it's a solid draft, but I'm not going to drink the kool aid that some seem to be. I will say this, I like that we took some chances on some of the picks though, was something I think we should have done more in recent times. Now watch them do some ******** **** and never see the field.

*edit* I also forgot to say, I was really impressed with how well they traded around in the draft this year, whilst I may not wholly agree with the players or position they picked at any given time, I thought the way managed to move back and get some more picks while still getting some real potentially good players was truly excellent.

[NGSeiler]

I'm generally optimistic by nature after a draft, but I'm a bit more optimistic than normal after this one.

I like that the Rams made it a point to accumulate picks and players rather than give them away to guarantee they get Blackmon for instance, and I say that as a guy who loved Blackmon.

The Rams came away with two receivers who will compete to start right away, a back-up change of pace running back, a clogger for the DL to help stop the run, two talented corners that could significantly improve this team's sub-package defenses, depth if not an eventual starter on the interior offensive line, a new place kicker to replace the somewhat inconsistent Brown, and some depth guys in the seventh round.

Obviously not everyone will pan out, but for a team with so many needs, I thought the Rams did a pretty good job trying to address as much as they could with quality players. I'm concerned about some of the off the field issues with some of them, but I'd be even more concerned if the Rams didn't have a veteran, experienced coaching staff overseeing them.

[holt_bruce81]

My Final Draft thoughts:

1st round (14th overall) Michael Brockers; Defensive Tackle, LSU
- When the season ended the Rams were sitting there with the 2nd overall selection in the draft and most people were projecting either USC Offensive Tackle Matt Kalil or Oklahoma State Wide Receiver Justin Blackmon. After a phenomenal performance/interview process at the NFL Combine just about every team was drooling over the potential of Heisman winner Robert Griffin lll and the Rams did an absolute fantastic job trading down to the 6th overall selection and getting future picks that'll surely help this franchise. So on draft day we were pretty much guaranteed one of the "elite 6" in this draft. But when Richardson and Blackmon went off the board before the Rams could pick, instead of selecting LSU Defensive Back Morris Claiborne the Rams traded back once again, this time all the way down to the 14th selection. There they selected Morris Claiborne's teammate, LSU Defensive Tackle Michael Brockers. It was a position of major need, I think our starting Nose Tackle before the draft would of been Gary Gibson, sooo yeah. Brockers can come in and help the run defense which ranked 28th last year immediately,and hopefully with good coaching he can develop into a decent pass rusher. I've heard two comparisons when talking about Brockers, I've heard Richard Seymour and I've heard Marcus Stroud, I would be ecstatic if he turns into either one. I do know this though, With The selection of Brockers and the Free Agent signing of Kendall Langford, the Rams have one of the best young Defensive Lines in the NFL. However, the Rams failed to get a blue chip prospect, and the Rans don't have a lot of those kinda guys on this team. Claiborne, Kalil, Blackmon are blue chip guys. Brockers has the potential to be and maybe if he went back to school and played his Junior year he would of been a blue chip guy coming into the 2013 draft, but he isn't there yet.
GRADE: B

2nd Round (33rd overall) Brian Quick; Wide Receiver, Appalachian State
- I actually really like this selection. Quick is a legit number one kind of receiver, has ALL the tools to be. Every season we beg for the Rams to get some Receivers for Bradford, remember last year? Sims-Walker, Greg Salas? Austin Pettis? When those guys joined the Rams I don't think any of us expected them to develop into #2 or #1 type Wideouts. It wasn't a sexy name like Randle or Hill but thinking about it, I'm glad they didn't go with Hill, that dude is so raw right now and he has problems catching the football. We dealt with that enough last year. The thing that scares me though is the level of competition he played while in college, some comparisons I've heard have been Terrell Owens, Brandon Marshall but I've also heard he could be the next Ramses Barden.
GRADE: B+

2nd Round (39th overall) Janoris Jenkins; Cornerback, North Alabama
- I didn't like this selection, I loved this selection. I can't remember the last time the Rams took a chance on a player of this caliber, Is Jenkins a boom or bust player? absolutely, but talent-wise? he's a top 15 prospect in this draft and if he can get his head on straight, he makes our secondary pretty exciting with Him, Fletch on the outside and most likely Finnegan covering the slot receiver. I've heard Jenkins has the best man to man cover skills of anyone in this draft and yes, that does include Morris Claiborne. I absolutely loved Les Snead's quote at the end of the draft "you can't draft scared"
GRADE: A

2nd Round (50th overall) Isaiah Pead; Running back, Cincinatti
- Wait what? the Rams finally got a decent backup to Steven Jackson? No this must be a dream, right? After what, 3-4 seasons of us hearing about how the Rams needed to get a solid backup to Steven, and every season we have some undrafted free agent who looks like garbage. FINALLY!!!! yes!!! Pead is a low 4.4 guy, deffinetly a homerun threat, something IMO the Rams needed, similiar to Lamichael James in terms of explosiveness, but where I think the two are different is with James I see him as a 10-12 carry running back, he's never going to carry the load for an NFL team, Pead has the potential to be a 18-25 carry back in the NFL.
GRADE: B+

3rd Round (65th overall) Trumaine Johnson; Cornerback, Montana
- Rams really loaded up in the secondary this offseason, Finnegan, Jenkins and now Johnson. I know one thing, all three guys can HIT. Johnson like Jenkins ha ssome off the field issues, but talent wise? he's a 2nd round grade by most draft sites. It still isn't really clear how the Rams are going to use him corner or Safety, Fisher says Corner, but I think when it's all said and done he'll find himself in that safet role. Heck, I've even heard the Rams are going to be running a lot of 4-2-5 looks which makes a lot of sense. The Rams have a lot of hyprid CB/S type players (Fletcher, Murphy, Johnson) Guys who can make plays in the run game.
GRADE: A

4th Round (96th overall) Chris Givens; Wide Receiver, Wake Forest
- As Mike Mayock said when the pick was made "I'm telling you Charles, this draft for the Rams, TON of talent. Boom or bust for some of these guys, but a TON of talent" Givens is projected as a slot receiver with some off the field issues like the previous selections, although I don't think his issues are as troubling. Givens is a high 4.3 - low 4.4 guy with nice athletic ability, he's a better slot receiver then both Amendola and Salas. If I had to project our starting wideouts right now I think we'll see Steve Smith and Brian Quick on the outside, with Givens in the slot. I know that's a lot to ask of your rookies but they clearly are more talented then the other Receivers at that spot. And if I had to predict a preaseason cut surprise, it would be Danny Amendola. I think both Givens and Salas are better then Amendola in the slot.
GRADE: B+

5th Round (150th overall) Rokevious Watkins; Offensive Guard, South Carolina
- Mammoth of a man, 6'4 338 pounds, Watkins with development can be a servicable starter. He's a good run blocker who's prtty quick for his size, his pass blocking however does need a ton of work. I really like this selection, I was tired of seeing Jacob Bell play the season at 280-290 pounds and just get man-handled by Defensive Tackles. Finally we could potentially get some push up front in the run game, color me excited.
GRADE: B

6th Round (171st overall) Greg Zuerlein; Kicker, Missouri Western
- There are a couple reasons I love this selection. one is, the dude has a rocket launcher for a leg. 9/9 from 50+ yards, something like 95 kicking% a long of 58 yards and that was outside, not in a dome. And this allows us to save some money by releasing Josh Brown. Josh was a decent kicker for the Rams but no where near as good as to what we were paying him, I think he was going to make somewhere around 3.5 million this upcoming season. And lets face it, he did struggle last year.
GRADE: A

7th Round (209th overall) Aaron Brown; Linebacker, Hawaii
- A two year starter for the Hwaii Warriors, a forner Rugby player so you know he isn't afraid of contact. Might never develop into a starting outside linebacker but could be a cor especial teams player. Could play a similiar role on this team as Chris Chamberlain did in years past, and who knows maybe with a few seasons and some coaching he could develop into a starter like Chris did.
GRADE: B-

7th Round (252nd overall) Daryl Richardson; Runningback, Abeline Christian
- I don't really know much about Richardson, from what I hear he's a homerun threat that some had graded as a 5th round prospect. He'll probably fight with Chase Reynolds to be the teams 3rd runningback, but when it's all said and done I done see either making the Final 53. I think when preseason is over and all the cuts come out, that's when the Rams find their 3rd back. But it's the last pick of the draft and if you think the kid has some potential then I don't see why not. Easier then trying to sign him as an undrafted free agent.
GRADE: C+

FinalThoughts:

Going back from the time the regular season ended till right now, I don't think us Rams fans could of asked for a better offseason. Fire Spags, fire Devaney, trash the "4-pilars" philosophy because clearly it was not working. Bring in new head coach, not just any head coach, but Jeff Fisher. Let him bring in his coaching staff and finally I feel like the Rams will finally be able to develop some of these players. Player development has been a big problem for the Rams ever since Lovie Smith left this franchise. Restructure contracts that needed to be restructured, cut players who should of been cut a long time ago but Spags and Devaney never had the guts to cut. Sign Free Agents who will help this team, not just guys who once played for the Head Coach. And as you can see I'm a big fan of this draft, call me a homer or whatever but Talent wise, the Rams draft is as good as any team in the NFL. Sitting here thinking about it, we could have eight players contribute to the team this season, maybe nine depending on how Watkins develops. I'll go back to what Les Snead said, "you can't draft scared" such a simple saying, yet I absolutely love it, because the Rams had forgotten that. Finally we got some talent on this team, we drafted players that can help the Rams on the football field, not some players that can help in the locker room.

I don't think I've been this excited about an offseason since 1998. And no I am not comparing the two, I'm just saying the Rams haven't had this good of an offseason since then. We are going to look totally different theen we have in years past and I'm extremely excited to see where this franchise is headed, and with two first round picks next year and in 2014 the future for the St. Louis Rams looks very bright.

[holt_bruce81]

Rookie jersey numbers:

Michael Brockers - 96

Brian Quick - 83

Janoris Jenkins - 21

Isaiah Pead - 24

Trumaine Johnson - 22

Chris Givens - 13

Rokevious Watkins - 73

Greg Zuerlein - 4

Aaron Brown - 50

Daryl Richardson - 26

[NGSeiler]

Originally Posted by holt_bruce81

Aaron Brown - 50

Hawaii 5-0 version 2.0!

[holt_bruce81]

Originally Posted by NGSeiler

Hawaii 5-0 version 2.0!

Yes! If Brown plays anything like Pisa before his knee injuries, I'll be very happy. It'll be really interesting to watch and see who steps up and claims that starting weak-side linebackers spot. Looks like it might be between Sammy Brown, Aaron Brown and Alex Hoffman-Ellis.

And hey if none of those guys step up you might have Rocky Mcintosh out there in Free Agency.

[rockio42]

Originally Posted by holt_bruce81

Yes! If Brown plays anything like Pisa before his knee injuries, I'll be very happy. It'll be really interesting to watch and see who steps up and claims that starting weak-side linebackers spot. Looks like it might be between Sammy Brown, Aaron Brown and Alex Hoffman-Ellis.

And hey if none of those guys step up you might have Rocky Mcintosh out there in Free Agency.

I want it.

[stlouisfan37]

Originally Posted by holt_bruce81

Rookie jersey numbers:

Michael Brockers - 96

Brian Quick - 83

Janoris Jenkins - 21

Isaiah Pead - 24

Trumaine Johnson - 22

Chris Givens - 13

Rokevious Watkins - 73

Greg Zuerlein - 4

Aaron Brown - 50

Daryl Richardson - 26

Damn! I was really hoping after taking 2 RB's and 2 DB's that we would get a #37 out of the deal. I'm still bent that Jonathan Wade was such a flop:-) I guess I'll have to pull extra hard for JJ (3x7=21)

[stlouisfan37]

Originally Posted by holt_bruce81

Yes! If Brown plays anything like Pisa before his knee injuries, I'll be very happy. It'll be really interesting to watch and see who steps up and claims that starting weak-side linebackers spot. Looks like it might be between Sammy Brown, Aaron Brown and Alex Hoffman-Ellis.

And hey if none of those guys step up you might have Rocky Mcintosh out there in Free Agency.

I am really happy we took a flier on Sammy Brown. I had him in a lot of my mocks as either a 7th rounder or a PFA. He is one of those players that I like to root for. That guy that doesn't know he isn't supposed to make the team but never gives the coaches a reason to cut him.

[stlouisfan37]

I clicked on my Facebook this morning and the St. Louis Rams Facebook page said that the Rams had signed Barry Richardson and Mario Haggan. Obviously this is not what I would consider a legitimate source, so I was wondering if anyone else had heard this? I couldn't find anything about it anywhere on the net.

[asdf1223]

https://twitter.com/#!/STLouisRams/s...98761291857921
LB Mario Haggan and OL Barry Richardson have signed free agent contracts with the Rams.

Straight from the horses mouth. The Seahawks want to one up you by signing Alex Barron.

[freebirdsrams02]

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/09000d...headline_stack

Rams make another great move and sign Rocky McIntosh to play OLB. I love the signing and it makes for more competition on our defense that will push theses guys to get better.

[NGSeiler]

Very good signing, IMO.

[holt_bruce81]

I know I'm pretty optimistic before the start of every season, but man I'm really REALLY excited about this upcoming season.

[stlouisfan37]

Originally Posted by holt_bruce81

I know I'm pretty optimistic before the start of every season, but man I'm really REALLY excited about this upcoming season.

I'm excited to see the following happen this year...

1) Sam Bradford developing some chemistry with one wideout and TE Lance Kendricks

2) A RB other than Steven Jackson producing over 500 yards from scrimmage.

3) Our offensive line going over to the bench giving each other fistbumps rather than hanging their heads after a drive.

4) Listening to an analyst explain that the "other team" needs to make something happen with the passing game because the Rams are not allowing them anything on the ground.

5) A group of no-name linebackers who are ready to make things happen and show up with some aggression on Sundays.

6) A solid secondary that creates turnovers and sacks.

7) An overall revival of excitement and enthusiasm.


Obviously these things will not all occur from day 1, nor will they happen with regularity or consistency throughout the season. I am not expecting us to be a playoff team. But I am excited to see these things start to happen and give us a strong foundation to build upon.

[NGSeiler]

Originally Posted by stlouisfan37

But I am excited to see these things start to happen and give us a strong foundation to build upon.

Agreed, it seems like the Rams are moving in the right direction. While I don't expect it to happen all in one year, I hope we see the start of that foundation settling in for what will come over the course of the next couple of seasons and beyond.

[stlouisfan37]

Originally Posted by NGSeiler

Agreed, it seems like the Rams are moving in the right direction. While I don't expect it to happen all in one year, I hope we see the start of that foundation settling in for what will come over the course of the next couple of seasons and beyond.

Oh yeah...this is the beginning of what will become a perennial playoff contender

[NGSeiler]

Apparently Bradford's ankle injury still isn't completely healed...

"It's good, it's good. I would say there's still days where it's not 100 percent, but I really haven't had any major setbacks. It seems to be getting better every week. I'm hoping by the time training camp gets here that it'll really be a non-factor."

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/story/1...-training-camp

So glad the previous regime allowed him to play through that and delay/worsen the healing time in a meaningless 2011 season.

[NGSeiler]

Soooo, Janoris Jenkins still hasn't signed a contract, and Robert Quinn was arrested for a DWI about a week ago. Oh and, again, Sam Bradford's ankle might not be fully recovered yet. Fun summer so far. [/sarcasm]

[holt_bruce81]

Jenkins and Trumaine have signed their contracts!

Means all rookies are signed and ready for camp! Lets goooooo

[NGSeiler]

Rams, Chris Long agree to four-year extension.

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/footb...Q8tLx8.twitter

[holt_bruce81]

Aweome awesome news! I'm hearing they're close with JL as well. Hope they get that done before the start of the season.

[Beano]

Originally Posted by NGSeiler

Rams, Chris Long agree to four-year extension.

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/footb...Q8tLx8.twitter

Guy deserves it. All you can ask from guys when you draft them is that they give their all, and you hope they improve year on year. He's generally done that.

[holt_bruce81]

Breakdown of Chris Long's contract....

http://howardbalzer.lockerdome.com/articles/99362081

The four-year extension he signed is worth $48.2 million in new money and includes no signing bonus. However, in addition to guaranteeing this year’s salary, his salaries of $13.25 million in 2013 and $13.2 million in 2014 are guaranteed. The 2014 salary is currently guaranteed for injury only, but will become fully guaranteed if he is on the roster five days after this season’s Super Bowl. That makes the total guarantee $36.75 million.

In 2015, his base salary is $9.75 million plus a $2 million roster due on the third day of the league year. In 2016, the final year of the contract, his salary is $9.75 million with another $2 million roster bonus also due on the third day of the league year.

I think this is a steal.