[BigGame]

Nick,

I tend to agree that using the Rams' past drafting difficulties is a poor justification for passing on any given position.

However, when looking a the DTs drafted early over the past several seasons (I composed a list in another thread that was all DT's picked in the first 45 picks since 2003), its clear to me that the Rams are NOT the only team with a bad track record drafting for the position.

I preface my point by saying that I still have Alan Branch number one on my draft board. Although the future combination of Wroten and Branch on the inside would be scary in terms of stability (with both having some serious character concerns, speculative or not), he fits our biggest need and up until a couple weeks ago was a lock to be a difference maker on the next level. Having two talented young defensive tackles, each fitting a different "breed" of the position (ie. three-tech and nose) would be a great problem to have for a defense that has consistantly failed to stop the run.

Still, I certainly don't blame the fans who are hesitant about drafting defensive tackle in round one. Of course, drafting all positions is risky. I do believe, however, that DT has produced more early round busts than any other position not only in St. Louis, but league wide.