With the 35th overall pick, the Rams select James Laurinaitis, LB, Ohio State

[Mooselini]

As you guys can tell by the sig, I'm a little too excited about this.

Hope to see Laurinaitis hit everyone on the field next year in BLUE AND GOLD!

[RealRam]

There is no doubt in my mind: at this point Laurinaitis is a F I N D! I appreciate his decision to wait one more college year before going for it in the NFL -- money and all.

Good size and skills. More importantly, a good head above his LB shoulders.

[Bar-bq]

Are both Lauriniatis and Smith represented by Tom Condon?

[Milan]

Laurinaitis was the consensus #1 LB in the draft last year wasn't he? And to start the season, him and Sean Lee were right up there again. I think they were #1 and #2. Considering Laurinaitis didn't slip far at all from where he was, I think drafting him in the 2nd was a steal when he was supposed to go around #8 last year.

[Goldenfleece]

What I think about this pick:

1. I refuse to call our new terror in the middle "J-Lau".

2. I think discipline is probably a big part of why he goes here. He's not likely to be caught out of position too often, and that's crucial when you're trying to improve against the run.

3. Interesting that he could have played in the NHL, as well. Seems like that would be a plus on the toughness side.

[shower beers]

..... Not thrilled with Smith, and not excited about Laurenitis when Maulauga is avaialble.I hope I will be proven wrong and we can come to know Laurenitis as 'Leonitis'.No Ohio State linbacker has done anything since Spielman, and many of them were all 1st rounders.Maualuga is so similar to Say-Ow....(Seau)

AJ Hawk seems to be doing just fine in Green Bay...



SOOOO pumped about this pick. You guys cannot even start to imagine.

Perfect first day.

[thoey]

What I think about this pick:

1. I refuse to call our new terror in the middle "J-Lau".

Not saying it will stick, but a couple of us are calling him "The Animal" which was his fathers Pro Wrestling name.

[RamsFanSam]

I looked up the "Road Warriors" (a.k.a. James' father and his wrestling partner) and when the old lady saw it, the first thing she said was "why are you showing me a picture of Gwar?"

Not sure if anyone else will get the reference...

[Black Hills Ramman]

Awesome draft so far. Love how we seem to be building for the future.
Go Rams

[ramsfan559]

love this pick...
kinda ironic that he's going to be
hit sticking beanie wells two times a year

[Adamjk]

We get a guy in the 2nd round who was projected top 10 at one point last year - he may have suffered a dip in production last season but I'm happy - we fill another position of need and can move Spoon into a position where he's more comfortable.

[shower beers]

love this pick...
kinda ironic that he's going to be
hit sticking beanie wells two times a year

That will be a fun match up to watch.

[Alec22]

He will be tackiling crabtree and wells and being compared to curry. The only difference is that he was our 2nd rounder. Not our 1st

[Richbert88]

love this pick...
kinda ironic that he's going to be
hit sticking beanie wells two times a year

Oh boy!

Can we at least expect to see him hit sticking Beanie about 40 times a year, unless you think Beanie isn't gonna see that many carries. :-)

[HUbison]

A little inside scoop for you guys.........

A friend of mine spent this spring as an intern at the powerlifting training facility in Columbus where JL finished his training (ie. after the poor Combine). My buddy trained JL in the Westside Powerlifting Model with JL's father watching closely (very tight knit family apparently). JL's father was none too happy with OSU, as OSU has switched up some of their training models and JL suffered for it with regards to Combine specific activities (40, bench reps, vert., broad, etc.)

After the poor Combine performance, JL got into the Westside facility and improved his numbers along the way. But the point is, his Combine performance (that probably knocked him into the 2nd round) was more a product of JL sticking with OSU to train instead of working with a more specialized entity to prep for the Combine.

Bottomline, we got a heck of a football player, who just didn't train specifically for the Combine.

I'd rather have a football player, than a workout warrior. But that's just my opinion.