GREAT story for you guys at ClanRam

[NJ Ramsfan1]

I teach High School Phys. Ed. and coach varsity baseball at a school in the Jersey Shore area. Tonight, our boys basketball team played St. Rose High School, who is coached by Dennis Devaney- brother of Rams GM Billy Devaney. I was introduced to him by my athletic director and talked to him for about 15 minutes. We had the usual small talk about coaching and mutual connections in the area, that sort of thing. Then we started talking football.

Dennis is very much like Billy in looks, stature and demeanor. He speaks to Billy at least 5 times a week. I shared with him my love of the Rams since I was a young kid. I also told him we Ram fans are extremely happy that Billy is our GM- that we finally have an astute football guy making football decisions. Dennis told me that until Billy was elevated to GM, he was not happy and considered leaving. He felt that although he was the personnel director, his opinions were usually negated by Jay Zygmunt- and we all know how that has turned out. He now is extremely happy in his role and sincerely feels the Rams have a solid front office framework in place to start making sound football decisions.

Dennis asked me point blank as a fan "what would you do with the draft?" I said I'd be inclined to take the best offensive lineman available with the pick. Dennis said that Billy wants to do just that, but will very seriously consider trading down to accumulate more top picks if the situation presents itself and only after much homework is done. Billy is not considering taking Michael Crabtree and definitely not a QB with that 2nd pick- the Rams have too many needs elsewhere than to pick a guy at a position (receiver) where the Rams are in decent shape. Billy is not sure what is going to happen with Holt, and he also has a lot of faith in Bulger- He believes he can be a very good QB again if he's protected.

Interestingly, Dennis said Billy told him Spagnuolo is a guy who is a lot more fiery and intense than we may think he is. Apparently, he threw three guys out of an off-season wt. training session the other day (of course he didn't mention who) for not doing the exercises correctly. He's not going to put up with half-assed effort or lax attitude.

All in all, it was a good conversation and a pretty cool deal meeting Billy's brother. I also have his email address.

[unorthodox1999]

Great article, dont suppose you could send me that e-mail could you??..lol no man thats a very cool thing that a rams fan could get some real insight like that, and who knows, you probly just made more of an impact on the draft than anyone else!..

[MarshallMarshall]

That's awesome. I always new zygmunt was a tool. I'm still pissed shaw still has a voice in little chip's ear. That must be cool to have had that conversation with such an insider.

[d4nnystl539]

Wow, very cool story. I wish I could meet a sibling or someone who is close to a celebrity in the sports world. It would be awesome.

Anyways, I have to agree with Billy on not drafting Crabtree. I think we are set on WR. We have plenty of capable receivers with the Teen Squad plus (hopefully) Bennett. What is the point of grabbing another WR if Spags is looking to build the running game and the defense first?

[Keenum]

Excellent story!
I love the part about Spags' disipline. I really believe that if you have a disiplined football team, you will see the positive results of that on the field.
So far, sounds like we are indeed heading in the right direction.

[ManofGod]

I teach High School Phys. Ed. and coach varsity baseball at a school in the Jersey Shore area. Tonight, our boys basketball team played St. Rose High School, who is coached by Dennis Devaney- brother of Rams GM Billy Devaney. I was introduced to him by my athletic director and talked to him for about 15 minutes. We had the usual small talk about coaching and mutual connections in the area, that sort of thing. Then we started talking football.

Dennis is very much like Billy in looks, stature and demeanor. He speaks to Billy at least 5 times a week. I shared with him my love of the Rams since I was a young kid. I also told him we Ram fans are extremely happy that Billy is our GM- that we finally have an astute football guy making football decisions. Dennis told me that until Billy was elevated to GM, he was not happy and considered leaving. He felt that although he was the personnel director, his opinions were usually negated by Jay Zygmunt- and we all know how that has turned out. He now is extremely happy in his role and sincerely feels the Rams have a solid front office framework in place to start making sound football decisions.

Dennis asked me point blank as a fan "what would you do with the draft?" I said I'd be inclined to take the best offensive lineman available with the pick. Dennis said that Billy wants to do just that, but will very seriously consider trading down to accumulate more top picks if the situation presents itself and only after much homework is done. Billy is not considering taking Michael Crabtree and definitely not a QB with that 2nd pick- the Rams have too many needs elsewhere than to pick a guy at a position (receiver) where the Rams are in decent shape. Billy is not sure what is going to happen with Holt, and he also has a lot of faith in Bulger- He believes he can be a very good QB again if he's protected.

Interestingly, Dennis said Billy told him Spagnuolo is a guy who is a lot more fiery and intense than we may think he is. Apparently, he threw three guys out of an off-season wt. training session the other day (of course he didn't mention who) for not doing the exercises correctly. He's not going to put up with half-assed effort or lax attitude.

All in all, it was a good conversation and a pretty cool deal meeting Billy's brother. I also have his email address.

A few thoughts:
1. We ARE NOT set at WR, how can you say this? Torry could leave, Drew is injury prone, Dante Hall is gone, and Stanley is at this point only a deep threat and still in development.

2. We drafted O-line depth last year, so why take a OT in the first round without seeing what we have after a year of experience and they (the rookies) looked good in limited time last year.

[RamsFan16]

Great story and thanks for sharing!

I love the part about Spagnuolo's fiery and intense personality. I'm really hoping that's what he brings, and I'm glad he threw three players out, it shows he isn't putting up with any BS!

[NJ Ramsfan1]

A few thoughts:
1. We ARE NOT set at WR, how can you say this? Torry could leave, Drew is injury prone, Dante Hall is gone, and Stanley is at this point only a deep threat and still in development.

2. We drafted O-line depth last year, so why take a OT in the first round without seeing what we have after a year of experience and they (the rookies) looked good in limited time last year.

I did NOT say "we are set" at WR. Read my post carefully. I said the wide receiver position is an area of relative strength compared to other areas of need. Any football person will tell you that everything starts up front. Without protection for your QB and without holes opened up for the running game, it makes no difference how many skill position stars you have. This is why so many teams draft big stud offensive linemen early in the 1st round. And our line is a major weakness. Pace is getting old. Barron is not a smart player and has holes; Incognito is a head case, and several other guys are stopgap guys at best. Scheunig and Greco- draftees from last year- are at this stage considered serviceable players but not guys who are going to be major anchors of a line that needs extensive upgrades.

The thinking is that with astute judgment, you can land good wide receivers in the mid-rounds on most given drafts, and as such, the Rams will most certainly look at a receiver or two at this time, according to my brief conversation with Dennis. But selecting Michael Crabtree with the 2nd overall pick is not the way they're leaning. And again, trading down is a very real possibility- one that many fans often resist because 'they want that one name guy"- but nonetheless might be smart considering the Rams need help in a lot of areas.

[Guam rammer]

I still like the idea of getting bigger. I certainly hope nobody gets in his way when he's putting it all together.

[Goldenfleece]

That is cool. I'd agree on both points about looking at the best lineman and strongly considering trading down. It would be interesting to hear which Devaney personnel suggestions were negated by Zygmunt, but I doubt that's the kind of thing that leaves the building.

[Varg6]

Awesome to hear. I like that Spags is a tough SOB! He'll make those players learn quickly that they CANNOT slouch anymore.

Hey NJ, where do you coach? St. Rose is certainly a familiar name, I go to Wall High School...

[shower beers]

I think that the bigger the hype gets surrounding Crabtree, the better chance we have of trading down a few spots, so someone can grab him. If everything plays out well, we could end up with an additional 2nd or 3rd round pick, and still landing a top OT.

[Ramer]

Really cool! I can't wait for the draft, it will be intresting to see what we do.

[HUbison]

he threw three guys out of an off-season wt. training session the other day

Wow, I didn't even know off-season conditioning had started. Good grief, the draft is going to be here before we know it.

[BobCarl]

Dennis Devaney- brother of Rams GM Billy Devaney...

Thanks for sharing, that's exciting!