Hindsight is 20/20....

[svh01]

I understand your sentiment but did you honestly expect the Whiners and Squawks to take Punters with their 2 1st round picks?

These teams (including the Rams) are improving and fast. I honestly think the NFC West is going to be as competitive as the NFC East. I'd rather us beat divisional rivals who are challenging opponents than win the West with ease and play awfully against real playoff teams. Face it: The Rams need to earn respect with not only the division but with the league.

As far as progress goes, I've said this before, it's going to be exciting to see who steps up on the team; who becomes a leader. We are young, the only way we can go is up.

I hear you brother. I thought we'd see trades and get more picks but I haven't felt good about the front office until Devaney came in so I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt. Nonetheless I felt this was a productive draft; we filled quite a few holes. I think our defense is better than people thought (and now with the draft, there's even more depth and talent). They were on the field more than the offense, and as a result we obviously suffered from it, not to mention the offense didn't help them keep us in games either. I think we got an underrated receiver in Gilyard and Saffold was a 1st round talent. With these additions, including Bradford, obviously, the offense will be on the field more and the D will be able to rest.

I hope we do something about the RB position soon. We can't afford to let Jackson get too beat up. I think we should look at Jamal Lewis and/or Westbrook. JL can still bang out short yards and maybe help wear down opposing defenses. Westbrook could be a good 3rd down back and catch passes out of the backfield to help Bradford on check downs.

[berg8309]

We should have taken the BPA because we have a lot of holes. The separation between the QB's was not as wide as the separation at DT. Regardless of position it seemed to be Suh, McCoy, Berry then everyone else.

Interesting position, because it seems from the rest of the draft that teams disagree with you. QB starved teams kept passing up on QBs while DT's kept coming off the board. If there was little separation between the QBs I would think the Bills or Browns or ***** or Seahawks or Chiefs would be doing backflips over getting a guy like Clausen, who was just as talented as the #1, in the 2nd round. But instead they passed, all of them.

I'm not saying Clausen will be a bad QB, but maybe there was more of a separation between the top QBs then the top DT's. Obviously NFL teams, and a lot of them, didn't like what they saw in Clausen. I find that highly ranked players that drop many times (but not every time) dropped for a reason, and weren't really worth the original position the media bestowed upon them.

[Fortuninerhater]

I would've taken Suh simply because he was rated the best player in the draft at any position. He was not coming off any major injury nor does he have any major injury history, to my knowledge he has no character concerns, is coming off by far the better season, and would fill a huge need on our defensive line. That IMO makes him a no-brainer.

That said however, I hope Sam Bradford has a hall-of-fame career with the Rams because that may be the only way we don't regret this decision.

[berg8309]

I would've taken Suh simply because he was rated the best player in the draft at any position. He was not coming off any major injury nor does he have any major injury history, to my knowledge he has no character concerns, is coming off by far the better season, and would fill a huge need on our defensive line. That IMO makes him a no-brainer.

That said however, I hope Sam Bradford has a hall-of-fame career with the Rams because that may be the only way we don't regret this decision.

I don't think he has to be a hall of famer or he is a bad pick. You kind of imply to me that Suh will be. I don't want to put words in your mouth, but that was the impression I just got.

[Fortuninerhater]

I don't think he has to be a hall of famer or he is a bad pick. You kind of imply to me that Suh will be. I don't want to put words in your mouth, but that was the impression I just got.

I certainly don't want to give the wrong impression, so let me clarify.

I don't think Sam Bradford is, or will be a bad pick. I just think I would've taken Suh and then Colt McCoy in the second round.

[Azul e Oro]

I hope we do something about the RB position soon. We can't afford to let Jackson get too beat up. I think we should look at Jamal Lewis and/or Westbrook. JL can still bang out short yards and maybe help wear down opposing defenses. Westbrook could be a good 3rd down back and catch passes out of the backfield to help Bradford on check downs.

This is about the only comment you've made in this thread that makes sense to me. If a deal had been made at #33, I had Gerhart in mind for one of the extra picks lower down but The Vikes took him & that was an odd pick; he's a pounder & they need a pass-catching guy to replace Chester Taylor. Weatherspoon was gone & none of those DEs was a slamdunk for a variety of reasons that have been widely discussed. I'll never understand the fervor for Griffen; the guy's a runstuffer with a questionable attitude & we need a pure pass rusher to complement Long,imo. A new Little to go with the new Wistrom, if you will. I think Selvie may be a hidden gem,btw.

Nothing that was a better choice than Saffold,imo, as the Rams got no trade that thrilled them.And I freakin' love that Barron is likely on the way out.I think this may prove to be a boon like the Lau pick last year. Or do we want our new QB to be pummelled like Warner was when Martz & The FO botched the RT position before & including Barron? A great eg of this regime righting wrongs not of their making & doing it in a smart but decisive way.

You can't be a fan of this team & not see how the OL injury collapse has been a huge factor in all the other problems of the last 3 years. Yeah, you can look for a lineman later but it takes time to develop them....and you want improvement now...I think that's a faster way to get it AND maintain it. I guess the Hags, Whiners, & Cards agree since they went trenches,too. You may pull chicks with a Ferrari but you won't keep them without investing in deodorant and toothpaste regularly, not to mention some ab crunches.

I'd have loved a trade down from #1 but I'd still have taken Clausen and a lot of picks over Suh and Colt who fell to the mid 3rd rd. That , as Steve Young said repeatedly, was a referendum on the QB class & the vote was a landslide for Sam.I'm still freakin' glad Clausen didn't go NFCW.
It was time for a QB & a guy who either had such extraordinary upside or was NFL ready & mentally tough.DeSpags went with the former but Devaney even hinted that one of the others would have been in play with a trade down. either way, it had to be addressed over a DT; 11 points a game last year? ! I don't care how good your D gets with Suh, you are not winning many games that way. And it took a lot more investment in TB and Balt to build the kind of D that even came close.

But it's an argument that has raged for months & won't settle down for years. Some of this year's games will inevitably get labelled as Sam vs "one of the other guys we could have drafted IF.." which is silly but will also be fun.

Not at all sure what your beef is with FA this year. We added some solid vet leaders at points of need in Fraley, Robbins, and Diggs. I think you may see a vet WR or TE added along the line but every other group has high-character leaders ,imo, who still have upside as players( J Brown, Bartell, SJ)-as opposed to clinging to fading stars like Holt and Pace and Chavous. There were a few guys I'd have liked & thought feasible, like Chester Taylor, but most were dicey & expensive.It wasn't a normal FA year & a decade of bad drafts & expensive FA mistakes wasn't going to be fixed in one off season, regardless.

If you can't feel positive about a brand new QB who was regarded as the best available in TWO draft years, getting rid of Carriker for a small positive return instead of fretting over when he was going to get hurt again, nullifying the Barron madness & giving our highly-regarded defensive guru a buttload more toys of his own type to mold, well....you certainly haven't spent enough time here cuz about 75% of the threads here over the last couple of years have been about those longstanding problems. You may disagree with the proposed answers-I have my own reservations- but DeSpags seem to me to putting their necks on the line with some pretty ballsy but grounded moves that will be a blast to watch pan out.

[cfh128]

I dont even get what this thread is about. What is there to complain about? We didn't overpay any free agents, we drafted our new starting QB, we shored up the O line, and the team is better in just about every way. No we aren't ready to win the super bowl, but our team has defintely improved this offseason. And I'd be shocked if our progress doesn't turn out to be obvious on the field.

Like I ask everybody who is complaining about our lack of free agent signings, who did you want us to get? Did you want us to give $90 million to a 30 year old Julius Peppers? Or $43 million with $22 million guaranteed to Karlos Dansby? This was a weak FA class and most of the FA's were overpaid. Don't be fooled because we will still add some FA's but we are trying to build through the draft. The front office is doing this right. If you come out of this draft with a negative outlook then I would imagine that you would find something to complain about no matter what the Rams did this offseason. Have a little faith and lets see what happens.

[CanadianRamsFan]

I dont even get what this thread is about. What is there to complain about? We didn't overpay any free agents, we drafted our new starting QB, we shored up the O line, and the team is better in just about every way. No we aren't ready to win the super bowl, but our team has defintely improved this offseason. And I'd be shocked if our progress doesn't turn out to be obvious on the field.

Like I ask everybody who is complaining about our lack of free agent signings, who did you want us to get? Did you want us to give $90 million to a 30 year old Julius Peppers? Or $43 million with $22 million guaranteed to Karlos Dansby? This was a weak FA class and most of the FA's were overpaid. Don't be fooled because we will still add some FA's but we are trying to build through the draft. The front office is doing this right. If you come out of this draft with a negative outlook then I would imagine that you would find something to complain about no matter what the Rams did this offseason. Have a little faith and lets see what happens.

This is a very very logical post! What is it doing in this thread?