Rams will be flexible in draft -- Jackson fires agent

[RamWraith]

By Jim Thomas
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
Monday, Apr. 10 2006

While much of St. Louis is immersed in Cardinals baseball, there's a small
pocket in Earth City that knows little of the stadium, Albert Pujols' exploits,
or even that the Brewers are in town.

The folks at Rams Park are deep in the bunker, preparing for Scott Linehan's
first draft as Rams head coach. It seems hard to believe in what has been a
nonstop offseason for the Rams, but the NFL draft is only 2 1/2 weeks away.

The Rams have been among the league's most active participants in free agency,
committing nearly $100 million in potential contracts if you include the
re-signing of wide receiver Isaac Bruce, who was on the street briefly last
month.

Those moves have added three or four defensive starters, a backup quarterback,
a punter, a possible kick returner, and depth at linebacker and running back.

With their salary cap down to about $10 million, the Rams are almost finished
with free agency for the year. They have little or no interest in re-signing
any of their own remaining free agents. They will be on the lookout for free-
agent bargains, and will monitor June 2 cap casualties.

But for the most part, the Rams' remaining roster-shaping will be done via the
draft April 29-30. If nothing else, the Rams' free-agent moves have given the
team more flexibility on draft day. No longer does the team have to be in a
panic about taking defense, defense, and more defense.

Linehan has stated repeatedly that he will stick to the team's value board,
particularly early in the draft. So if quarterbacks Jay Cutler (Vanderbilt)
and/or Vince Young (Texas) are still on the board at No. 11 - and are rated
noticeably higher than any remaining defensive player - the Rams will pick a
quarterback. At least that's the theory. We'll find out shortly if theory
becomes practice.

As if to back that up that rationale, Cutler is among a group of draft
prospects visiting Rams Park this week. Young, who is visiting elsewhere this
week, is not expected to be on the guest list.

Maryland tight end Vernon Davis also could be a tempting choice at No. 11. And
now that the Rams have signed defensive tackle La'Roi Glover, linebacker Will
Witherspoon, safety Corey Chavous and cornerback Fakhir Brown in free agency,
taking a tight end in the first round makes more sense.

At the moment, the Rams have only one tight end with any meaningful NFL
experience - Brandon Manumaleuna. They need another immediate contributor at
the position. Besides, Manumaleuna isn't exactly getting off on the right foot
with his new head coach and new position coach by bypassing the team's
offseason conditioning program to date.

So the Rams appear to be all but locked into taking a tight end on the first
day of the draft, which encompasses the initial three rounds.

Despite the addition of Glover, the defensive line - particularly the tackle
position - needs an instant contributor as well. There are a couple of options
remaining in free agency, namely Grady Jackson (most recently with Green Bay)
and Jason Fisk (Cleveland). But Jackson, a nine- year veteran, recently failed
his physical on a visit to Atlanta. Fisk has a lot of miles on him, too, as an
11-year veteran.

After selecting Damione Lewis, Ryan Pickett and Jimmy Kennedy in the first
round in recent drafts, would the Rams do it again and take another defensive
tackle with their first pick? Well, Florida State's Brodrick Bunkley is one
possibility at No. 11 overall.

Bunkley has been rising rapidly on teams' draft boards due to a series of
impressive workouts. But he has production to back up the workouts, namely a
school-record 25 tackles for loss as well as nine sacks last season.

NFL teams are allowed to bring in as many as 30 players for pre-draft visits,
and Bunkley is among a group of players scheduled to visit Rams Park. In an
interesting twist, the Rams are bringing in all or most of those 30 players at
one time - today and tomorrow.

They will undergo physicals and meet with members of the coaching staff, and
are scheduled to gather for dinner with Linehan. The Rams are not releasing the
names of the visitors, but using a variety of league sources the Post- Dispatch
was able to piece together a partial list.

Among the 15 confirmed names are several players with area ties, such as
Missouri quarterback-wide receiver Brad Smith; Lindenwood running back De De
Dorsey; and Miami of Ohio wide receiver Martin Nance (Pattonville High).

The guest list is heavy on defensive tackles, including Bunkley, John McCargo
of North Carolina State, Tim Sandidge of Virginia Tech and Montavious Stanley
of Louisville.

It includes no linebackers and only one tight end (UCLA's Marcedes Lewis). But
keep in mind, it's only a partial list. In addition, players often are brought
in for predraft visits to get a better read on past injuries, or get more
information about off-the-field issues.

One player the Rams are interested in, North Carolina State defensive
end-linebacker Manny Lawson, is not visiting this week, according to his agents.

And it's not unheard of for teams to bring in players they really have no
interest in drafting. It's a strategic tactic designed to throw the rest of the
league off track. A name leaks out about a visiting player, the rest of the
league takes note, but the team is really interested in another player at the
same position.

Ram-blings

Free-agent QB Jamie Martin is scheduled to visit Seattle today. Cincinnati and
Miami also have shown interest. ... RB Steven Jackson has fired his St. Louis-
based agent, Rocky Arceneaux, according to information filed with the NFL
Players Association.

[RamsFan16]

Thanks for the article man. I wonder why Steven Jackson fired his agent?

[tomahawk247]

Maybe he wants a new contract!

No thats not likely, but it is still a tad strange

[general counsel]

Note that the fired agent is faulks agent as well.

More interesting is the note that MANU has missed the workouts to date which is Inexusable and i have been defending him.

ramming speed to all

general counsel

[bigtiger737]

I was also defending manu but after missing so much and sounds like not even mentioning why I think I've had enough of brandon... Go rams

[ramsbruce]

By Jim Thomas
Besides, Manumaleuna isn't exactly getting off on the right foot
with his new head coach and new position coach by bypassing the team's
offseason conditioning program to date.

Absolutely ridiculous Manu. :down:

[.ramfan.]

How about Seatle being interested in Martin?????

Anyways about Manu, this stunt that he's pulling is not helping him at all. Hope he pulls his act together soon though....

[CanadianRam!]

does seattle want every single former ram players? lol

[RamsFan16]

Thank god for Manu not being there. Now we don't have to see him anymore.

[ImJohnWayne]

Absolutely ridiculous Manu. :down:

Can anyone think of a player who not only needs the conditioning more... but also needs to prove himself more this year than Manu? :tut

Drafting a starting TE is looking more and more important....

[RAM-BO]

does seattle want every single former ram players? lol

They want to kill 2 birds with one stone, get FA's and hurt the Rams.

[OldRamsfan]

WELL MY FRIEND YOU HAVE DONE IT AGAIN NICE INFO !
ITS NICE TO BACK I'VE MISSED YOU ALL VERY MUCH FEELING A LITTLE BETTER NOW...I HAVE NEVER BEEN IMPRESSED MANU EVER HE NEEDS TO GO AS WELL !

[Varg6]

yeah, I never liked him myself, hopefully we pick up Marcedes Lewis, because face it, we aint gettin Vernon, and I'd want to use my 11th pick on Huff anyway. As great as Davis is, I'd rather just keep going with the D, and make it a lot better.

[txramsfan]

With the 5 yard chuck rule being enforced more and more, the TE is becoming a major weapon in offenses. I am still a big Martz fan, and the timeouts and slow play calling really didn't bother me, but the fact he never thought of using the TE as a weapon always puzzled me.

[ramsbruce]

With the 5 yard chuck rule being enforced more and more, the TE is becoming a major weapon in offenses. I am still a big Martz fan, and the timeouts and slow play calling really didn't bother me, but the fact he never thought of using the TE as a weapon always puzzled me.

I had mentioned earlier that the TE is becoming more important. I have to agree we really need a quality TE.

On the other hand, Martz's slow play calling and poor use of timeouts hurt us many times so I don't see how that can't bother you.