With the 84th pick, St. Louis selects Jonathan Wade, CB, Tennessee

[Nick]

Jonathan Wade
Height: 5'10"
Weight: 195 lbs
Position: Cornerback
College: Tennessee

40-Time: 4.36
Vertical: 40.5"

Full Bio


Discuss our third round pick here!

[Varg6]

What are we doing?

[Nick]

What are we doing?

Taking a young corner that the Rams have obviously targeted as a weak spot for a while now, given the Revis rumors for round one. I believe Wade is very good value here.

[RamOfDenmark]

From what I'm hearind this guy is a track athlete who hasn't played more than one year of football, not too promising. I'd rather have football players on this team, than sprinters and guys with great 40-times, in the end the sport is football and athleticism can only go so far if you're not a natural football player. Maybe he'll develop but I'd love to have focused on players with more experience that can step in and help sooner.

Hmm, this draft doesn't look very good for us IMHO. Carriker could be a decent addition, apart from him I really don't like the choices much. Hopefully they know what they're doing even if it looks suspect. I didn't see CB as a big need for us, our defense won't be much improved next year and it'll be our undoing I think - the offense will have to be extremely good to make up for this defense. Sorry for the pessimism guys, that's just how I see it :\

[IzzyHigh1212]

As do I...what's with all of the hate..
What else could we have done?
ANOTHER D-Lineman on the 1st day? No..lol
Get an end tomorrow.

[RamsDynasty]

I was down on this draft, but got excited at the opportunity to get Tank in the third but to miss out on him thanks to that swap w/ the Chefs, and then a small CB I am not feeling this draft at all. Can't see what Linny and the FO are up to.:x

[Rambos]

This guy is a former WR/Track star. Has great hands, great speed, plays defense. Good pick.

[AvengerRam]

The Rams are smart to add a CB at this point. While the starters are in place (T.Hill, F.Brown) and Bartell is showing some promise as the nickel, there's not much behind them. While we might get lucky with guys like Rumph or Walls, I wouldn't count on it.

Wade is raw, but has physical ability and showed a lot of promise last year.

[r8rh8rmike]

This guy is a former WR/Track star. Has great hands, great speed, plays defense. Good pick.

Apparently, not the best tackler. I guess we'll see.

[Nick]

Strengths:
Has good size and a solid build...A smooth athlete with fluid hips...Excellent speed with great quickness and a burst...Is able to recover from mistakes...Physical and aggressive...Gives good effort as a tackler...Had a nice senior campaign...Still has lots of upside and may flourish now that he is completely focused on the gridiron.

Weaknesses:
Inconsistent and doesn't always play up to his physical tools...Doesn't have great instincts or awareness...Has some health and durability concerns...His ball skills are not what you'd expect from a former wideout...Still raw and needs some work when it comes to technique...Is he just a track guy playing football or vise versa?

Notes:
Started his college career as a wide receiver and didn't move to defense full time until 2004...Was a member of two of the three fastest 4x100M relay teams in Vols history...Redshirted in 2003 after having surgery for a shoulder injury...Could get drafted earlier than expected based on his immense potential...He has everything you look for from a physical standpoint and really just needs to put it all together.

http://www.nfldraftcountdown.com/sco...athanwade.html

Personally I had Wade a bit higher than some. I believe I had him going in the second round, so to get him in the mid to late third is solid value. The Rams were obviously interested in a corner given how much they liked Revis in the first. It's a solid addition, especially considering Johnson was off the board. In the end though, I can't help but wonder if we wouldn't have been better served going DE in round two and RB in the third, but time will tell.

[AvengerRam]

I was down on this draft, but got excited at the opportunity to get Tank in the third but to miss out on him thanks to that swap w/ the Chefs, and then a small CB I am not feeling this draft at all. Can't see what Linny and the FO are up to.:x

No chance in the world that the Rams would have taken Tyler.

Look at the players taken:

Carriker - a guy who always received top grades for effort, both on the field and off the field in workout room.

Leonard - a team leader who, without a complaint, gave up carries to a younger back to help the team have a great season.

Wade - a guy who swiched positions to help his team and made 2nd Team All SEC in his first year as a CB.

HIGH CHARACTER!

That's what the Rams want. Tyler does not fit that mold.

[r8rh8rmike]

From Scout.com http://scout.scout.com/a.z?s=7&p=8&c=1&nid=2640928

Pos:

Athletic corner with outstanding size/speed numbers. Fast running downfield with opponents, quickly breaks to the throw and has a burst to the action. Explosive moving up the field defending the run and plays with an aggressive style. Displays quickness in his overall game.

Neg:

Lacks instincts, gets lost on the field and does not recognize assignments. Does more hitting than wrapping up ball carriers, which leads to broken tackles.

[AvengerRam]

. In the end though, I can't help but wonder if we wouldn't have been better served going DE in round two and RB in the third, but time will tell.

Well, there was a run on RBs in the second, so I'm not sure who the Rams would have had an opportunity to take in the third (Pittman, maybe, or take a chance on Michael Bush?).

[RebelYell]

4.36 speed in the 40. Second fastest DB in the draft.

Kiper said he is extremely athletic and for a late 3rd round pick, it's a great value pick. Considering Brown was burned horribly all last year, seems we needed a CB. Saw someone compare him to Fred Smoot.

Anyone look at the Rams depth chart lately on the team website? Bartell is officially listed as a FS, probably our starting FS and Wade is going to be the reason why. Our DBs just took a significant shuffle in a positive direction.

[IzzyHigh1212]

And there you have it..
Great picks...
There was no point wasting a 1st on Jenkins...
People need to understand..we STILL have Wroten. Mayock and Mel both feel he'll be great next season/year after..

RDE Hall
DT Carriker/Kennedy
DT Wroten/Glover
LDE Little

Not that bad of a D-Line for this season...
We have a great LB Corps. IMHO
and solid group of D-Backs..that have tons of potential...
Plus, these aren't just good football players we're drafting...they're good people, too.