Beastly draft 3.0

[39thebeast]

Free Agency

Chad Greenway, OLB, Vikings- Member of my FA big 3. He is one of the best 4-3 OLBs in the league he is very instinctive and excels at stopping the run. He has improved leaps and bounds in terms of coverage and blitzing making himself a great 3 down LB.

Justin Blalock, OG, Falcons- 3 of the Falcons 5 starting linemen are UFAs and I think Blalock will be the odd man out. Devaney drafted Blalock out of Texas in the second round so there is some familiarity there. He is a big mauler the rams line needs at 6'4 330. Goldberg moves to the bench as the 6th lineman. Another guy to consider is Arizonas Deuce Lutui.

Josh Wilson, CB, Ravens- Fills a huge hole at Nickel back until Jerome Murphy is ready for that role solidifying the Rams secondary. Fabian Washington and Chris Car Baltimores other FA CBs will also garner some consideration.

Draft

1. Julio Jones, WR, Alabama- Even with Justin Blackmon going to school I think he will still be here unless he runs a 4.2, The only other team I see picking him before us is the Skins, but I think they will go QB. I know alot of people aren't sold on Jones, but he is the most physically gifted WR in the draft, but also has top notch intangibles and is tough as nails. His hands improved this year even though he was playing with a broken hand most of the year. His route running improved and he got more separation. He is big play threat however you want to use him and that is what the Rams need. Other players I would consider Aldon Smith and Akeem Ayers

2. Muhammad Wilkerson, DT, Temple- This DT class is stacked. Wilkerson has Fred Robbins size at 6'5 305 and production to go with it 70 tackles 11.5 tackles for loss and 9.5 sacks his junior season. Robbins can shift to the nose with Gibson and Scott coming off the bench. Marvin Austin will also be considered.

3. Demarco Murray, RB, Oklahoma- Best receiving back in the draft, has great speed, good size, and can pass protect. The perfect compliment to S-Jax and would be a good successor.

4. Kelvin Sheppard, LB, LSU- Sheppard has played all LB positions at LSU has good size, can blitz, cover and has good range. Would instantly be in the mix at WLB for the Rams.

5. Ricky Elmore, DE, Arizona- James hall is coming off a great season. George Selvie played well for a 7th round rookie. Spags loves his pass rushers and he will continue to develop young ones. I think Selvie will fill Ah-You's role because he is a UFA and Elmore will take Selvies old snaps. Elmore good size 6-5 260 had double digit sacks for Arizona.

7. Weslye Saunders, TE, South Carolina- He's got some character issues, but he is one of the more talented and well rounded TEs in the draft and in the 7th round not allot of risk. 4 pillars yes, but the Rams have built a strong nucleus with high character rising stars and also have strong veteran presences. He would battle Bajema and Fendi to be depth behind Oh-Oh

7. Ryan Jones, CB, Northwest Missouri State- Home State product good size and speed and had good production in a lower division. will compete with Marquis Johnson for the 5th CB job

[sosa39rams]

You called this the beastly draft? Looks like the title reflected the draft very well... Two things I love here. One, it it realistic, and two, I'd love this offseason. Fills basically every hole with a quality player, and makes our team so much better.

[The Optimistic Lamb]

The Rams haven't showed much interest in signing a legit starter to the linebacker corps. I think they may be fine with keeping a plethora of rotational OLB's. I wont expect them to sign Greenway in FA, but i will be surprised if they don't spend a 2nd, 3rd, or 4th on a OLB.

Not sold on the Julio Jones pick.
Sheppard pick is good, sounds logical.
Murray will probably go higher unfortunately...

[39thebeast]

The Rams haven't showed much interest in signing a legit starter to the linebacker corps. I think they may be fine with keeping a plethora of rotational OLB's. I wont expect them to sign Greenway in FA, but i will be surprised if they don't spend a 2nd, 3rd, or 4th on a OLB.

Not sold on the Julio Jones pick.
Sheppard pick is good, sounds logical.
Murray will probably go higher unfortunately...

The Plethora of rotational LBs hasn't worked for them so I think they will definitely change that.

I don't think Murray will go higher, the mid 3rd round is a perfect spot for him. There are alot of underclassmen RBs coming out and I think that will push him down

[The Optimistic Lamb]

The Plethora of rotational LBs hasn't worked for them so I think they will definitely change that.

Yah of course they are trying to find a starter, but their actions would suggest they are looking to develop one, not go out and buy one, not draft one high, etc... Its the same situation with the TE's.

[Bar-bq]

Yah of course they are trying to find a starter, but their actions would suggest they are looking to develop one, not go out and buy one, not draft one high, etc... Its the same situation with the TE's.

Which actions?

I think that's a fair case to make at Tight End, inasmuch as we have a young player in Hoomawanui who has shown a fair bit of promise as a potential starter. At OLB, I think it's fair to say that there isn't a player on the roster who fits that mold. Last year, I think we did as much as we could with the players we had. There's an obvious need for an influx of talent at the position, and I don't see any 'actions' from within the Spagnuolo administration that would suggest that we wouldn't place a priority on upgrading at OLB through free agency or early in the draft.

By the by, Beast, I think this is a realistic projection and you've done really well. Don't know how I feel about Wilkerson in round two, but that's probably because I haven't seen anything of him. Have to spread it around before I can rep you again.

[The Optimistic Lamb]

Which actions?

-The fact that through the last 3-4 drafts the only OLB's we have taken have been 7th round picks. Last time the rams spent a serious pick for a OLB was 2006 in the 3rd round. But that guy is long gone, and there hasn't been a scramble for a "replacement"
-The 7th round picks in 2008: Chamberlain and Vobora... are still here, going into their 4th season, rotating in and out.
-After Withersppon left, there wasn't a scramble to sign a big time FA, we stuck it out with the back ups, signed a couple low key or aging FA's: Diggs, Lenon, Kehl, Grant, Carpenter, Nixon...etc...

Conclusion: The Rams seem to be comfortable rotating in OLB's until they find one for a bargain... This draft is deep with OLB's and a pick somewhere between 2-4 is likely.

[thickandthin]

great draft, but one question, if Demarco Murray is the best RB in the draft why will he last till round 3?

[sosa39rams]

great draft, but one question, if Demarco Murray is the best RB in the draft why will he last till round 3?

Hes not the best RB. He is the best *pass catching RB.

[berg8309]

-The fact that through the last 3-4 drafts the only OLB's we have taken have been 7th round picks. Last time the rams spent a serious pick for a OLB was 2006 in the 3rd round. But that guy is long gone, and there hasn't been a scramble for a "replacement"
-The 7th round picks in 2008: Chamberlain and Vobora... are still here, going into their 4th season, rotating in and out.
-After Withersppon left, there wasn't a scramble to sign a big time FA, we stuck it out with the back ups, signed a couple low key or aging FA's: Diggs, Lenon, Kehl, Grant, Carpenter, Nixon...etc...

Conclusion: The Rams seem to be comfortable rotating in OLB's until they find one for a bargain... This draft is deep with OLB's and a pick somewhere between 2-4 is likely.

I have to disagree with your assessment. Scrambling to find a big name is exactly what they shouldn't be doing because that forces you to overpay, or give up something you don't want to for a stopgap. We had, and still have a lot of holes on the team, they cannot be addressed all at once. Just because the team doesn't desperately claw at every OLB the fans want doesn't mean they are content with what they have. Also this team has been running on a tight budget, which means they couldn't just splurge and give a guy an extra 3mil a season to come play for the 1-15 team. Nor could they afford to throw a 1st or 2nd round pick at a guy in a trade.

And actually I would argue with Carpenter they thought they were getting a starting quality OLB, who was not an aging low-key pickup really. We traded our starting LT/RT for him, that's a pretty decent push to acquire an OLB. As it turned out, it wasn't just because Carpenter was in the wrong system, it was because he wasn't all that good.

[RockinRam]

Round 1: Good choice with Jones if he's still there. I'm not a biggest fan of him, but his abilities should fit our scheme (if we still run a WCO). If we have McDaniels, he would light it up.

Round 2: Haven't seen Wilkerson that much, so neutral.

Round 3: Solid pick with Murray.

Round 4: Good pick with Sheppard.


Solid depth with the rest.


I've been keeping my eye on Saunders for a while, and I think taking a chance on him would be a good idea.

[The Optimistic Lamb]

I have to disagree with your assessment. Scrambling to find a big name is exactly what they shouldn't be doing because that forces you to overpay, or give up something you don't want to for a stopgap. We had, and still have a lot of holes on the team, they cannot be addressed all at once. Just because the team doesn't desperately claw at every OLB the fans want doesn't mean they are content with what they have. Also this team has been running on a tight budget, which means they couldn't just splurge and give a guy an extra 3mil a season to come play for the 1-15 team. Nor could they afford to throw a 1st or 2nd round pick at a guy in a trade.

And actually I would argue with Carpenter they thought they were getting a starting quality OLB, who was not an aging low-key pickup really. We traded our starting LT/RT for him, that's a pretty decent push to acquire an OLB. As it turned out, it wasn't just because Carpenter was in the wrong system, it was because he wasn't all that good.

um...thats exactly the point i was making. The Rams are comfortable with biding their time looking for a bargain or a player to develop... i was responding to a question from "bar-bq".

ps. Alex Barron was a horrible player who failed completely. So they traded him, instead of cutting him, for Carpenter in the hopes of getting lucky. It wasnt an agressive push to aquire an OLB, it was a shot in the dark for both the Cowboys and Rams. As it turned out, both were wrong but neither team lost anything.