Devaney says four players being considered for No.1 pick, takes shot at Schefter

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Rams GM Billy Devaney revealed that the four players under consideration for the No. 1 overall pick are QB Sam Bradford, QB Jimmy Clausen, DT Ndamukong Suh and DT Gerald McCoy.

Devaney has Suh and McCoy rated equally, "hoping there's separation" before the draft. Per PFT's Gregg Rosenthal, he also made light of Adam Schefter's Bradford prediction, saying: "That took a lot of pressure off of us right away because Dr. Schefter cleared him medically. We feel really good about the health status of Sam Bradford with Dr. Schefter giving him a clean bill of health and guaranteeing our pick. So we're on to the second round."

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This was the report from rotoworld
I had a quick look at Mort's twitter to see what was actually said, and Devaney does say four guys are in the running for the No.1 pick, but i think its Mort that comes up with the four names.
Devaney also said that if Suh and McCoy are far and away the best players, the Rams wont force the issue and pick a QB

Devaney also mentioned not having talked to the Eagles about any of their QBs, alluding to the tampering rules

"That took a lot of pressure off of us right away because Dr. Schefter cleared him medically. We feel really good about the health status of Sam Bradford with Dr. Schefter giving him a clean bill of health and guaranteeing our pick. So we're on to the second round."

LOL, that is the perfect response.

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"That took a lot of pressure off of us right away because Dr. Schefter cleared him medically. We feel really good about the health status of Sam Bradford with Dr. Schefter giving him a clean bill of health and guaranteeing our pick. So we're on to the second round."

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That's priceless. :D

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Originally Posted by tomahawk247

Devaney also said that if Suh and McCoy are far and away the best players, the Rams wont force the issue and pick a QB

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I saw this as well, and this kind of scares me a little or I should say makes me believe we're leaning towards Bradford. I may be reading too much into this, but what I got from that comment is that Devaney is conceding that even though Suh and McCoy may be one and two on their board, if Bradford is three and the gap is small they will take him.

Now, what we do in free agency (like possibly acquring Vick or getting another meaningful starter) could change this, but reading into that makes me believe that all Devaney needs to do is see Bradford throw twice (probably at his pro day and then a private workout) and have him medically cleared to feel comfortable taking him first.

EDIT: I should also say that his shot at Schefter is particularly interesting as well. Instead of just blowing it off and saying they aren't that far in their evaluations yet, he decided to attack him saying (paraphrasing) "we're glad that Dr. Schefter cleared him medically". Again, I may be reading too much into this but to me he is insinuating that Bradford's medical status is the biggest and possibly only hurdle to being selected first overall.

I'm starting to fall in love with B. Devaney. He's saying everything I have wanted him to say since the beginning. Don't reach for a Quarterback this year with two huge prospects at DT, especially since your not expected to compete next by the media or your fanbase. Get all the pieces in place and then go after the ebst prospect at QB next year. Give your guy every situation to succeed, that way if he doesn't you start to get an idea of what you have.

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Originally Posted by Bald_81

I saw this as well, and this kind of scares me a little or I should say makes me believe we're leaning towards Bradford. I may be reading too much into this, but what I got from that comment is that Devaney is conceding that even though Suh and McCoy may be one and two on their board, if Bradford is three and the gap is small they will take him.

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I don't necessarily disagree with that approach, but there has to be a line with how far down you're willing to reach on a guy. A reach two or three spots down the board might not be so bad if grades are relatively close, but when we start talking five, six, seven, eight spots down your board for a position of need, then I think you start getting in trouble.

There's a line that you have to establish in terms of how far down you're willing to go. Are you willing to draft a player first overall if he's not one of among the top five highest graded players in the class? Is a healthy Bradford within those parameters? Everyone has an opinion, but the only ones that matter are the guys in the room.

Checking out healthy will certainly help him, but there are questions (IMO) besides his health. And while he would have been a contender for the top spot last year, this is a different class with different prospects at the top.

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Originally Posted by Bald_81

Now, what we do in free agency (like possibly acquring Vick or getting another meaningful starter) could change this, but reading into that makes me believe that all Devaney needs to do is see Bradford throw twice (probably at his pro day and then a private workout) and have him medically cleared to feel comfortable taking him first.

EDIT: I should also say that his shot at Schefter is particularly interesting as well. Instead of just blowing it off and saying they aren't that far in their evaluations yet, he decided to attack him saying (paraphrasing) "we're glad that Dr. Schefter cleared him medically". Again, I may be reading too much into this but to me he is insinuating that Bradford's medical status is the biggest and possibly only hurdle to being selected first overall.

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I'm kind of sensing that as well, though everything should come with a large grain of salt at this point.

Bottom line. No one is going to disclose their true strategy and thoughts. This is all noise.

ramming speed to all

general counsel

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Originally Posted by general counsel

Bottom line. No one is going to disclose their true strategy and thoughts. This is all noise.

ramming speed to all

general counsel

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Exactly right GC...just alot of smoke.....

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Originally Posted by Bald_81

I saw this as well, and this kind of scares me a little or I should say makes me believe we're leaning towards Bradford. I may be reading too much into this, but what I got from that comment is that Devaney is conceding that even though Suh and McCoy may be one and two on their board, if Bradford is three and the gap is small they will take him.

Now, what we do in free agency (like possibly acquring Vick or getting another meaningful starter) could change this, but reading into that makes me believe that all Devaney needs to do is see Bradford throw twice (probably at his pro day and then a private workout) and have him medically cleared to feel comfortable taking him first.

EDIT: I should also say that his shot at Schefter is particularly interesting as well. Instead of just blowing it off and saying they aren't that far in their evaluations yet, he decided to attack him saying (paraphrasing) "we're glad that Dr. Schefter cleared him medically". Again, I may be reading too much into this but to me he is insinuating that Bradford's medical status is the biggest and possibly only hurdle to being selected first overall.

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I think that is reading a lot into a fairly innocuous statement. Regardless of what anyone says, I doubt they have such concrete criteria for what it will take for them to draft one over the other at this point. They might have notions to that effect, but if the difference between two prospects really is quite small, I don't see that it would be such a problem.