From a Dollars and Cents Point ..

[MauiRam]

In no particular order:

Jake Long: If Jake is the pick, we either trade Barron (a bad idea IMO), or play Jake at guard. We'd be paying him millions to displace a starter (Cogs) who might be able to move to center. Immediate need? No. Future need - yes. Expensive? Yes .. Still he could well be our pick. Impact player? Well .. for sure he's big, so when he hits someone there should be a big impact .. Can he hit who he's supposed to at the NFL level? No one knows ...

Chris Long: If he's the pick, possibly he'd start over Hall, but more likely he'd be rotated in his first year. Immediate need? Yes .. Safe pick? Most pundits say yes .. Impact player? Nobody knows for sure. Big bucks spent on legit need.

Gholston: Consensus seems to be that he's the best pure pass rusher in the draft. Immediate need? Yes (see above). Big bucks on genuine need again. Impact player at NFL level? No one knows ..

Glen Dorsey: If he's the pick, he'll rotate with Carriker and Ryan. Immediate need? Yes -- if Ryan or Carriker miss time due to injury we're in bad shape. Wroten cannot be counted on, and Glover is no longer capable of being an every down player. Money goes to need again. To those who don't see it as a need, better get on your knees now and start praying that Carriker and Ryan stay healthy all year .. Impact player? .. No one knows.

If none of our current projected starters get hurt, we'd be ok with that group at all of the aforementioned positions. So who should be our pick? .. It has to be the player the majority of the Rams braintrust feels stands tallest out of the group, regardless of position. My guess is that it we'll take Gholston if Miami takes Jake, or that we'll take Jake if Miami selects Gholston. I don't think we'll select Chris Long unless we trade down. Who do I like the best? Well .. what difference does it make? Fortunately for all Ram fans, I'm not the one picking. For those who must know, my favorite is still Dorsey, but in all honesty, I'll be happy with any of the above players .. I just hope we don't trade down so far in rd 1 as to miss out on all of them.

[Tony Soprano]

.
I believe we don't even know that Pace will be ready in the beginning of the season. All the questions are not resolved in that area.

Then there's the fact that Pace has had season ending injuries two years running. Stuessie is almost 40 and had injury issues also.

Barron is iffy in the eyes of the coaching staff.

I really don't think it'll be a problem getting Jake Long playing time.

[MauiRam]

Originally Posted by Tony Soprano

.
I believe we don't even know that Pace will be ready in the beginning of the season. All the questions are not resolved in that area.

You could easily say the same about Carriker .. Maybe the Rams new mascot/logo should be a big wedge of Swiss Cheese ...

[harrydog]

Originally Posted by MauiRam

So who should be our pick? .. It has to be the player the majority of the Rams braintrust feels stands tallest out of the group, regardless of position. My guess is that it we'll take Gholston if Miami takes Jake, or that we'll take Jake if Miami selects Gholston. I don't think we'll select Chris Long unless we trade down.

Based on what we've been hearing lately I tend to agree with you, but just a short time ago the consensus of opinion seemed to be that the Rams would be thrilled if C. Long was available at #2 and that we probably wouldn't want Gholston unless we traded down. What happened?

[MauiRam]

Originally Posted by harrydog

Based on what we've been hearing lately I tend to agree with you, but just a short time ago the consensus of opinion seemed to be that the Rams would be thrilled if C. Long was available at #2 and that we probably wouldn't want Gholston unless we traded down. What happened?

Nothing has happened other than the miscue or smoke involving Miami's Jeff Ireland's comment recently. The big 4 are still the same. Public perceptions change - undoubtedly stemming to a significant degree from the fodder put forth by the many sports writers and comentators paid to do just that. Hence the thread by Av: STOP IT !! STOP IT !! STOP IT!!! Chris Long could still be taken #1 by Miami, or #2 by us. No one knows, we don't even know if the Rams know for sure which guy they want most. We'll probably never know as you're not going to hear the Rams say: Gosh folks, the guy we really wanted went to Miami, so we had to settle for so and so. Whoever the guy is that we end up with, the official spin will be that it was the player we wanted from the get go - blah blah blah ... The good news is that any one of the top 4 will be a welcome addition.

One little nugget I'll put forth is: If the Rams select Chris Long my wife says she'll finally become a Rams' fan .. Why?? .. Just use your imagination ..

[Nick]

Originally Posted by MauiRam

Jake Long: If Jake is the pick, we either trade Barron (a bad idea IMO), or play Jake at guard.

Or we could play Jake at RT and left Barron be a back-up. I think that's a viable third option, since this team is in need of tackle depth.

Originally Posted by MauiRam

Glen Dorsey: If he's the pick, he'll rotate with Carriker and Ryan. Immediate need? Yes -- if Ryan or Carriker miss time due to injury we're in bad shape.

You can apply this same logic to just about every position, though - if Jackson misses time, we're in bad shape; if Witherspoon misses time, we're in bad shape; if Atogwe misses time, we're in bad shape. That doesn't make this an immediate need, or else everything would be an immediate need.

[Dominating D]

Originally Posted by Tony Soprano

.
I believe we don't even know that Pace will be ready in the beginning of the season. All the questions are not resolved in that area.

Then there's the fact that Pace has had season ending injuries two years running. Stuessie is almost 40 and had injury issues also.

Barron is iffy in the eyes of the coaching staff.

I really don't think it'll be a problem getting Jake Long playing time.

Can you 100% guarantee they will play football in 2008?

When I say they I meant the NFL. I understand you have some concern about the BIG O. Is that question of health strong enough to pick up another OT with the 2nd pick of the draft?

[itsguud]

In all, is anyone going to be upset if we take either of the four here?!! We need each of these positions upgraded... we are in a rebuilding year, so just go with it. I actually don't care which we take, although want an OL, for sake of Bulgers/Jacksons health.

[harrydog]

Originally Posted by itsguud

In all, is anyone going to be upset if we take either of the four here?!! We need each of these positions upgraded... we are in a rebuilding year, so just go with it. I actually don't care which we take, although want an OL, for sake of Bulgers/Jacksons health.

I feel the same way, although I prefer defense with the first pick.

[HUbison]

Originally Posted by maui

Jake Long: If Jake is the pick, we either trade Barron (a bad idea IMO), or play Jake at guard.

Jake Long beats Alex Barron for the starting RT spot by the end of training camp.

[MauiRam]

Originally Posted by Nick

Or we could play Jake at RT and left Barron be a back-up. I think that's a viable third option, since this team is in need of tackle depth.

Absolutely .. Of course then we'd be taking a first round draft pick and relegating him to a backup position ...

Originally Posted by Nick

You can apply this same logic to just about every position, though - if Jackson misses time, we're in bad shape; if Witherspoon misses time, we're in bad shape; if Atogwe misses time, we're in bad shape. That doesn't make this an immediate need, or else everything would be an immediate need.

See above ... Drafting Dorsey would not relegate Ryan or Carriker to the bench as a backup. We do need to improve our interior D-line. We depend on a rotation there - we do not rotate our offensive tackles .. at least not by design .. last year hopefully was an exception ..

[HUbison]

Originally Posted by maui

Absolutely .. Of course then we'd be taking a first round draft pick and relegating him to a backup position ...

Wouldn't be the first time.......won't be the last.

[MauiRam]

Originally Posted by HUbison

Wouldn't be the first time.......won't be the last.

Please .. not to interfere when I'm pulling Nick's chain ...

[HUbison]

Originally Posted by MauiRam

Please .. not to interfere when I'm pulling Nick's chain ...

Well then, by all means......let the pulling of Nick's chain proceed.

[Nick]

Originally Posted by MauiRam

Absolutely .. Of course then we'd be taking a first round draft pick and relegating him to a backup position ...

Which in Barron's case I'm not opposed to. He's had three years to lock down a job in the starting line-up and hasn't done it. Word is our new O-line coach is already losing patience with him. He doesn't like to lift weights and work out, even though in order to take his game to the next level he needs to add strength and bulk. Furthermore he is widely regarded to be one of the players our starting QB called out in 2006 for his attitude.

Replacing him at RT and making Barron the third tackle could be a wake-up call that motivates him into improving and taking his career seriously. It could also allow him to work more on the left side, so that we could explore whether or not he could be the future starter over there.

Originally Posted by MauiRam

See above ... Drafting Dorsey would not relegate Ryan or Carriker to the bench as a backup. We do need to improve our interior D-line. We depend on a rotation there - we do not rotate our offensive tackles .. at least not by design .. last year hopefully was an exception ..

Unless we plan on starting three defensive tackles in a shift to a 5-2 defensive front, then yes, one of them will becoming a back-up regardless of whether or not they rotate. And I don't think you spend two Top 15 draft picks on defensive tackles so you can establish a heavy rotation with other players. You spend those high resources on players you want on the field as much as possible. If you want to develop a rotation of guys, use mid round picks or free agents to do so.

If Adam Carriker displayed a questionable attitude and hadn't really established himself as a great starter after three seasons, then I'd probably be more inclined to take Dorsey. But that's the difference between Carriker and Barron - Carriker is a one year pro with great intangibles who did pretty well during his rookie year and could get much better once he finally settles into one position (Haslett thought in October that position should be UT).