I hope we learn something from the lions last year and the Falcons the year before

[sdobbers]

Hands down, I believe Suh is the best player in this draft class. But, if Devaney and Spags end up rating Clausen as THEIR franchise QB then they need to take him, and I believe they will.


If they don't rate Clausen as OUR franchise QB:
Round 1, Pick 1: Ndamukong Suh
Round 2, Pick 1: WR/TE/OL/OLB

If they DO rate Clausen as our franchise QB:
Trade:

Rams: R1 Pick 1, R4 Pick 1
Buccaneers: R1 Pick 3, R2 Pick 10, R4 Pick 3

Round 1, Pick 3: Jimmy Clausen
Round 2, Pick 1 & 10: Pick two in this order...DL/OLB/WR/TE/OG


This class has one of the deepest DL's, so even if we choose Clausen we could still get a really good DL in the early second. Plus since Spags is a defensive minded coach I actually think its MORE likely he'll pick offensive with the first pick NOT defensive, because he'll believe he can fix the defense using his coaching skills.

This season, our defense has been coming along really nicely. Yes they let up some big plays and need to put a little more pressure on the QB, but for the most part the defense is way ahead of the offense. Our Offense is totally inept, they can't move the ball AT ALL.

Besides some injury issues, I believe Devaney/Spags did a great job with last years draft...I have faith that they will make the right choice, they have a lot of good scouting talent in that FO. We can sit here and argue back and forth...but in the end its up to them, and we have no say in the matter. We can only speculate...

[Nick]

I think Clausen could be the next Ryan, and I feel he'd have a much bigger impact on your team than Suh would if he becomes a franchise QB. However, he has a higher bust potential than Suh, and if he busts then your team will be crippled in the future. You're probably better off taking Suh unless Clausen looks 100% legit since Suh has a very low bust potential. Since you will, in all likelihood, be in the top three again next year, you will have a chance to draft Jake Locker or another top QB prospect.

Generally I think we're in agreement on a lot here. While I would prefer to see this team take Suh, I would at least understand the thinking behind the Clausen pick if the Rams are convinced that Clausen can be an upper echelon franchise quarterback for them. I'm not yet convinced of that, but if they are, then I wouldn't be surprised at all if he's their guy.

The $64,000 question is whether or not Clausen is that caliber of prospect with that kind of potential deserving of that kind of pick. It's going to be fun to see how this debate plays out over the next four months, especially since Jimmy won't have much of a chance to make a case for himself since he's out with a toe injury until April.

I think Billy is going to think about this long and hard. My opinion keeps changing, but at this moment in time, I prefer Jimmy Clausen with the #1 pick. Suh is a great player, sure, but the Rams are in desperate need of a new QB. The Rams D would have been much better this season if we had consistent offense to keep them off the field. Top 18 I say.

How many times have the Rams gotten a stop when needed, and the Rams had a chance to win the game with the last possession? 7 times, 7 times that we needed to score and we couldn't. That sticks out more than our D. In New York and Philadelphia they don't have high priced DTs, they have Franchise QBs. Jimmy Clausen is a franchise QB. He's spent 3 years working in a Pro Style offense, he has all the physical tools in the world. Shurmur happens to be a pretty damn good QB coach as well.

A Franchise QB will go further than a high priced DT, IMO.

The Rams are in desperate need for a quarterback, but you don't change your draft strategy based on desperate need. You have to be sure that the guy you're going to pick is one of the best available, and that you're not passing up better prospects because you're blinded by need.

As for how much better the Rams' D would be with a more competent offense, it's tough to make any kind of accurate predictions about hypotheticals. Let me just point out that it's not as if the Rams were completely dominated in time of possession this season. It's not as if the D was playing 40 minutes every game and was just worn down. According to TeamRankings.com, the Rams finished 15th in the league in average time of possession (28:56). That's really not that bad, considering the offensive woes. Yes, the offense put the defense in some bad spots this year. Yes, the defense came through and made some stops and showed the potential. But you don't finish the season allowing the kind of numbers this defense did just because of the offense.

We're talking about a pass defense that allowed 64.2% completions, ranked 27th in the league. Their 25 sacks were third worst this season, and opposing quarterback had a 96.9 QB rating, second worst in the NFL. Against the rush, the Rams held rushers to 4.4 ypc, which ranked 20th. But they also allowed 24 TDs, worst in the league, and 137.6 yards per game, ranked 27th. Their total yards per game average and points per game average were among the worst in the league as well. Yes, a better offense helps them out, but let's rewrite history and ignore the glaring deficiencies on this defense as well.

As for teams like New York and Philadelphia, the Eagles are currently starting Mike Patterson and Brodrick Bunkley at defensive tackle. Patterson was a first round pick in 2005 (31st overall). Bunkley was a first round pick in 2006 (14th overall). The Eagles QB of the future - Kevin Kolb - was drafted in the high second round. The Giants may be a better example, but it's not like they haven't spent money on their DL either. They've just done it at DE. Outside of Chris Long and maybe Clifton Ryan, the Rams have nothing proven on their DL.

We cannot wait another year. It'd be another year to delay the rebuilding process, we cannot wait that long.

You make it sound like the Rams won't start rebuilding until they find their QB of the future. I'm pretty sure the Rams started rebuilding when they hired Spags and conducted a very immense roster turnover to get some contracts off the books for the future. The rebuilding process is already underway and has been for nearly a year.

[bruce4life]

SUUUUHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ENOUGH SAID SIR... NEXT QUESTION... You cannot take Clausen too many unknowns with him. He is not even the best QB in this draft.

[sosa39rams]

Again, its ridiculous to judge Clausen based on the performance of other players. Also, the thing about drafting Suh is this; although he's a stud, DT is incredibly deep in this draft. If the Rams want a DT, they will be able to find a good one in the second round. The same can't be said about the QB position. Finding a gem in the later rounds is very rare.

I dont exactly understand you.. Just because Clausen is filled with talented players and that shotgun offense doesn't mean he is going to be "amazing". If we draft him and pay him the $40 mill and he fails(like all ND QB's do) we will totally get criticized for choosing him and wont be able to draft another QB for years, hence the 1-15 record. But if we draft Suh, we already know what we are getting. "Finding a gem in the later rounds is very rare"... I'd rather use my first on Suh and third on either Dan LeFevour or Tony Pike.. nuff said!

And also why take Jimmy Clausen and leave him with no talented receivers.. i mean i love Donnie Avery Laurent Robinson and Brandon Gibson, but really? Just like Matt Stafford, i keep hearing hes **** he shouldnt have been drafted first round, bust, etc.. If you take Suh your entire defense will be better. He will force teams to pass because of ineffectiveness to run, and he will be double teamed making Chris Long a better pass rusher along with the rest of our line. This would make our secondary better by forcing a quick release on a QB or a bad throw, not enough time.. If we take Clausen and leave him in our offense what is he going to do? nothing.. especially since he takes shotgun snaps(99% of the time) in college..

[Goldenfleece]

I dont exactly understand you.. Just because Clausen is filled with talented players and that shotgun offense doesn't mean he is going to be "amazing". If we draft him and pay him the $40 mill and he fails(like all ND QB's do) we will totally get criticized for choosing him and wont be able to draft another QB for years, hence the 1-15 record. But if we draft Suh, we already know what we are getting.

This seems like a rather specious argument to me. First of all, I think it's generally only relevant to compare quarterbacks from the same school if they played under the same coach or system. For example, one might look at all the offensive tackles that came out of the University of Virginia in recent years (Ferguson, Albert, Monroe) and say that there seems to be a trend there. However, if a school has not produced a lot NFL prospects at a given position in recent years, there's less evidence to argue for the existence of a trend.

Second, if you still want to focus on school history, Joe Montana and Joe Theismann are both ND quarterbacks who went on to have successful NFL careers.

Finally, it's unfair to imply that if we drafted Clausen and he failed, it would set the franchise back, as if this would not be true of any player we drafted and guaranteed that much money.

[#39 Fan]

I'd be happy with Suh or Clausen. Thrilled, actually.

[MdRam29]

We have to go with Suh with our #1 pick. I don't see a QB in this years draft worthy of a top 10 pick. Maybe in the mid to late first round I can start seeing QB's taken.

[tomahawk247]

I'd be happy with Suh or Clausen. Thrilled, actually.

im not sure id be happy on passing Suh, but i can see the reasoning. I just think the best way to take Clausen or any QB in the first would be to have traded down from the top spot

[BM_Face]

I cannot see drafting Clausen #1 overall. Can the Rams afford to give $50 million to Clausen based on his performance? The surgery means no workout at the combine, which gives other 'healthy' QB's a chance to up their stock. (NOT saying Clausen has health/injury problems, but his absence cannot help his chances.) Now, if Clausen were going to the combine, I would withhold judgement, but we have pretty much seen all we are going to see from him prior to draft day. I know he will throw for scouts, but that is not the same as a full combine work-out.

If Clausen has recovered from his surgery enough to do team work-outs, I am certain the Rams staff will put him through his paces, and if that transpires, then I may change my opinion, but for now, I see him as too risky for any team to drop the kind of coin it takes to sign Clausen first overall.

[C-Mob 71]

Not sure how I stumbled onto this thread, new format and whatnot, but I was agreeing with everything the op was saying until he started talking about Jimmy Clausen- at which point I facepalmed.

Sorry for the pointless bump, but it is entertaining to see how little we as fans "know" in January.

And as Tommy Lee Jones once said in MIB,

"Fifteen hundred years ago everybody knew the Earth was the center of the universe. Five hundred years ago, everybody knew the Earth was flat, and fifteen minutes ago, you knew that humans were alone on this planet. Imagine what you'll know tomorrow"

Oh the great joys of the NFL draft!