The OFFICIAL NFL Draft Discussion Thread

[richtree]

any guesses ? ? ?

[general counsel]

What do you think VALUE means? The draft is about selecting quality players, not as much where you select them. THe entire value concept is overated because people are always speculating with 20-20 hindsight on what other teams would have done.

Most experts say that there are levels of players and that within those various levels, teams draft for need and personal preference.

I cant believe educated fans like those on this board continue to make statements like "we could have had him later" HOW IN THE WORLD DO YOU KNOW THAT?

IF this was the guy we liked the best, why shouldnt we take him now, why should we take the risk and wait until later.

Trade down and stockpile picks, what makes you think anyone wanted to trade up and give you anything good. What do you think you are going to do with another 5th round pick. what value do you really think that has.

You want a fair criticism of the pick. Here it is. Why pick so much for need. Was there a strong safety we had higher on our board?

Many of you wanted dan connor. Said he was a better value. Well, its 20 or more picks later and still no one took connor. Does than mean maybe he wasnt such good value after all, does that mean all the other teams are idiots also?

Guys, please deal with the reality that none of us, not even nick, are truly nfl talent evaluator level experts at the draft game.WE are amateurs, NOT professionals.

ramming speed for all

general counsel

[Sam Klein]

What do you think VALUE means? The draft is about selecting quality players, not as much where you select them. THe entire value concept is overated because people are always speculating with 20-20 hindsight on what other teams would have done.

Most experts say that there are levels of players and that within those various levels, teams draft for need and personal preference.

I cant believe educated fans like those on this board continue to make statements like "we could have had him later" HOW IN THE WORLD DO YOU KNOW THAT?

IF this was the guy we liked the best, why shouldnt we take him now, why should we take the risk and wait until later.

Trade down and stockpile picks, what makes you think anyone wanted to trade up and give you anything good. What do you think you are going to do with another 5th round pick. what value do you really think that has.

You want a fair criticism of the pick. Here it is. Why pick so much for need. Was there a strong safety we had higher on our board?

Many of you wanted dan connor. Said he was a better value. Well, its 20 or more picks later and still no one took connor. Does than mean maybe he wasnt such good value after all, does that mean all the other teams are idiots also?

Guys, please deal with the reality that none of us, not even nick, are truly nfl talent evaluator level experts at the draft game.WE are amateurs, NOT professionals.

ramming speed for all

general counsel

and even more startling we have a fairly good chance of getting Dan Connor as well. I like the Avery pick. and I have seen scouts compare him to Ted Ginn and Kevin Curtis. He is a slot reciever that can strech the field, a home run threst. I would have considered him one of the top tiers of WR in the draft. For that matter sporting news had him at 7 rated (7.9) and Doucet (8.4) as the highest rated WR in the draft (who is still there). Don;t forget Manningham is still on the boards.

I think Phillips would have been the only person I would have considered taking over one of the top WRs there and I think Avery fills our need very well.

No for my wishlist........I would have liked to have seen Calais Campbell slide for the third round. Conner might be a guy there for the third or maybe a corner.

what do you guys think?

[Goldenfleece]

Bad pick!!!

we left dan conner., and probably could have gotten avery in round four....

we better be signing lito sheppard after that pick

it is hard for me to imagine a pick i could have hated more

Bad Pick. He may end up being a good player but to be the 1st WR pick? When this guy is on no ones radar why take him here? Please!

There's no doubt he can run and I do like him a lot, I just believe he could've been had in the 3rd. Especially with the way receivers dropped today.

The key to the draft is VALUE!!! The RAMS could have gotten Avery in the 3'rd round, or traded back and stock pile picks like some of the smarter teams in the NFL. But your right, I think they blew it again. With Devin Thomas, and a list of probably 9 other WR's available, the Rams front office selects an under-sized speedster who runs poor routes. As a draft team you have to have a feel for where a player is valued in the draft by other NFL teams, and attempt to get him in that area!!!

I don't think it is at all clear that we could have gotten him later. He was the first of nine--NINE!--receivers taken in the second round. There's no way he wouldn't have made it through that flurry to be available in the third. More than 1 in 4 picks in that round were receivers. Jordy Nelson, Eddie Royal, and Jerome Simpson also went in the top half of the round ahead of Limas Sweed and DeSean Jackson, whom NFL teams clearly did not consider first round talents as the amateur mock drafters believed them to be. If we wanted to make sure we got Avery, we needed to take him when we had the chance.

[bruce4life]

Dan Connor Needs To Be That Pick

[SavageRam]

I'm with GC.

It's a good thing we didn't trade down because eight more WRs came off the board in the next 20 picks, how do we know someone like Avery would've been available later?

The pick actually may fill two needs; a speedy deep threat receiver who will help stretch the field vertically... and someone that can help with returning kicks and punts.

[39thebeast]

We should go Dan Connor high character very productive guy straight out of LB U. Gives us 3 starters Avery, Long, Connor. He is a rock (unlike a certain number 50) great player. He adds some toughness and some hard hitting to the LB core. He will be excellent next to WW.

[Rambos]

Speed was key in Rams' pick of Avery
By Jim Thomas
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
04/26/2008

South wide receive Donnie Avery (2), of the Houston Cougars, goes up for a pass in the Senior Bowl earlier this year in Mobile, Ala.
(Dave Martin/AP)

Picking a wide receiver in the second round seemed like a slam dunk for St. Louis on Saturday, particularly given the fact that no wide receiver was taken in the first 32 picks of the NFL draft.

The surprise came when the Rams selected University of Houston wide receiver Donnie Avery with the No. 33 overall selection, ahead of more well-known pass-catcher such as Michigan State’s Devin Thomas, Florida’s Andre Caldwell, and California’s DeSean Jackson.

But Avery appears to be a good fit for St. Louis, providing much-needed speed to the wide receiver corps. Avery was timed in 4.43 seconds in the 40 at the NFL Scouting Combine, but that was with a hamstring injury. A healthy Avery turned in a 4.34 at his pro day, and he has run as fast as 4.29 seconds.

But there was production to match Avery’s speed. "He’s just not a pure track guy," coach Scott Linehan said.

He caught 91 passes for 1,456 yards last season, and had 210 catches over his college career. Avery had some problems with drops last season, but played part of the season with a dislocated thumb.

Avery also returns kickoffs and had a 100-yard return in 2007.

"We really noticed when he gets out there and gets behind people on those big posts and those (deep) routes, you can really see his ability to stretch the field," Linehan said.
Linehan is a stickler for yards after the catch, and believes Avery can help in that category. The Rams were tied for 30th in that category last season in the NFL — averaging only 4.1 yards after each catch. That’s the lowest figure for the team since the move to St. Louis.

[Truth]

The choice of Avery surprised me. However, I'm going to agree with GC. I'll give this the benefit of the doubt. If this turns out to be a bad pick, let the flaming begin. At this point we just don't know.

[moloch41]

I liked the Chris Long pick, but wasn't blown away by the Avery pick.

[STLLAMBS]

You mentioned Linehan being a stickler for YAC (yds. after catch), is that why the RAMS receivers consistently look for somewhere to fall down on the field after each catch? Or is that something left over from the Martz regime.
I hope all the RAMS draft picks pan out. BUT, logic and reason dictate that if most of the so called "experts" had Avery rated much lower, than we could probably have found a trading partner to move back several spots and still selected Avery or a WR of similar value(since the WR run was over-due).
As GOLDENFLEECE mentioned we're NOT experts! But, when most of the "experts" are saying the same thing about Avery being a reach at that point in the draft I have a hard time believing they're all wrong, and the RAMS are right. Here's to hoping Avery pans out and helps our offense this season!!! ( and those other 9 WR's stink up the place)

[Mooselini]

I wasn't surprised at all with the Avery pick. I knew we'd go WR in round two. Saunders obviously saw something in Avery that he didn't see in the other WR's rated much higher. I'm not upset at all, I don't think this is a bad pick. We filled our two biggest needs in the first two picks of the draft. If you ask me, we're doing better than we did last year.

We have to look at our coaching staff. We want nothing but the best, and with the mastermind Saunders leading our offense this year, you know we're in for a suprise.

[TekeRam]

Konnichiwa from Japan everyone.

First of. Long. Mentioned it in May. Hoped for it the rest of 2007. Prayed for it in 2008, and called it in April. Congrats everyone, we have a killer front line.

I was a bit surprised by the Avery pick, as we could have had anyone, but you know, he has the production, and he has the speed, and more importantly, he doesn't have nearly as much of a diva in him as certain other guys, like Jackson and Kelly. I might have gone with Sweed(though he DROPPED) or Devin Thomas, but Avery fits exactly what they wanted and I'm happy with that. It's much better to get the guy you want, even if it's a "reach". Freeney was a reach when he was drafted. Doesn't seem like it now, does it?

[Nick]

I know a number of Rams fans clamoring for Dan Connor in the third round. That's certainly one potential direction, although I can't help but wonder if Miami's Tavares Gooden gives them more speed and versatility at the linebacker position. Reggie Smith and Justin King could bolster the secondary.

If the Rams are still looking for offensive line help, Anthony Collins will have to get some consideration at the top of round three, especially given how quickly tackles came off the board early on. I think from a value perspective, you have to look at NC State's DaJuan Morgan as someone you could take and groom behind Chavous to eventually start.

Draft starts up again in less than two hours! Four hours of sleep, and I'm ready to go again!!

[jkramsfan]

You mentioned Linehan being a stickler for YAC (yds. after catch), is that why the RAMS receivers consistently look for somewhere to fall down on the field after each catch? Or is that something left over from the Martz regime.
I hope all the RAMS draft picks pan out. BUT, logic and reason dictate that if most of the so called "experts" had Avery rated much lower, than we could probably have found a trading partner to move back several spots and still selected Avery or a WR of similar value(since the WR run was over-due).
As GOLDENFLEECE mentioned we're NOT experts! But, when most of the "experts" are saying the same thing about Avery being a reach at that point in the draft I have a hard time believing they're all wrong, and the RAMS are right. Here's to hoping Avery pans out and helps our offense this season!!! ( and those other 9 WR's stink up the place)

if thats the case why do you get a small guy who won't be able to take the big hit and get some extra RAC yards,maybe hes so fast he can just run away from everyone,lets hope so, I think he could be very exciting on kickoffs with that speed.