Rams considering trading into the top five?

[bigredman]

I see both sides of this debate. Our D was horrible, but how much of it was Marmie and him not making adjustments? Was Marmie a big enough problem for us to pick a TE in the first round instead of going D? It's hard to say.

With Linehan how will our TE perform? Since Martz didn't use the TE much, which I believe really hurt us at times in the redzone. It seems like Linehan is an upgrade to our TE problems because he said he will actually use the TE. Now how much of a dropoff is it from Vernon Davis to a 2nd round TE like Pope or Lewis?

What I'm trying to say is this team is radically different with Linehan and his scheme and staff, so maybe we don't need Davis who is a top 10 pick. On the flipside, maybe our defense really improves with the loss of Marmie and his non adjustable defense and our FA additions. We may already have a good defense with whom we already have added before the draft. Of course we need more help from the draft.

I agree. The problem as I see it is, everyone has tunnel vision regarding our defense. We have made numerous moves through FA on defense. Yes we lost some guys and still have holes to plug, but we can't forsake the offense at the expense of the defense. Many elements of our offense is getting old and our TE is lacking depth and explosiveness. Everyone says our offense is just fine, well doesn't anyone remember our futility in the red zone for the past two years? That is where a "quality" TE, who properly coached into an "elite" TE could be the difference. Sharpe, the Moose on Dallas, and other teams that high percentage scoring TD's in the red zone (Kansas City, whiners {the catch}, Giants {Bavaro}, San Diego, etc). The chances of us moving up one or two spots to get Davis are better than moving up to get one of the blue chip defensive players...and hey...to borrow the rationale of my friend in this thread....whose to say that huff or hawk are so great to turn our defense into something great when they haven't even played a down in the NFL. Remember Bozworth?

Most scouts and professional analysts say Vernon Davis has the potential to be a "pro bowl" player. He's only one of five that I've heard that of.

[bigredman]

Ok, but with that talent...what adjustment or adjustments should have been made?

Heck, I thought all year they would be calling me to play DB and I haven't done that since playing street ball in Poplar Bluff in 1982.....

It's unfair to blame the DB's totally. Marmie couldn't figure out how to adjust our defensive line and linebackers to obtain pressure on the quarterback consistantly, which left our DB's and Safety exposed to multiple receiver sets with plenty of time to find an open receiver.

[general counsel]

I will continue to remind everyone that despite the additions on defense, we lost our best defensive player last year and our only true run stopper, mr. pickett. He has not been replaced to date.

ramming speed to all

general counsel

[Nick]

Sharpe, the Moose on Dallas, and other teams that high percentage scoring TD's in the red zone (Kansas City, whiners {the catch}, Giants {Bavaro}, San Diego, etc).

-Shannon Sharpe (Broncos, Ravens): Seventh round
-Darryl "Moose" Johnson (Cowboys): Wasn't he a fullback?
-Jay Novacek (Cowboys): Sixth round
-Mark Bavaro (Giants): Fourth round
-Dwight "The Catch" Clark (Whiners): He was a wide receiver.

No one is saying that the Rams don't need an upgrade at tight end. We all agree on that. But these examples you cite only go to show that talent at that position can easily be found in later rounds, and thus we don't have to draft Vernon Davis (which was your original claim that I'm disagreeing with).

The chances of us moving up one or two spots to get Davis are better than moving up to get one of the blue chip defensive players

I'd be shocked if we only had to move up one or two spots to take Davis. He should be gone by the time Oakland picks at seventh overall. Chances are, it would cost about the same to move up to get Davis as it would Hawk, and less than it would cost to get Huff.

whose to say that huff or hawk are so great to turn our defense into something great when they haven't even played a down in the NFL. Remember Bozworth?

There's a difference though between saying you think someone will be a great player and saying, for instance, that so-and-so will be top five in the league before ever playing a down, which is what we've heard of Davis.

[bigredman]

I will continue to remind everyone that despite the additions on defense, we lost our best defensive player last year and our only true run stopper, mr. pickett. He has not been replaced to date.

Agree with ya GC....although Pickett didn't live up to expectations all the same. Hopefully we can address that with additional FA pickups (experience will be needed, since I don't see us getting someone in the draft that can immediately step in with any real impact). The effectiveness of our line backing Corp and ability to transition between the 4-3 and 3-4 will be dictated by DL.

and Nick....I'm done arguing about Davis until and depending on what happens Saturday. Moose played the TE position during certain goal line situations as did Dwight Clark (double tight end sets).

[Varg6]

Honest to God, I really believe Huff will really be the best choice for us, I think it's between him or Hawk, but I also sometimes have to agree to get the best there is, and I think if Davis is there, we should snag him, it'd be our offense a lot better, because I think with Haslett, like I've been saying over and over, I think we got talent, its just the way it was represented last year that screwed us up, I think with the right guidance of Haslett, we will be a lot better in Defense with what we got right now, if we get Davis, it just makes our offense even more superior. And who wouldn't want that? I mean if we can get that name "The Greatest Show on Turf", why not ressurect those memories, if possible?

[AvengerRam]

I wouldn't put too much stock in the conventional wisdom that it was all Marmie. We had very little talent last year after injuries and busts at LB.

Its true, you can't make a chicken salad sandwich with chicken s**t, but Marmie's idea to put the bread on the inside, you must admit, was a bad one.

[Tony Soprano]

As some have pointed out, we have Big Defensive concerns and McCollum and Timmerman live in retirement communities already.

We have real needs IMO.

We need to be able to Run the ball and we need to be able to STOP the run.

I was watching some tapes and it seems like it's been a long time since we've been able to run on a good team (interior Line).