Rams hold private workouts for 3 wideouts

[thillis]

BY JIM THOMAS| Posted: Monday, April 23, 2012 5:30 pm

"With the draft fast approaching, the Rams decided to take one last look at some of the top wide receiver prospects over the weekend. According to league sources, the team held private workouts for Oklahoma State's Justin Blackmon, Notre Dame's Michael Floyd, and Baylor's Kendall Wright one last look before Round 1 on Thursday.

A six-person Rams contingent traveled from site to site via private jet, a contingent that included coach Jeff Fisher, general manager Les Snead, and offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer. Kevin Demoff, the Rams' executive vice president for football operations, joined the others for the Blackmon workout.

Blackmon and Floyd are widely considered the top two wide receivers in the draft. The workout for Wright is interesting because he projects as a mid to late first-round pick. So he could be in play in either a trade down or trade up scenario for St. Louis. But should Wright somehow fall out of the first round, it almost certainly indicates he won't get past the Rams at No. 33 overall. And that may hold true even if the Rams take Blackmon or Floyd in Round 1 given the state of the Rams' wide receiver corps."

[AvengerRam]

Well...

Clearly the Rams have decided to take a DT with the 6th pick.

Um... I mean...

They've decided to trade up to take Trent Richardson and to trade Steven Jackson...

Or... um....

Maybe I should just turn off my TV, radio, cell phone and computer until Thursday.

[richtree]

This draft just gets more and more intriguing

[39WillRunYaOva]

God would i love the scenario of getting blackmon with the #6 and if wright falls to 33!!!!We would go from having no wr's to having to projected good ones.They would be our #1,2 and then the rest of our guys can be used for what they should be,just pure depth not starting material.Our offense might actually be pretty good and we could watch Sam transform into what we all thought he would be when we drafted him.

[ManofGod]

God would i love the scenario of getting blackmon with the #6 and if wright falls to 33!!!!We would go from having no wr's to having to projected good ones.They would be our #1,2 and then the rest of our guys can be used for what they should be,just pure depth not starting material.Our offense might actually be pretty good and we could watch Sam transform into what we all thought he would be when we drafted him.

Yeah, and our Defense will still have a glaring hole at both DT and OLB, we simply have to grab a DT with pick #33 if we do not take F. Cox in the first round. Grabbing 2 WR's with our 1st two picks DOES NOT help our team to stop the run or pressure the QB!

[tomahawk247]

Yeah, and our Defense will still have a glaring hole at both DT and OLB, we simply have to grab a DT with pick #33 if we do not take F. Cox in the first round. Grabbing 2 WR's with our 1st two picks DOES NOT help our team to stop the run or pressure the QB!

We have another second rounder, it's not imperitive to take a DT with #33. Especially if the value is not there.

[tomahawk247]

Here is the latest on Wright

"Several personnel sources" tell The Sideline View's Adam Caplan that Kendall Wright's game tape is arguably the best of any receiver in the 2012 draft.
One veteran NFL evaluator called Wright "the most explosive wide receiver available for this draft." Wright says most of the teams he spoke to before the draft view him as a flanker or slot receiver. He also disputed a recent report that his body fat is 16 percent. "One of the teams that I visited this week gave me a physical, tested my body fat and said I had 8.4 percent," Wright said. Caplan expects Wright to be a first-round pick.

[richtree]

Well, even though I have been down on Wright, if He is drafted by the Rams in Round 2 -- I will then become a huge Kendall Wright fan...lol

[punahou]

please no Kendall Wright- Im surprised they'd look at him over others

[tomahawk247]

My concern with Wright is that he seems to be projected as a slot guy. I'm not sure how true that is, and I certainly haven't done any sort of film study (aka watching on youtube) to come to my own conclusions on the matter.

IF that is the case though, then I say we shouldn't take him. We have enough slot guys. What the Rams need is a no.1 guy who can make catches all over the field, and then also a deep threat.

[shower beers]

Prospects are really becoming like eggs were for a while...good at one point, then bad, now suddenly good again. So, Kalil will fall into the teens, Gilmore will be in the top ten, Coples and Poe will plummet, Chandler Jones is now suddenly in the top half of round one...

I don't know what to think anymore.

[HUbison]

My concern with Wright is that he seems to be projected as a slot guy. I'm not sure how true that is, and I certainly haven't done any sort of film study (aka watching on youtube) to come to my own conclusions on the matter.

IF that is the case though, then I say we shouldn't take him. We have enough slot guys. What the Rams need is a no.1 guy who can make catches all over the field, and then also a deep threat.

I wouldn't say he's locked in at slot. I'd say he would fit in at flanker quite well. He's certainly not a split end, like Blackmon, Floyd, or Jeffrey. But then again, this team set all sorts of records with two flanker-type receivers (Bruce, Holt).

[mde8352gorams]

Yeah, and our Defense will still have a glaring hole at both DT and OLB, we simply have to grab a DT with pick #33 if we do not take F. Cox in the first round. Grabbing 2 WR's with our 1st two picks DOES NOT help our team to stop the run or pressure the QB!

Exactly and don't forget we need help on the offensive line as well. All the receivers in the world won't help Sam if he's on his back. Even Fisher admitted in one of his early press conferences that the team would look to protect Sam better. Unless I've missed something only Scott Welles at center was signed during the FA period for our O-Line.

As for the Wright stuff (excuse my pun Tom Wolfe), that could be a huge smokescreen for any team that wants him if he drops to the 2nd round. Let's not forget we have a big trading opportunity with the first pick of day 2. My feeling is the Rams would love to add some picks in rounds 2 & 3 where there's some real value and with our plethora of holes to fill that could be an excellent remedy.

The excitement is building for Thur.-Sat. as we hopefully start a new chapter in Rams history. Go Rams!

[richtree]

Some stats:

Baylor wideout Kendall Wright led college football last year with 19 “explosive” receptions. STATS defines an explosive play as one of 25 or more yards. Ryan Broyles of Oklahoma ranked second with 16. Stanford’s Coby Fleener paced tight Ends with 10 explosive receptions.
Observant scouts have likely noticed that Robert Griffin III didn’t see as many blitzes as his colleagues. Griffin had just 85 pass attempts against the blitz in 2011, while Andrew Luck had 128 and Ryan Tannehill had 152 such pass attempts.



X-Info Spotlight Comparison: Michael Floyd vs. Justin Blackmon

Receiving Targets	144	160
Drops	4 (2.8%)	8 (5%)
Explosive Plays	11	12
Yards after Catch	572	794
Total Touches	104	127
Yards per Touch	11.6	12.1

[RebelYell]

Bruce and Holt are announcing both picks in the 2nd round.