Reviewing 2008 Draft what do you think a year later?

[RamsSB99]

Here is Fox Sports review of our 2008 draftees after they happened. I just wanted to see what people think of the draft picks a year later. Do you still feel good about the potential of some of these guys? How many of these guys do you feel don't have much hope?


Chris Long
Round 1: #2
DE 6'3 279 Virgina

The Rams attempted to float the name of LSU DT Glenn Dorsey in order to get some action from the Falcons and Saints, but couldn't get a serious bite. (Sorry they had a link to more info but the link did not work)


Donnie Avery
Round 2: #33
WR 5'11 190 Houston

If you polled 1,000 draft experts Friday who would be the top wide receiver taken Saturday, exactly 0 would have said Donnie Avery. The Rams must have loved his speed.


John Greco
Round 3: #65
OL 6'5 325 Toledo

The Rams would have likely taken Jake Long with the 2nd overall pick if he was still on the board. They address the OT position with Greco, a third-team All-American.

Justin King
Round 4: #101
CB 6'0 186 Penn State

The Rams get a great value pick here, as most mocks had King going early second round. The Penn State kid had a few fantastic pre-draft workouts, but underperformed a bit in Happy Valley. At 101, this is a no-lose.

Kennan Burton
Round 4: #128
WR 6'2 195 Kentucky

The Rams took receiver Donnie Avery in the second round and now get Burton, another burner with pretty good size. There's a nice crew of receivers in St. Louis, with Avery and Burton joining Torry Holt and Drew Bennett.

Roy Schuening
Round 5: #157
G 6'4 320 Oregon State

I had Schuening going in the late second round, so to see the ultra-productive guard slip to 157 is a bit surprising. The Rams get an outstanding guard with a 6-4, 320 frame.

Chris Chamberlain
Round 7: #228
ILB 6'2 225 Tulsa

Chamberlain played linebacker for the Golden Hurricane, but should be moving to safety for the Rams. Tough kid who hits hard, he set the school single season record last year with 165 tackles. I love this pick

David Vobora
Round 7: #252
OLB 6'1 220 Idaho

Mr. Irrelevant, himself. Vobora was actually quite relevant at Idaho, where he recorded two straight 130- tackle seasons.

[RamsSB99]

IMO they fall into four categories Good, At Least Average, Potential Contributor, and No Hope. They could surpass thier current category but as of now this is how I would rank them. I would say Avery, Greco, and Schuening all have the potential to be good at some point. The others are less likely IMO.

Good:
Long

At Least Average:
Avery
Greco

Potential Contributor:
Schuening
Burton
King

No Hope:
Chamberlin
Vobora

[39thebeast]

WAY TO EARLY, IMO. What have we seen really? King was hurt all year, Schuening was inactive most of the year, Grecco has 1.5 starts, Long had better numbers than Mario Williams his rookie year, Burton and Avery were banged up, but Avery was still the third leading Rookie receiver. Way to early to judge we have barely seen anything.

[Azul e Oro]

I think it's waaay early for any meaningful assessment. Third year is the rule of thumb,right?

Considering the turmoil of last season & the FO regime change, I'd say 4th year is a better sample of the Ram core, such as it is.

So here's a shot at the prior 4 drafts, using SB99's classification, plus ?= jury's still out,??=jury's out but they're testing the gallows,???= no idea yet.

I leave out guys who are no longer with the team or I'd be here all night... Some are FA but until gone,they're Rams to me.

'05/ Barron-Average/Good
Bartell-Good
Atogwe-Avge/Good
Cogs-??/Good

06/ Hill-Pot Cont./avge
Klop-no hope
Wroten-no hope
Adeyanju-Avge
Setterstrom-??

07/Carriker-Average/Good
Leonard-?/Average
Wade-no hope/??
Ryan-Average
Stanley-Pot Cont

08/Long-good
Avery-good
Greco-average/Good
Schuening-???
Burton-pot Cont/Avge
King-???
Chamberlain-Pot Cont/??
Vobora-Pot Cont/??

All in all, this year's group still looks promising.Dunno what Avery needed to do to earn a "Good" grade,SB99. We knew he was going to be a raw route runner.That he didn't catch on as fast as we wanted...well, maybe there WAS a reason why Ellard wasn't retained.

I won't comment on anyone else .the double grades are hard to explain except specifically.Ask if you care..lol
I didn't take into account where picks were made in the draft.A productive player is a productive player once the season starts.Not everyone is a star.

It takes a village,right?

Unfortunately ours has been a village of idiots for a while but I'm surprised at how many promising guys we have drafted and retained, or have a chance to retain in the last couple of years.Not great but much better than the previous 3-4 in general.Throw in a few FAs like McMichael, Bell,Fells,Darby,Stills,Both Browns,Stills,Grant....

What say ye?

[tonyray05]

Can you imagine coming in as a rookie to all of this upheavel on the team, FO etc.
05- was a good draft, 06 average, 07 was a cluster, and 08 was a good draft with promise. We have to remember almost all the FA's were clusters F's also, Spags and Billy D will get it straightened out as long as Chip supports them.

[BarronWade]

Here is how i see them in 2009:

Chris Long- Pro Bowl Reserve
39 tkl 11.5 sacks 2FF

Donnie Avery- Stud
79 rec 1250 yrds 3TDs

John Greco- Average
Becomes starter out of pre-season. Just average nothing great.

Justin King- Below Avereage
11 tkl 0int 1pass def (4th CB)

Keenen Burton- Breakout season (Starter)
57rec 753 yrds 9TDs (becomes Bulger go-to endzone guy)

Roy Scheulling (sp)- back-up guard
Just a back up nothing spectacular.

Chris Chambers- Practice Squad
plays well enough to stay on our practice squad

David Vabora- Back-up MLB
Makes team and becomes #2 MLB.

Future:

Chris Long- Future Hall of Famer
Starts and finishes with the Rams

Donnie Avery-2-time Pro-bowler
Becomes good that makes a couple of pro-bowl however not elite.

John Greco-Starter (RG)
Becomes Rams starter for 5-6 years. Nothing spectacular but Okay.

Justin King- Nickel back CB
Does not become starter. However becomes a great nicklebacker.

Keenan Burton- Good reciver (no pro bowls)
Becomes good but not great.

Roy Scheulling (sp)- back-up guard
Traveling back up guard.

Chis Chamberlain-Scrub
Nothing more than a scrub racks up a total of 2 NFL games

David Vabora- Good depth guy MLB
Becomes well groomed by Spags. Stays for some years as a good backup.

[RamsSB99]

Its never to early to talk about your draft picks and if you are still as excited about their potential as you were when we drafted them. I agree it might be to early to pass judgement on if they will be good or not. The main thing IMO is none of our selections in Rounds 1-5 got a shot and fell on their face. Long, Avery, and Greco had decent first years. I must say I am more optimistic about Avery now then when we picked him and Long helped me feel better about his pick as well. I knew he would work hard and give all out effort but I wondered if he could be a true every down DE and pass rusher at the next level and I think he showed he could. Greco I had hopes for and feel more like he can develop into a starter now then I did then.

[39thebeast]

Here is how i see them in 2009:

Chris Long- Pro Bowl Reserve
39 tkl 11.5 sacks 2FF

Donnie Avery- Stud
79 rec 1250 yrds 3TDs

John Greco- Average
Becomes starter out of pre-season. Just average nothing great.

Justin King- Below Avereage
11 tkl 0int 1pass def (4th CB)

Keenen Burton- Breakout season (Starter)
57rec 753 yrds 9TDs (becomes Bulger go-to endzone guy)

Roy Scheulling (sp)- back-up guard
Just a back up nothing spectacular.

Chris Chambers- Practice Squad
plays well enough to stay on our practice squad

David Vabora- Back-up MLB
Makes team and becomes #2 MLB.

Future:

Chris Long- Future Hall of Famer
Starts and finishes with the Rams

Donnie Avery-2-time Pro-bowler
Becomes good that makes a couple of pro-bowl however not elite.

John Greco-Starter (RG)
Becomes Rams starter for 5-6 years. Nothing spectacular but Okay.

Justin King- Nickel back CB
Does not become starter. However becomes a great nicklebacker.

Keenan Burton- Good reciver (no pro bowls)
Becomes good but not great.

Roy Scheulling (sp)- back-up guard
Traveling back up guard.

Chis Chamberlain-Scrub
Nothing more than a scrub racks up a total of 2 NFL games

David Vabora- Good depth guy MLB
Becomes well groomed by Spags. Stays for some years as a good backup.

there are some optimistic numbers here, but I am almost certain Long will get more than 39 tackles. He had 40 this year

[BarronWade]

there are some optimistic numbers here, but I am almost certain Long will get more than 39 tackles. He had 40 this year

Long might get even less than 39 because we are moving Spoon to WLB. Spoon is a great blitzer and i think he will get many of Long's TFL.

I didnt think they were too optimistic. Maybe the 2 WR numbers were a little too much but with us fill a huge hole at center Bulger can have a pro bowl year again.

[cfh128]

BarronWade I think you are maybe being too hard on Chamberlain. We haven't really seen what he can do at LB, but he was a nice special teams player for us which is nothing to sneeze at given the level our special teams have played in recent memory.

[RockinRam]

BarronWade I think you are maybe being too hard on Chamberlain. We haven't really seen what he can do at LB, but he was a nice special teams player for us which is nothing to sneeze at given the level our special teams have played in recent memory.

Agreed. He most likely won't ever be an elite linebacker, but I don't think he is a "scrub". He could be a decent back-up guy, him and Vobora.



Greco may be more than "okay". It's hard to tell right now, but I think with some more experience, Greco could be pretty solid.

[BarronWade]

Agreed. He most likely won't ever be an elite linebacker, but I don't think he is a "scrub". He could be a decent back-up guy, him and Vobora.



Greco may be more than "okay". It's hard to tell right now, but I think with some more experience, Greco could be pretty solid.

Chamberlain is not a true LB. He is more of a saftey and since the Rams havnt converted him yet it means he wont really do anything important.

[tmbkb8]

Donnie is headed to Canton. No doubt in my mind.

[Shan the Ram Man]

I think picks 1,2 & 3 will all become real good players.
Rd #1: DE C. Long will become a 10 sack a year DE.
Rd #2: WR D. Avery will be agreat #2 WR or slot WR. Not the go to #1 WR.
Rd #3: OT/G John Greco will be a great "G". A so-so OT(will beat out J. Bell for RT spot)
Rd #4: CB Justin King showed promise before injury.(he is why I wouldn't draft a CB in the 2009 draft.)
Rd #4: WR Keenan Burtan. Maybe the #2 WR of the future still have ? ?'s about him.
Rd #5: Guard Roy Scheulling .? ? ? Younger Depth at "G"
Rd #7: Chris Chambers LB
plays well enough to stay on our practice squad

Rd #7: David Vabora- Back-up MLB
Makes team and becomes #2 MLB.
Both LB's in the 7th round are small fast LB's thats what old FO staff preferred. Spags wants to get bigger. These LB's are SS size.

Of coarse thats my opinion. And opinions are like As****es everyone has one.

GO