Why the Rams Draft was a Failure

[shower beers]

You take him Round 2. There are 20-30 TE's that can do what Kendricks does.

are there not 20-30 BACKUP running backs that can come in and play 6-8 snaps a game for us? I'm not entirely sure why you're so confident that drafting LeShoure will suddenly give our offense the explosiveness it has been missing? Kendricks will likely be our starting tight end. The same cannot be said for LeShoure in this situation.

[mikhal5569]

Lance Kendricks will more then likely start for the Rams. Why pick a running back in the second who will barely see playing time?

[BrokenWing]

I think alot of people are looking at the WRs we took and saying "but these aren't #1 receiver type guys and they're just like everyone else we have."

This isn't true...ok well the first part is true, the second part is not. We didn't have many (or any?) big receivers and the only receivers we had that people knew for their hands were Clayton and Amendola, everyone else on our team was basically known for dropping the ball. Now we have two guys who are big, physical receivers known for making catches in traffic. Heck, we even have one who is basically known for doing nothing but scoring TDs in the red zone, something we are known for *not* doing. Are these guys flashy, are they going to break past DBs and run into the end zone from our end zone? No. But they are going to help in areas of the offense where we really needed help...scoring points and catching passes.

[Richbert88]

..........and Chris Long is a bust, has been for several years!


:-)

[general counsel]

The people on this board value the rams existing wide receivers more highly than the coaching staff does. That is a reality of our draft. Clayton (who is not even on the roster) and Avery are coming off major reconstructive surgery. Alexander is one step away from having his career end. Everyone loves Danny (including me), but he is neither big nor fast and while he has good hands, his yards per catch last year was pretty low and while i want him to be back, it doesnt mean that he cant be upgraded. Robinson showed me essentially nothing. Gilyard can't learn the playbook. The tricky one is gibson, who still has upside. We will see how he does in camp.

I love the running back Leshure. To me however, it was a luxury we couldnt afford right now. We need more and BETTER weapons for Sam and thats what we got. Leshure is a pure 100% backup. He does not give us a better weapon than we have in The Big Boy and unlike the tight end situation, only one back is going to carry the ball at a time.

Rather than second guess on the running, back, if you want to second guess in the second round, i think its a stronger argument to say that stephen paea was a position of need and a good value. However, i am not going to substitute my judgment of how good the guy is vs. Kendricks for that of the professionals who have studied countless hours of film and done the interviews. Some people on this board act as if Spags and Billy D are Helen Keller when it comes to identifying the team needs. Like Spags doesnt know that we need help at defensive tackle? Of course he knows it. They liked kendrick better than any available defensive tackle. So be it.

Remember how many people bashed the bartell and pisa picks in round 2 in years past because they were not on the "experts" lists of value guys at that spot? The way some people on this board bash away you would think that every team in the nfl fills its needs with only high value pick in every draft! Amazing.

ramming speed to all

general counsel

[Rammed]

rich I love your style of posting although I disagree with them most of the time, but you completely missed the ball on this post.

This really sounds like a crying baby: they didn't pick my guys!

Especially the part you quoted about BD, competely sweeps most of your arguments of the table (RB back up).
They tried didn't find value and that gave you and everybody an insight of how they choose their players.

I don't have a lot of trust in "experts on whatever website" but it's quite hard to overlook that almost ALL of them grade the Rams as having a B-A draft.

Love how you usually stir up this forum with a well founded and refreshing differenet kind of view, but again you kinda missed here in my opinion

[richtree]

Nobody wanted Kendricks, Pettis, or Salas before the draft. If they went to any other team in the NFL we wouldn't consider them an asset or threat to the Rams, but since they are now on our team....they are magically good pickups...

I actually like Pettis and think he will really help....Kendricks and Salas will be lucky to contribute at all this season.

[Rammed]

You like those picks because they fit a scheme. It's not always about filling a need. Like the picks in this draft could ever fill all our needs, no we took everything our 50 mil. Bradford was missing last season. I can't understand how you and many others can't see that.

[Azul e Oro]

Well, glad everyone has an opinion, but my view is of a failure. The main reason is to win more football games. In this day and age you cannot wait to develop guys. If you want a elite Running Back that slips to Round 2 --YOU POUNCE ON HIM AND HOPE YOUR TE IS THERE IN ROUND 3.

Here is a tidbit:

Appearing on ESPN 101 St. Louis Monday, Rams GM Billy Devaney revealed that he tried to trade up for a running back in the draft.

We suspect it was Illinois RB Mikel Leshoure, who went 57th overall to the Lions -- after Detroit traded up. Devaney also revealed that the Rams held a Monday morning team meeting about this very subject, of finding a No. 2 running back to take some of the workload from Steven Jackson. Free agent targets may include Ronnie Brown, Clinton Portis, and Cadillac Williams.

LeShoure was 'elite" ? Raw in pass pro & pass catching was what I remember reading. A trade up to get Ingram I'd believe & could have been excited about(depends on the price), but not LeShoure. He most certainly would have needed time to develop as a guy you could deploy with SJ or as straight back-up & not tip your hand about who was likely to be doing what, never mind doing it well.

I don't see anyone on The Rams @ TE who can do everything as well as Kendricks demonstrated he can in college. The Rams have inconsistent/injury prone jacks-of-all-trades & athletes who fit the TE body type. Hard for me not to see LK as a probable game 1 starter in our situation & very likely to be a major upgrade at the spot( watch his vids) vs a poor man's version of our current starting RB(LeShoure) or a very expensive (look how much the Whiners gave up for their QB) twin/possible successor(Ingram).

Isn't that the bottom line for a Rd2 pick? Get a starter who is an upgrade over last year's guy? Especially on a team that probably still only has a half dozen guys who'd seriously compete for starter spots on the best teams.

[dave626]

I like the draft, we will be using 2 TEs alot it looks like, but we needed a pass rusher no matter how you slice it and now we have one , , , hopefully he hasnt show anything yet.

[richtree]

I understand your passion for our team and supporting the organization but our drafts are consistently below average in round 3-7. We draft 2 TE's last year, and another this year. DX was a blessing that he lived close enough to St. Louis that he was our first choice.

No matter how you cut it the Rams are one of the worst franchises in the off-season for the past 8 years.

We couldn't mess up Bradford....other than that we haven't done a good job.

[Rammed]

Yes because our only good pick in the last 3 BD drafts was Sam Bradford.


Incredible who so many fans go insane when their guys aren´t picked and then go on tilt.


I´m not gonna sum up all the crybaby picks of the recent two drafts that worked out completely fine (great even) but damn at some point even the harshest critics would get some sense.

[r8rh8rmike]

The draft is a dynamic process. Nothing is set in stone, with decisions changing round by round and pick by pick. You're not always going to get what you want, when you want. You've got to roll with the punches and make decisions based on a multitude of factors. None of us know what those factors were or how they affected the decisions made, so it's impossible to judge whether the draft was successful or a failure. The Rams brain trust made the picks they felt would best benefit the team given the ebb and flow of the draft, so we're all just going to have to sit back and see how it plays out and whether the pieces fall into place. Only then can any type of realistic assessment be made.

[Nick]

Rather than spend the time going point by point through this one, I’ll simply say this: judging a team’s draft as a failure less than 72 hours after the draft is over is an absolute farce. Using improvable arguments like, “__________ could have been available later” just shows a person is reaching for whatever criticism they can think of, regardless of logic. Rather than getting upset and huffy because the Rams passed on bigger name prospects, I’d consider spending the time examining why they might have done so. When you look at the players the Rams were interested in and ultimately drafted, it’s pretty clear. But if the only opinion on these prospects that matters to you is your own, and you’re unwilling to even consider the idea that teams in this league may have had a different and equally legitimate if not more accurate opinion, then obviously you’re not going to be satisfied, and probably never will be.

[richtree]

Nick ...you are right...I won't be satisfied with another 8-8 or 7-9 season.....

The one thing I think the Rams can do is sign some free agents that went undraft and round out these positions:

OLB, RB#2, Safety, Guard, DT -- With this draft having depth I do believe we can fill some needs here....