What the Rams Should Do
by Bruce Raffel on Mar 15, 2010 2:00 PM EDT
65 comments
The St. Louis Rams currently own the top pick in the 2010 NFL Draft and are reportedly looking to use it on Oklahoma's QB, Sam Bradford. While Bradford is in my opinion the best QB in the draft, he is a project and his selection would mean a long learning curve and continued disappointment in the short run at the very least for all Rams fans. I see another route that St. Louis could take, one that might lead to instant success and not for just the short run either. At the same time, they could add some key younger players and have them insure that the team will remain competitive in what is one of the weaker divisions in the NFL.
Here's my vision of what the Rams need to do to automatically thrust themselves into serious contention for the NFC West title and energize their players and fans for what would surely be an exciting 2010 season:
First of all, the rumor is that the Philadelphia Eagles would be willing to part with QB Michael Vick for a second round draft pick. If the Rams trade the Eagles their second round pick, which is almost the 33rd pick of the first round, then they will immediately have the most exciting and athletic QB's in the league on their team. He would be paired with one of the best running backs, Steven Jackson, in the league and together would strike fear into opposing offenses.
Next, the Rams should sign free agent wide receiver Terrell Owens to a contract and could probably get him for relatively low money for two years. Add him to the mix of QB Vick and RB Jackson and you not only have a trio of game breakers but now one of the most exciting offenses in the NFL. Can you imagine Vick handing off to Steven Jackson or roling out to run or look for either TO or wide receiver Donnie Avery?
This still leaves the Rams with the top overall pick in the draft and with that they could take either Nebraska's Ndamukong Suh or Oklahoma's Gerald McCoy, the two best defensive tackles in the draft and immediate impact starters.
A draft that starts with getting an exciting veteran QB that plays in a dome on the fast track of artificial turf combined with the top defensive tackle in the draft, plus a talented and controversial veteran wide receiver would make the St. Lousi fans happy and excite them all the remainder of the oof season, talking about how they plan to unseat the Arizona Cardinals and jump over the other two teams to take the NFC West title after going 1-15 last season.
Regardless of what else they did in the draft, the Rams would be one of the top winners in the off season and on draft day, and perhaps well beyond that.
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Your theory wouldn't really pan out well Bruce,
Vick is not the same player he was before he went to jail. His timing is off, he can’t read the pocket like he used to, and who knows really how accurate he is anymore. Steven Jackson I’m guessing is going to hit the wall for overused RB’s. He’s like Jamal Lewis was for us, great for about 5 years, and then the hits really started adding up. I see tippy toes in his near future, he already lost some of his speed (which wasn’t much to begin with). T. O. is over the hill, he can’t beat press coverage, which was once his greatest asset. He doesn’t have speed anymore, I’m guessing he can still play a jump ball pretty well though. Avery would probably look like Roddy White before he was the Roddy White we know now.
Draft Sam Bradford if you’re St. Louis, you don’t want to pay a DT 12 million a year for the next 5 years. That’s QB money. Second round, get the best player available and start the rebuilding process.
How can you tell
Vick only played in a couple of games last year, much less only a couple of PLAYS. You try sitting out of the game for 2 years, not even PRACTICE, and see how good you are. I bet if you let him get in and play, he’d be back to the old Vick.
T.O. has dropped a lot of passes and lost a step. But he is still a fast tall and smart receiver. Smart as in, he knows how and when to run almost every NFL route out there. He’d be a good solid #2 WR.
I agree with the money aspect on a DT. But you’ve got a good shot of Suh having immediate success, oppossed to Bradford at QB. But you never know i guess.
Much less Bradford's shoulder
and SJax had over 1400 yards, which to me is still a guy who has tread left on the tires. TO is still one of the top 10-15 WR’s in the league and commands defense’s respect and I’d give the money to a DT who will contribute right away as opposed to a QB which may or may not contribute, at least for a few years.
aka 'Rexx'
by Bruce Raffel on Mar 15, 2010 6:09 PM EDT up reply actions
Almost every guy gets injured. Brees had his arm torn off and look what he came back to do. Bradford was the most accurate QB in college(2 years ago) and can read defenses. He’s got what it takes to be a franchise QB. I hope he goes to an NFC team.
Clausen is gonna be Matt Leinart. Teams at the combine said he was pretty much a dick, and didn’t act like a franchise QB.
I think Bradford
was the most polished QB last year and is still the most “pro-ready” of all in the draft, including last year’s #1, Matt Stafford.
aka 'Rexx'
by Bruce Raffel on Mar 16, 2010 4:18 PM EDT up reply actions
I'm with you Blitz
Completely agree. Clausen has Leinart written all over him. Clausen has had a sense of entitlement from the minute he step on the Notre Dame campus to now. I also don’t see the big-time arm needed to be elite in the NFL. He has to put to much air under his deep ball.
I think the lions should have drafted Curry last year and waited one more year for Bradford.
The night is darkest right before the dawn
by Baltimore Warrior on Mar 16, 2010 9:43 PM EDT up reply actions
You know
I agree. Curry was the best player in last years draft. He had no flaws in his game coming out of Wake. Stafford was junior and they tend to struggle in the NFL early. The pressure to take these QB’s #1 must be enormous for NFL FO’s.
Steven jackson isn’t slow at all. I think you are just assuming that because he is a big RB. I’ve seen him outrun people plenty of times (and catch people after whoever the Rams QB was has thrown an interception, haha)
Jackson is a freaking monster. Top 5 RB in this league, no argument. His incredible play is shadowed by that crappy team. He is the only threat on that team last year and was still dominating everyone.
You have to hate losing more than you love winning.
Jackson had 4 tds and 1400 yards...
Dominating? He’s still good, I was just saying he’s due to hit a wall, he was over used like Lewis, Larry Johnson, Shaun Alexander, LT, etc. Jackson’s slow days are coming, this year or the year after.
Vick I don’t think he’ll ever be the same again. His pocket presence was uncanny before he left. After two years it’s got to be hard to get that timing back. He definitly did not have it this year.
Well whether the Jackson, Vick, Owens formula would work of not, you can’t deny that it would sell tickets. And maybe even grab some of our attention for reasons other than having a good laugh.
"I kill myself in small amounts"
by StuckInUtah on Mar 15, 2010 4:11 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
For Jackson to have 1400 yards
when EVERYOB+NE new he was their entire offense, shows a lot left in the tank. Remember, that team was QB’d by Kyle Boller!
aka 'Rexx'
by Bruce Raffel on Mar 15, 2010 6:10 PM EDT up reply actions
They also play in the NFC (west?) which has no run defenses(SF is alright) and generally crappy teams. Boller only did start about 2 games, before they realised he was…. Boller.
Boller was consistent
he was as horrible for the rams as he was for us. Some of the highlights that I saw on ESPN made me wincde and actually feel a little bad for him. But then I remembered the hell he put my passion through and then didn’t feel so bad for him.
aka 'Rexx'
by Bruce Raffel on Mar 16, 2010 4:20 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
I say get Suh.
Spagnulo was so successful with that defense in New York because his D-Line was so good. They would have Suh, Chris Long and Adam Carriker, all first round picks, playing D-Line for them. You build your team from the inside out and they already made moves at O-Line.
I think they could take a guy like McCoy, Tebow or Pike in the 2nd or 3rd rounds. I am not big on Bradford. Clausen might be alright in the right system.
You have to hate losing more than you love winning.
They should go with a QB at #1 overall
I prefer Clausen, but if they like Bradford that is fine too. Vick might be able to help out now, but he’s not a franchise QB anymore. Even if he can play at his old level this year, he won’t be able to for very long, so the Rams would lose their QB just as they might add the other final pieces for contention. They have already invested a lot of money in D-Line (Carriker and Long) and O-Line (Jason Smith), I just thinking adding more to that would be foolish. Besides, this DT class is pretty deep, they could probably get a capable DT at the top of the second that wouldn’t be that much worse than Suh. Outside of Bradford and Clausen, there is no one that could be a franchise QB in this years draft.
Now some people might think, “The Rams can wait to take a QB next year if they take Suh now.” Well, they can’t because if Suh is that good, he just might cause them to win 5-6 games, in which case they would be out of the top 10 next year and out of the range for a franchise QB. Also, QBs typically need time to develop (Ryan and Flacco are exceptions) so that would still be delaying a return to competition by a year.
The Rams should get the QB, let him learn, play him a little towards the end of the year so he can get used to NFL game speed, then surround him with as much talent as possible next year.
Vivk is still young and certainly rested
after rarely getting hit the past three years (ther than in the showers in jail!). He is such a freak athlete, he still can outrun most other players and has a great arm, strength. I bet he can still throw it out of the stadium like he did in the Gatorade commercial. Wait…that wasn’t real?
aka 'Rexx'
by Bruce Raffel on Mar 15, 2010 6:12 PM EDT up reply actions
Kudos
Far-fetched, but incredible idea. Nothing would excite the city of St. Louis more. Although, I envision 2 losses to start the season, and a complete collapse of T.O.’s effort.
Kudos
Far-fetched, but incredible idea. Nothing would excite the city of St. Louis more. Although, I envision 2 losses to start the season, and a complete collapse of T.O.’s effort.
Such a good story that you had to comment twice?
Such a good story that you had to comment twice?
aka 'Rexx'
by Bruce Raffel on Mar 15, 2010 6:13 PM EDT up reply actions
Rams Canundrum
The direction that the Rams take relative to this draft will tell us what’s more important———winning now or three years from now. If the Rams use the first overall pick on Bradford (like I believe they will) then it buy’s more time (job security) for Spags and Devaney. They can tell the fan base “were waiting on the kid QB”———it could sell——-some.
The problem is that the move is the wrong move on so many levels.
1. Vick is available and would instantly upgrade the QB position the minute he steps off
the plane in St. Louis. Vick has a winning record behind center 38-28-1.
2. Steven Jackson is not getting any younger. Jackson needs to be surrounded with
better players to win and the Rams have stated publicly that Jackson is not for sale.
3. If the Rams continue to remain terrible the fan base will stop supporting the
Franchise—-not a good thing for the job security of the Brass.
4. The NFC is the weakest division football. The talent drain in Arizona coupled with the
lack of established QB’s in Arizona ,San Fran and Seatlle means “progress” can be
made in the win column.
5. The Rams OL is among the worst in the NFL surpassed by the Chicago OL only.
Bradford or any other immobile QB would get killed.
A Vick/Steven Jackson pairing would force the backside DE and WLB to sit allowing the ground game to flouish because Vick’s mobility has to be respected ala Vince Young and Chris Johnson and thereby taking some pressure off Jackson.
All supporting my point
Play to win now or wait until Jackson is too old to benefit from the three headed option of Vick, S-Jax and TO. Whoa, talk about highlight reels and sportstalk radio blowing up in St. Louis!
aka 'Rexx'
by Bruce Raffel on Mar 15, 2010 6:14 PM EDT up reply actions
You should be the Rams GM
He’s not doing a very good job. Bruce do you think a team is going to give up a 2nd rounder for Vick? I don’t. A 3rd or 4th rounder maybe? Not saying he’s not worth it.
I don’t think he is worth it. You gotta be a starter to get a deal like that. I think Brady Quinn is a better passer than Vick and he was just traded for some very low picks.
You have to hate losing more than you love winning.
You may right
It is very telling that Delhomme and Quinn got jobs and Vick is still property of the Eagles. GM’s and personnel types obviously see it your way or the Eagles got offers and are holding out for their price. It will be interesting to see how this unfolds in Philly.
Sorry, Bruce. Vick was awesome in his prime, but his game hinged on his elite athleticism. He doesn’t have that anymore.
The following is a quote from a NFL scout who watch all 64 snaps that Vick took with the Eagles:
"He can’t throw," the scout said. "A guy could be open 20 yards downfield and he’ll throw it 25. He never could throw, but he was fast before. It’s not like he’s slow now but he doesn’t stick out like, ‘Wow, this guy is faster than everybody.’"
I don't get it
I’m not sure how a guy can be so thouroughly evaluated base on such a limited amount of snaps and playing time. By all accounts Vick was the third sring QB in Phily and so got very little “reps” with the first team or second team for that matter. You would need at least a full game of film to determine if a QB has “it” or not in my opinion.
The QB position is a rhythm and timing position. You can’t develop any as a situational player at the position.
The few times I saw Vick
he looked faster than everyone else on the field and threw with a rocket of an arm. Give the guy a full training camp with all the reps and snaps and he will be right back near enough to where he was that he still will be a handful for opposing defenses for quite a few years.
aka 'Rexx'
by Bruce Raffel on Mar 16, 2010 4:21 PM EDT up reply actions
Not the Vick I and (many others) saw
Maybe your limited viewing was only his few highlights and not the whole picture.
He played so sparingly
his highlights were most of his playing time. He is still one of the best athletes in the league, if there was such a test to compare.
aka 'Rexx'
by Bruce Raffel on Mar 16, 2010 7:32 PM EDT up reply actions
they need people
sell the pick for as many picks as they can get in the first and 2nd round.
Give me an offensive line or give me death!
Bruce, I love you...
But this makes no sense to me. TO is a horrible teammate and no longer has the hands/speed to be effective. If you want to fix the Rams…imho…
1.) Trade Steven Jackson for a 1st round pick. He only has 1-2 years left, so no point on holding onto him
2.) Draft Bradford and Spiller….
"I am excited about starting 2009. We are looking forward to an outstanding year. We're on our way. We have a lot of healthy players this year." - Vinny Cerrato
by Kevin Ewoldt on Mar 15, 2010 6:11 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs
Then sit back and wait
for 3-5 years then hope the picks pan out and meanwhile watch SF, Seattle and Arizona fight for the NFC West title and a playoff berth.
Sorry, not for me. Win now, baby!
aka 'Rexx'
by Bruce Raffel on Mar 15, 2010 6:15 PM EDT up reply actions
"Win now, baby!"
Haha, Dicky V, this isn’t March Madness.
Trade Jackson, get what you can for him (hopefully a first). Draft Bradford first overall (he immediately might be the best QB in the division) and start the re-building efforts. The coaches and GM’s will automatically get to come back for next year too then. If the Vick, TO, Jackson trades happened, and didn’t work out, they’d all be out of a job.
Not so easy to accept
for Rams fans that had to endure the past few years and now say to them they will have to wait a few more, with no promises?
aka 'Rexx'
by Bruce Raffel on Mar 16, 2010 4:22 PM EDT up reply actions
And they would accept a TO and Vick Bandaid for 3 years?
You are really over valuing these guys impacts IMO. Go ask a Rams blog and see what they think but I feel the majority would be against your proposed plan.
A majority would not go for it
but since when is the majority always right?
aka 'Rexx'
by Bruce Raffel on Mar 16, 2010 7:33 PM EDT up reply actions
I'm not so sure that most of them wouldn't be ok with that
I think Rams fans are ready for any reason to be able to actually look forward to watching a Rams game. Jackson already is fun to watch, but it has to be hard to watch your team win 2-3 games year after year.
"I kill myself in small amounts"
What about Jeff Garcia?
Did he die or something? I like your plan Bruce. With TO, Jackson, and Vick, the Rams might rival the most douchebaggy team in the league. The Eagles better be trying to trade Vick, they are stupid to keep him. I agree, the Rams need to win now before all their fans leave and they become Dem Bums of football. If they are bought, they should move to Mexico City like I used to do in Madden. They have a ridiculous amount of fans down there, just saying.
by PurpleNorangeNbeer on Mar 16, 2010 10:22 AM EDT reply actions
He's just really old now
I don’t see him reinvent himself again for a 3rd time.
Give me an offensive line or give me death!
by Generzal Zod on Mar 16, 2010 12:11 PM EDT up reply actions
Jeff Garcia
There are two reason that Jeff Garcia’s name does not come up in conversation when someone needs a QB.
1. He can only play in a short passing game system (West Coast). This limits his market.
2. He wants the opportunity to compete to be the starter. GM’s are relunctant to bring Garcia on
board because they know he can be a disruptive force in the lockerrom. He speak out
to the media about his frustrations and he has “friends” in the media that will spin his action
as a guy just wanting to compete. Not a good for the younger players in the facility.
SJax for a 1st?
You are dreaming. there is no trade market for RB’s out there, at best you get a late 2nd rounder. There are too many good RB’s out there. Look what Thomas Jones signed for, 2 yrs 5 million, and he is not much older than Jackson. People go for youth and cheap players at RB cuz there is plenty to go around. Jax would at best be worth 2 3rd rounders like the Ravens paid for Willis 3 years ago.
On another note, Vick would never get traded for a 2nd. As an unproven commodity, with alot of upside, Matt Schaub was only traded for a 2nd rounder. Vick is even less of a known commodity as Schaub, plus he is not a pocket passer, which is the direction the league is going. The smarter path would be to go with Mcnabb, who although the Eagles say they want a 1st rounder for him, they would probably accept a high 2nd rounder. I would much rather pay a 31 year old Mcnabb big money (which the team would have to give bradford if they drafted him), and give up a 2nd rounder, than use the same money to pay bradford who is far from a certain thing, and will take at least 1, likely 2 years to develop. If you draft Bradford, you also risk him flaming out behind a subpar OL and with a barely decent WR corp, ala David Carr, Joey Harrington and many more. That is 2 years of crappy production from your #1 pick and no guarantee he will pan out, vs. 2-4 years of mcnabb left at a high level, for a 2nd rounder.
No brainer to me!
If you want to save money on your draft pick, play them against each other like the texans did with super mario. Tell Suh, McCoy and Berry you are interested in all of them, but the biggest factor is gonna be price, and bargain with them all til you get the price you like. Berry has the most to lose, being that he could slide out of the top 5. We will see.
by Rayisyourdaddy on Mar 16, 2010 12:37 PM EDT reply actions
The Eagles need a DT like McCoy or Suh in the worst way
Swapping 1st and 2nd round picks for McNabb and giving them a 3rd might get it done. Shurmur knows McNabb from Philly.
Basically there is no way to fix a team like that in one draft, so pick one side of the ball and start there. Martz
Give me an offensive line or give me death!
by Generzal Zod on Mar 16, 2010 1:39 PM EDT up reply actions
NFW the Rams trade their 1st for just McNabb
They could probably trade their 2nd for Donovan. However, I wouldn’t trade the #1 overall unless I got another #1 and at least a player as well.
aka 'Rexx'
by Bruce Raffel on Mar 16, 2010 4:24 PM EDT up reply actions
Insanity
A second rounder for Vick is nuts, as well as signing TO for a team like the Rams. They would not compete with those guys so why deal with the PR hit and headaches they are likely to bring. All that would do is push their rebuilding process back 2-3 more years. They need to take a young QB to mature as they fill in holes elsewhere over the next few years.
Fine then
a 3rd rounder for Vick, and don’t forget how dangerous he can be in a dome on turf. Fans would love the show and the drama with those guys. As said in Field of Dreams, “people will come, Ray, people will most definitely come.”
aka 'Rexx'
by Bruce Raffel on Mar 16, 2010 7:35 PM EDT up reply actions
I don’t know. I’m not a fan of the “win now” mentality. It usually ends up being the “win never” mentality. The only way to be successful in the NFL is to build the team through the draft and only use free agents to fill in needs here and there. Teams that splurge to win now are never, never successful. Name one team that wastes money in free-agency and is successful long-term.
Here’s the problem: The great teams are great because they’ve built winning franchises based on sound principles that have been implemented over several seasons. Teams that want to buy a championship can never be as good as these teams (I shouldn’t even need to defend this point). Therefore, a team that wastes money in free agency may have a good regular season here and there but the will always be knock out of the playoffs by the great teams that have been smart and discipled year-in and year-out. The bad news for the impatient, imprudent team is that all of that spending to win now hamstrings them in future drafts, free agency and consequently, the regular season. What did they achieve? They may have bought a few good regular season records but have not won any championships and sabotaged their future plans (probably getting their GM and coaches fired in the process).
by BAL_Hawk on Mar 17, 2010 10:32 AM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
Teams that want to buy a championship can never be as good as these teams (I shouldn’t even need to defend this point). Therefore, a team that wastes money in free agency may have a good regular season here and there but the will always be knock out of the playoffs by the great teams that have been smart and discipled year-in and year-out
Bull-crap, Yankees do it every year.
The night is darkest right before the dawn
by Baltimore Warrior on Mar 17, 2010 8:49 PM EDT up reply actions
What should the Rams do?
Not be the Rams……
The night is darkest right before the dawn
by Baltimore Warrior on Mar 16, 2010 10:15 PM EDT via mobile reply actions 1 recs
I just think the rams should draft the best player which most say is suh . The fact is that they have lots of holes to fill and just are not that good. They need to take the best player and continue to rebuild. They will probably be in or around this same position next year and could have a shot at jake locker, who I would take over any of these QB’s. They don’t stand a chance at competing and just need to take the strongest player who has the least chance to flop.
Hard to believe that Ravens fans would advise against getting a solid QB.
For long term success, the Rams need a very good QB. Either Clausen [the better pick IMO] or Bradford will give them that chance.
The Rams offence is getting worse every year. 2007 -16.4 points per game; 2008 – 14.5 ; 2009 – 10.9 !!!
Defensive players will not help that. Vick is not a viable starting QB. He was barely adequate before he was suspended and sent to prison for multiple cruelty to animal offences. Now? The Rams need a long term fix at QB or they will be back again……at the bottom……trying to figure out how to resolve their QB problem.
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