The Official Rams 2011 Season Thread

[NGSeiler]

The season's over, so let's start a new thread for the off-season of 2011.

NFL Draft

R1: Robert Quinn, DE, North Carolina
R2: Lance Kendricks, TE, Wisconsin
R3: Austin Pettis, WR, Boise State
R4: Greg Salas, WR, Hawaii
R5: Jermale Hines, DB, Ohio State
R7: Mikail Baker, DB, Baylor
R7: Jabara Williams, LB, Stephen F. Austin
R7: Jonathan Nelson, DB, Oklahoma

Rams Free Agents

LB Chris Chamberlain (RFA)
WR Mark Clayton (UFA)
DB Kevin Dockery (UFA)
TE Daniel Fells (UFA)
OT Renardo Foster (RFA)
DT Gary Gibson (UFA)
OG Adam Goldberg (UFA)
OG John Greco (RFA)
DT Chris Hovan (UFA)
TE Darcy Johnson (UFA)
DB Michael Lewis (UFA)
WR Laurent Robinson (UFA)
DT Clifton Ryan (UFA)
TE Derek Schouman (UFA)
LB David Vobora (RFA)

Additions

DB Quintin Mikell (Eagles)
OG Harvey Dahl (Falcons)
LB Zach Diles (Texans)
WR Mike Sims-Walker
DT Justin Bannan

Departures

FS O.J. Atogwe

[Beano]

Shame if he's gone for good, I'll live in hope that we re-sign him, just to save us finding a replacement, I don't really like the idea of having to find another starter via draft/FA, especially with the CBA issues.

If that is it for Atogwe and the Rams, he's the type of guy I'll still cheer for, within reason.

[holt_bruce81]

I've heard that OJ will be meeting with the Redskins tomorrow. I'm hoping the Rams can work something out, at a reasonable price. No way is he worth the 11.5 million he would of made.

[holt_bruce81]

What are some players you're interested in watching at the Combine this week?

Some gus I'll be closely watching....

1. Julio Jones WR
2. Aldon Smith DE
3. Torrey Smith WR
4. Titus Young WR
5. Adrian Clayborne DE
6. Tyler Sash S
7. Ryan Kerrigan DE
8. Rahim Moore S
9. Robert Quinn DE
10. Corey Liuget DT

[tfry]

Originally Posted by holt_bruce81

What are some players you're interested in watching at the Combine this week?

Some gus I'll be closely watching....

1. Julio Jones WR
2. Aldon Smith DE
3. Torrey Smith WR
4. Titus Young WR
5. Adrian Clayborne DE
6. Tyler Sash S
7. Ryan Kerrigan DE
8. Rahim Moore S
9. Robert Quinn DE
10. Corey Liuget DT

Offense -
Pretty much all the receivers. I'll also be interested in watching those mid-round backs like Murry, Hunter, Thomas, Williams, etc.

Defense -
This has got to be one of the deepest DE drafts of all time. Smith, Jordan, Kerrigan, Quinn, Watts, yada yada yada...I'll be really excited to see those workouts. I'll also have an eye on the OLB position...particularly Akeem Ayers who has been a popular mock pick for us. Now with Otogwe possibly gone, we will need to look at a safety earlier than expected.

[holt_bruce81]

http://interact.stltoday.com/discuss...0218111348/all

Originally Posted by Billy Devaney on Bob Sanders

We talked about it. We'll see where it goes. But right no, probably not. But we're not closing the door.

Originally Posted by Billy Devaney on FS Dorian Stewart

I thought he showed a lot of promise last year when he was on the field. He's got a lot of upside and we expect him to make a big jump this season.

Originally Posted by Billy Devaney on G John Greco

We're all still extremely high on John. He's had a run of bad luck with injuries. But when he's played, he's played well. He can be a big part of the o-line this year.

Originally Posted by Billy Devaney on DB's in the draft

In terms of talented defensive backs being availabe in say the second round...I would say, yes. And I'm already drooling over one guy.

Originally Posted by Billy Devaney on Aldon Smith and Adrian Clayborn

Both are outstanding prospects.

Originally Posted by Billy Devaney on Jacquizz Rodgers

I'm not going to committ to what round "Quizz" will go, but he's gonna be the topic of long discussion in many teams' draft rooms. He's a peanut, but he is a special player.

Originally Posted by Billy Devaney on drafting a WR at #14

I would say there's no way we feel we absolutely have to draft any position at 14. Like I said earlier, the board will take us to our pick. As for signing a veteran WR as opposed to drafting one, it's hard to say without knowing the names. There are pros and cons to each.

[/quote]

very interesting

[Beano]

Don't like the idea of a safety tandem of Stewart and Dahl/Butler at all. In fact it scares the crap out of me. But saying that, I wouldn't waste time on Bob Sanders either, unless you get him incredibly cheap.

Greco is interesting, think he has played well this past year when given his chance, but was it a big enough sample size to feel comfortable with him as the starter? Could work out, but I'd still say there's a risk involved.

Taking another DB in the top 3 rounds of the draft? That would concern me. I thought Fletcher did pretty well last year considering he lost a lot of time his rookie year and that injury was pretty nasty. Murphy has barely shown a thing. If there was a guy with incredible value then I'd say go for it, but I'd still rather Bruce Carter (assuming he tests fine after the surgery) in the 2nd.

Thanks for posting them though, they were very interesting indeed.

[NGSeiler]

Yeah, not a fan of a Stewart/Dahl safety combo. To me, Stewart is a better fit on the strong side anyways.

Julio Jones' outstanding combine performance may push him up boards and out of reach for the Rams, which is disappointing. It's possible the Rams miss out on Jones in Round One, then miss out Smith or Hankerson in Round Two.

There could be a nice DE there for the taking, though. Aldon Smith or Cameron Jordan would be intriguing options, if available and Jones isn't on the board.

[holt_bruce81]

I think my top 5 would be....

1. Julio Jones
2. Prince Amukamara
3. Aldon Smith
4. Adrian Clayborn
5. Corey Liuget

[Beano]

Mine would be...

J.Jones
A.Smith
JJ.Watt
C.Liuget
C.Jordan

I wouldn't mind the idea of trading down if Jones is gone though, I think we would have the chance to grab at least one of the others later and grab another pick or two.

[NGSeiler]

Assuming Bowers, Fairley, Green, Peterson, Dareus, Quinn, Amukamara, and Miller are off the board, my Top Five would probably be...

1) J. Jones
2) A. Smith
3) C. Jordan
4) R. Kerrigan
5) A. Ayers


I'm not huge on Clayborn or Liuget at the 14-spot, personally, but I can understand those who would rank them there.

[NGSeiler]

Oh, and BTW, Atogwe just signed a multi-year deal with the Redskins. :(

[Beano]

Originally Posted by NGSeiler

Oh, and BTW, Atogwe just signed a multi-year deal with the Redskins. :(

Gutted. Definitely not going to be the same without him, for whatever flaws he may have had, and most were no way near as big as some made out imo, we're certainly going to miss the amount of turnovers he forced and his blitzing. Will always appreciate the effort he put in during the very dark times of recent past.

Guess it could mean another hole to fill, could move one of the CB's to safety, either way we'll probably need some DB help in the draft, although some would suggest we needed it already.

[holt_bruce81]

I don' think Atogwe's loss is that big.

He gets turnovers and was a leader in the locker room, but he made bucketloads of mistakes, not a great tackler, not good in coverage and his interceptions weren't really good game skills just good fortune imo, Tipped passes right to him etc.

I think we can easily replace him.

[Beano]

Originally Posted by holt_bruce81

I don' think Atogwe's loss is that big.

He gets turnovers and was a leader in the locker room, but he made bucketloads of mistakes, not a great tackler, not good in coverage and his interceptions weren't really good game skills just good fortune imo, Tipped passes right to him etc.

I think we can easily replace him.

Disagree with a bit of that, think it's being a bit harsh. As for easily replacing him, who do you have in mind?

[NGSeiler]

Originally Posted by holt_bruce81

I don' think Atogwe's loss is that big.

He gets turnovers and was a leader in the locker room, but he made bucketloads of mistakes, not a great tackler, not good in coverage and his interceptions weren't really good game skills just good fortune imo, Tipped passes right to him etc.

I think we can easily replace him.

I'm rather confused when fans display this kind of analysis of Atogwe. Sure, he wasn't elite. But he was clearly the best safety on this team, and arguably the best or second best DB, depending on where you stand on Bartell. Now the Rams are going to either have to replace him with [a] Darian Stewart, [b] a free agent whom is going to be a downgrade (unless his name is Weddle), or [c] a draft pick that could have been spent addressing another need area on this team.

And who knows if any of those guys are going to be better than O.J. was. James Butler was supposed to be the solution to the Rams' hole at strong safety; I remember liking the signing at the time because of his fit and familiarity with Spags' system. Yet Butler has struggled and isn't even a starter. So much for system fit. Frankly, I think fans who are ambivalent about Atogwe's departure may be forgetting the days when Kim Herring, Jason Sehorn, and Rich Coady lined up as this team's starting free safety.

Personally, I'm not looking forward to going back to uncertainty at the position. Given the fact that the Rams are entering Year Three of the DeSpags era and still have a hole at strong safety, I'm not entirely sure how much confidence to put in this team's ability to find a replacement who is just as good if not better than the player they just let walk.

[JMAX12]

who are some players that you would like the rams to take on day two, or even later?
with all this talk about safety what if rahim moore drops to us?
i personally really hope we end up with 'quizz rodgers

[holt_bruce81]

Originally Posted by JMAX12

who are some players that you would like the rams to take on day two, or even later?
with all this talk about safety what if rahim moore drops to us?
i personally really hope we end up with 'quizz rodgers

The two safeties I really like in this draft are Tyler Sash and Quinton Carter.

Another guy I like is Bruce Carter the outside line backer from North Carolina who has first round talent but a torn ACL and the inability to do any workouts before the draft could push him down in the draft to that late 2nd-early 3rd round range.

[bigfreak314]

Originally Posted by JMAX12

who are some players that you would like the rams to take on day two, or even later?
with all this talk about safety what if rahim moore drops to us?
i personally really hope we end up with 'quizz rodgers

One guy I like in the 3rd or 4th would be DeAndre McDaniels, I got a feeling a lot of good safeties are going to slide, not one seems really spectacular. Morris I like but he might be a late 2nd rd guy . A late round prospect i like is Keo out of Idaho. He should be worth a look in the 6th or 7th. Also there is a good chance a RB like Murray or Williams could slide to day 3 b/c of past injuries. The rams need somebody to share the load with Jackson, we seen what happened to guys like Eddie George who gets run into the ground.

[holt_bruce81]

Scott updated his mock draft.

He has the Rams taking Julio Jones the Receiver from Alabama in round one, and Danny Watkins the Offensive Guard from Baylor in round two.

Thoughts?

[ramsfan2005813]

No problems with the Julio Jones pick. If he's there I believe the Rams take him. While guard is a need I don't see the Rams passing up either Christian Ballard or Rahim Moore as both defensive tackle and safety are arguably bigger needs. That said on the Danny Watkins pick, even though he is a great player with all the attributes they need in a guard (athletic, strong, physical) I cannot see them taking a 27-year-old rookie, which makes him older than John Greco, who coaches/officials are still interested in developing.

[NGSeiler]

I did a Rams mock in early February that had this combination, so I'm down with a Jones/Watkins two-round combo. Both areas are needs and in both instances the Rams are taking one of the best players available.

With Moore, my concern would be whether he's versatile enough for Spags' system, as Spags seems to prefer someone who can both cover but also get up in the box and make some plays. As for Ballard vs. Watkins, I'd probably take the 2nd or 3rd best interior OL prospect over, say, the 12th best DL prospect.

If it were Paea or Liuget there, then I think you'd have to go DL. But I'm not so impressed by Ballard that I'd pass on someone like Watkins, who has really flashed some ability and would immediately improve the Rams' weak interior.

[Beano]

I could get on board with Jones then Watkins. Would concern me that we'd still have to fill the FS, DT and WLB starter spots in the 3rd round onwards. However, if you offered me that draft right now, I'd be seriously tempted to take it. Guess it would depend on how high they actually are on Greco.

[holt_bruce81]

Man looking at the Mock draft again it sure would be nice to have Bruce Carter or Martez Wilson slide down a few spots! :)

But with if the draft falls like Scott has it, I think Watkins is probably the best choice. The only two other players I would want are Rahim Moore or Mikel Leshoure.

[Beano]

I'm huge on Bruce Carter, Jones then Carter would probably be my ideal draft for the first 2 rounds. There's obviously a bit of a risk there (you could argue on both considering the amount of niggly things Jones has gone through at Alabama), but I loved his play before the injury. As Mayock said 'top 15 talent', I wouldn't argue about that.

Lions could easily be a huge issue in getting Carter though. Here's hoping a CB prospect drops if they don't get one at #13. If he's gone, I wouldn't mind Mason Foster in the 3rd.