Now that we know who is ahead of us and where they'll be drafting, I thought it might be nice to start a thread (or eventually threads) examining the slots ahead of us and scenarios that might unfold. A lot can play out prior to the Rams officially being on the clock, but I think most people, at least that acknowledge the roundness of the Earth, feel that Ndamukong Suh will be the first pick in the draft. But will it be the Rams making it? They seem to be in a great position to trade down as Detroit would obviously take Suh if he fell into their laps. Would they pass on Suh to move down? They're not necessarily strong at DT, but they are young and have some talent there. I have read some forum debates amongst Rams fans, and they seem split pretty down the middle. Suh is obviously an impact player from day one, but the Rams have a lot of holes. If the right offer came, I have to assume they would consider it. So who would be interested in Suh? A lot of the teams that draft ahead of us could use a monster DT like Suh. The Rams could move down within the top 11 and still take guys like Sam Bradford, Jimmy Clausen, Eric Berry, or Derrick Morgan (all huge needs). Thoughts?
It's tough, nigh on impossible, to trade down out of the top 5, let alone from #1 overall. Though if the offer did come along, I'd have to think St. Louis would jump at the chance. What impact will the CBA have on this draft?
St. Louis will take Suh IMO. I know for sure that they have Suh at the top of their draft board, as do the Buccaneers. I don't know about the Lions but I do know that the Lions are pleased with their nose tackle rookie, Sammie Lee Hill, so it should be interesting.
I think it's tough because some teams still believe the old draft value chart is applicable, but I think the trend has been to abandon that. Also, lots of teams don't like moving up because of the salaries. The picks represent a lot of risk. However, Suh seems to be about as close of a lock as you can have in the draft. So the Rams might find the market a little hotter than usual. I'm not sure what the CBA ramifications are and would love to know.
Tampa is the team I feel is most likely to trade with the Rams. It shouldn't cost them an arm and a leg to move up three spots. The Rams would have their choice of anyone I listed at #4 . . . with Berry being the best value (if he's still there). Trading down and picking Berry. There's just something wrong about that . . .
The Rams will either take Claussen or Suh. It comes down whether Spagnulo wants to get his franchise QB. This is similar to the Matt Ryan vs Chris Long choice they had a couple of years ago. Obviously they got killed on that choice but Suh is a different animal. This is undoubtedly a potential hall of fame talent whereas Chris Long was nothing near that. also Claussen isnt close to matt ryan. I think everyone expects Spags to go with Suh (me included) but dont be surprised if a chance at a new QB is too much to pass up
St Louis has to pick Suh. There's just to many question marks surrounding the top two QBs. And to not pick the best defensive lineman prospect in a while would be a crime.
Suh is a beast, but I have a feeling they take a QB. Unless they feel there is a Flacco type guy they can get with pick 33, it will have to be at pick 1 (or via trade down). They've passed on their franchise QB twice now, and are still the worst team in the league. Youve got to have a QB to compete, and they dont have one. Yes, Clausen and Bradford have concerns, but so did Matt Ryan. Very few people were high on him at draft time. Now that hes an emerging star, I think people tend to forget that.
Well, IF Sam Bradford had not been knocked around this year AND declared, there might be a reason for the Lambs to trade out qnd not pick up Suh. As it stands, there is nobody worth trading out for with the exception of Berry IMO. Suh will be close to home in Saint Louis IMHO.
What about us?,,,, why not us moving up to get Suh?.... I'll give you my 12th, paul solai, and ted ginn, and a 3rd. maybe we contact Suh's people, and tell them that we have strong interest in the player, tell them, we want suh to say when he's drafted by the rams, that he 'does not wanna play in st.louis". and make the deal...iam sure his family will love miami.lol why not man..I want Suh more then anything.
I think it will be Suh. Spagnolo is a defensive coach first, and a 3-4 coach at that. No way would he miss out on getting a DT like Suh which is so important to that defense. A franchise QB can be found in the second round, or in later drafts/FA. Franchise DTs that could be the foundation of your defense are even rarer than franchise QBs. Plus I think theyll be comfortable with Null and perhaps a journeyman backup for this season and wait til next year to get a QB.
I really think Jimmy Clausen is the pick here. They had the worst offense in the League last season (they averaged ONLY 10.9 points per game, 279.4 Total Yards per Game and just 167.9 Passing Yards a Game). Those numbers are some of the worse offensive stats I have ever seen. The only Quarterbacks on their team are a 33 year old Marc Bulger (who hasn't had a QB rating higher than 72 the last 3 season), Career back-up Kyle Boller and two QBs that have only 1 year experience and didn't shine at all in Keith Null and Mike Riley. There is absolutely no way they are going to go into next year with those QB's on their team. Having the first overall pick allows them to negotiate a deal with Clausen before the draft which could end up saving them a lot of money. Clausen comes from a Pro scheme which will greatly improve his learning curve and he could probably be their starter from day 1. As far as the arguement of drafting Suh here amd then taking a QB in round 2 the drop off is too big in terms of QB talent. You can find decent to solid DT's in the 2nd round, but you won't be able to find a QB of Clausen's talent there. While Suh is an amazing talent, I believe everything from a logical stand-point is pointing in Clausen's direction. That being said if they want the best of both worlds they could go after a solid FA QB like our very own Chad Pennington use him as a "filler" to next years draft and draft Suh. We will know the Ram's plans in this years draft when FA begins.
It'll either be Suh or Clausen. Jimmy's toe rehab might turn them to Suh, but repeated DL flubs, from Jimmy Kennedy to Adam Carriker to Chris Long might....ight make them think twice although Suh is as can't miss as anyone I've ever graded. The Bucs could be a trade up partner, but Detroit sit pretty and get McCoy regardless.
I'm not going to say that St Louis will take Suh, but I will say that no matter what, Ndamukong Suh is the first pick in the NFL Draft. Ever since the draft order was established, what's been in my head is that the Bucs will eye that top pick and Ndamukong Suh, looking to trade up and get him...and that with St. Louis needing a QB so badly, they might oblige and not charge the Bucs an arm and a leg. The Bucs have 5 of the top 99 picks in this draft and everyone thinks it's going to be a very, very deep draft. I continue to believe that the Glazers need to convince this fanbase that they're doing something. Their record of cheapness combined with rumors of financial trouble stemming from debt related to Manchester United has the fanbase pretty disillusioned with them. Everyone in the country knows about the House of Spears. The media have done a fine job pimping him, and he's done a fine job not disappointing anyone. Everyone knows he's the #1 player in the country. The Glazers just announced they'll be retaining Raheem Morris and that has a good percentage of Tampons PISSED OFF...threatening not to buy their season tickets, etc. They need to do something to get the fanbase excited and trading up to grab the man widely regarded as Hercules in cleats, will accomplish that. They're on the hook for a huge amount of money anyway, at the #3 pick.
If I'm not mistaken, Tampa has some history taking another dominant collegiate DT way back when, and that seemed to work out for them. So let's say this trade goes down. Does it affect us? I've seen a lot of mocks that have Berry going to Tampa at #4 . . . though I've also been hearing that K.C. really likes him. Still, if you assume K.C. goes offensive line, a Rams/Bucs trade eliminates at least one Berry suitor.
The more QBs that go above us, the better...because we're not in the market for one. Therefore it would be to our benefit to get Jimmy Clausen off the board at #3 and force the teams that need a QB below him to start thinking about Sam Bradford and Colt McCoy. We're also not in the market for a CB but I don't know if Joe Haden can get picked before we do. Pretty much the rest of the board is open to us. We could take an OT and move Carey to Guard. We could skip a step and just take Mike Iupati though I'd have some issues with that pending his Senior Bowl performance. We could take C.J. Spiller at RB. I'm starting to doubt that we take Jermaine Gresham this high, but I also therefore doubt anyone else would take him above us. We could definitely take a Dez Bryant. We could take a DE and move Merling to SOLB. We could take a NT. We could take a SOLB or even WOLB prospect (though I would be confused by the latter). We could definitely take an ILB prospect, or a Safety. Whole board is wide open. The only positions not open to us at that spot are QB, CB, FB, K, P. That must mean we suck. Oh wait, yeah we're 7-9.
Lot of chat in DC about Shanny loving Colt McCoy. Given the success he's had with rocket arms - Elway, Cutler - you might be surprised, but Shanny was always very high on Plummer who was much more like Colt. I wonder though, that 4 is too high.
I would say too high. What Shanahan adores IMO is a guy that has the feet to stretch the exchange point and to threaten the bootleg. During the Florida game one of the announcers did a great job pointing out one benefit of a guy like Tebow at QB. He's so quick with his feet and coordiated while moving that Florida manipulates the exchange points on certain plays, and those plays go from ho-hum, to really kind of hard to defend.
I think he is saying that the Redskins can use a decent H-back in the 4th round. Tebow will catch 40 passes and run for 300 yards and be a contributor in the NFL in 2010 as a H-back/FB... Yes, or No.
The more I think about, the more I believe Lord Tebow might go really high (Contradictory to a post I madeearlier today ) but....if Vince Young can go top 5, why can't Tebow? Seriously, they are almost the same guy, cept Tebow runs with more powere while Young is more elusive. Just sayin
Because Vince Young is actually good at something, and has great accuracy. His problem is knowing where to go with the ball at times, hence the lower completion percentage. Tebow isnt very accurate, isnt a great runner, doesnt have a gun, has poor mechanics, and just isnt very talented.
Nonesense. Coming out of Texas, Young was VERY eratic and still has VERY bad mechanics. Neither had been under center much, both rely/relied on their legs quite a bit.
Coming out of Texas Young completed 65% of his passes in his junior year. Did you watch the rookie challenge thing? He hit a pass through a net on the run from like 45 yards. The only QB with the accuracy to make that throw. As far as mechanics, sure they weren't great. However he had athletic ability that made up for it. Tebow isnt very athletic...or at least a prolific runner. He's 3 yards and a cloud of dust, especially at the NFL level. As far as physical tools Young has always had them, Tebow does not.
