St. Louis Rams Draft Report (no fucks were given this day)

[Kingdom]

So we only ended up having 5 draft picks. But 4 were in the top 50. It's about nailing your picks, not having the most picks. The skill position was addressed through trading and free agency, so that left things to be addressed on defense. For the most part anyways. Stay tuned for a full team report after the final roster is determined.



1.2 Offensive Tackle, Jake Matthews

We saw the draft going two ways. We're either getting Clowney or we are getting Matthews. Smoke screens were not set months ago when we stated that we were not looking at any of the QBs or Sammy Watkins. It would have been tempting to draft Watkins, but after landing an elite number 1 receiver in Marshall and then adding a productive slot in Lance Moore, to join the youngsters, we had no intention of looking at a receive. Matthews has been one of our most coveted and frankly, favorite draft prospects for years. Greg Robinson is turning heads with a great combine, but Matthews has the track record and has a history of protecting the unpredictable Johnny Manziel. With Jake Long recovering from major injury and Michael Oher being the next best option at tackle, it was a clear choice to take the top offensive lineman prospect in the draft. Matthews will start immediately (whether it's for Long or opposite of Long). Honest truth about this pick: Unless I the pick was moved, I only considered Clowney and Matthews here.


1.11 Corner Back, Justin Gilbert

We moved up a little to move back some in round 2, to have insurance that we were going to be able to land Justin Gilbert. While there were some very nice prospects such as Clinton-Dix at safety, Mosley at LB, and Donald at DT, we wanted to lockdown CB2 opposite Brent Grimes. We have accumulated solid, but young depth in Fey and hold over Johnson, but Gilbert has a combination of skills that could result in developing into one of the top corners. He also wow'ed the scouts at the combine. The most difficult decision was whether to go with Gilbert or choose Dennard from Michigan State. We ultimately felt that Gilbert was going to be the next best thing at corner. Gilbert will start immediately. Honest truth about this pick: Had we not signed Robert Lester in free agency, we would have stayed at 13 and drafted the top safety (and potentially future CB) Ha Ha Clinton-Dix.


2.44 Defensive End, Scott Crichton

Obviously it was a bold move to break up the front line and trade Chris Long. It opened up a spot at defensive end. While we had depth at this position, as well as possibly shifting Schofield to DE to start the next fellow at OLB, we identified the need to add to the mix a high caliber prospect. This isn't a sexy looking pick, but it serves a need and with Crichton still learning to be a true 4-3 DE, there is a lot of untapped potential yet. Crichton has a good motor and the ability to disrupt the QB/backfield. Those were notable trades of Chris Long. We don't expect Crichton to start right away, but he'll be in the rotation likely backing up Schofield and/or Quinn. Honest truth about this pick: I had strongly considered center Marcus Martin at this pick, but I was swayed by reading about his strong character and responsibility for his family.


2.50 Outside Linebacker, Kyle Van Noy

This was one of our favorite prospects in the draft. Mosley, Mack, and Shazier will get most of the attention when it comes to linebackers, but Van Noy is a playmaker. He's another high character player we coveted but he also presents as a well-rounded linebacker capable of rushing the QB but also dropping into coverage. He'll be quite disruptive for us and even though he is guilty of over shooting on plays, he will not have to burden the load of the linebacking duties with returning stars Laurinaitis and 2013 draft pick Alec Ogletree. The three should form a very gifted trio of linebackers on defense. Van Noy will start immediately at OLB as O'Brien Schofield is moved to defensive end. Honest truth about this pick: I very seriously didn't expect him to be around, otherwise I would have not resigned Dunbar.


5.129 Running Back, Charles Sims

This was half about taking a homer pick since Sims spent his last collegiate year starting for WVU. RB wasn't a need after acquiring DeMarco Murray and moving Stacy to backup/short yardage situations. Ultimately Stacy doesn't fit our bill as the RB we covet so in comes the half about this being a logical pick for us. Sims is a very complete back. Let's face it, it's not an overwhelming class at RB and there's a lot of one trick, slow plodding RBs out there. Or homerun hitting straight line guys. Sims brings good enough speed, good enough size, and on top of ball carrying skills, Sims is an excellent receiver out of the backfield and a quality blocker. Murray possesses all of those skills but given he's injury prone, we liked the idea of trading for a late pick to snatch up Sims. Honest truth about this pick: it's entirely possible we would have taken him in round 3 or 4 if we had a pick in either round.



I'm pretty satisfied with how the draft played out, given the moves made in free agency and through trades. Despite only 5 selections, three are expected to start right away with the other two providing immediate depth.

[gmenallday521]

Holy shit this was a good draft. My hats off to you.