Did the Rams make the right call by taking Robert Quinn in the first round? Image taken from: Newpatriotsdraft

How did the St. Louis Rams do in the draft? For an opinion of a fan/person who covers the team I turned to Turfshowtimes.com. Before the draft, Joe McAtee of turfshowtimes.com interviewed with us previewing the draft about what he thought the Rams might do. I turned to him for his opinion about what the Rams did do in the draft. We haven’t gotten to our opinion of the Rams draft, which we’ll be doing in a couple of weeks in our 32 grades in 32 days.

1). What are the Rams biggest needs after the draft?
 

Offensively, that’s a tough question to answer.  With Josh McDaniels ready to start his first year as the Rams’ OC, the drafting of Lance Kendricks with Mike Hoomanawanui on the roster in addition to the two WRs taken suggests how heavily the Rams’ fortunes will rely on the passing game.  Now with roughly a dozen potential targets on the roster for Sam Bradford to target, the only position on offense that could be considered a “need” would be guard.  The reality though is that in Jacob Bell, at LG, and Adam Goldberg, at RG, the Rams have two guard who are if nothing else adequate at pass blocking and deficient in the running game.  The question is how important their lack of run blocking skills are to the team.

On defense, defensive tackle, outside linebacker and free safety stand out.  There is an obvious push to add more ends to the line, so the reality may be that the Rams don’t employ a defensive tackle in certain situations where most teams do.  At OLB, the Rams have installed high-character, physical tacklers.  The issue is coverage and athleticism, and by avoiding adding more talent at the position, nothing has been done to address that issue.  And at free safety, filling O.J. Atogwe’s shoes is a serious responsibility.  You can make the argument that none of those positions are incredibly vital to the Rams’ defensive system, but they can’t be ignored either.

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The St. Louis Rams Draft Recap Interview with Turfshowtimes - NFL Mocks - NFL Mocks - Covering the 2012 NFL draft, Mock Draft Database, Scouting Reports, and Fantasy Football

nfl passers.com

I held off on doing the St. Louis Rams team mock draft because I knew that 3k of turfshow time was going to interview with us and I wanted to see what he had to say before I did this mock, but since that’s come to pass I figure now’s as good a time as any to release our Rams full team mock draft.

First lets go over some of the needs the Rams have:

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2011 NFL Mock Draft: St. Louis Rams - NFL Mocks - NFL Mocks - Covering the 2012 NFL draft, Mock Draft Database, Scouting Reports, and Fantasy Football

They Struck Gold Last Year with Bradford, Will They Get as Luck 14th Overall?

Our next interview in a series of expert interviews about the team and the N.F.L. draft comes couresty of the Turfshowtimes, a St. Louis Rams blog.

The beloved 3k took some time out of his schedule to answer some questions:

1) What are the Rams biggest needs to address this off-season? Springboarding off that….I’ve heard/read the Rams will be looking for an interior OL early in the draft is that correct?
I asked the Turf Show Times community to rank the team’s needs, and I think the results reflect the most obvious holes on the team. The two most obvious upgrades can come at WR and SLB, but I think the Rams can approach those needs differently. Since we have Donnie Avery and Mark Clayton coming back, that changes the WR corps pretty dramatically from where it was at the end of the season. The defensive line needs some young talent both inside and out. DT Fred Robbins and DE James Hall played wonderfully last year, but both are in their mid-30s. And yes, the RG spot especially is an issue. Adam Goldberg held that spot for most of last year. He was barely adequate in the passing game and wholly deficient in run blocking. The Rams’ 3rd round pick from the 2008 NFL Draft, John Greco, didn’t see the field much, and Ram fans are skeptical he’ll earn the coaches’ favor in the months ahead. The last position that is worth noting is backup RB. The Rams will likely pull a speed back at some point in the draft; GM Billy Devaney has gone on record suggesting that blocking and receiving are key traits the front office is looking for in that spot.

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Get to Know the Rams: Expert Interview - NFL Mocks - NFL Mocks - Covering the 2012 NFL draft, Mock Draft Database, Scouting Reports, and Fantasy Football