St.Louis Rams Draft Grade and Free Agency Review

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Offseason moves (via walterfootball.com)

Offseason Moves:

Jets sign K Josh Brown
Rams cut K Josh Brown
Redskins sign LB Bryan Kehl
Rams re-sign QB Kellen Clemens
Rams sign DT Trevor Laws
Broncos sign DT Justin Bannan
Bengals sign G Jacob Bell
Rams sign DE William Hayes
Rams sign OLB Jo-Lonn Dunbar
Texans sign P Donnie Jones
Rams announce retirement of WR Torry Holt
Rams sign WR Steve Smith
Rams sign TE Matthew Mulligan
Rams re-sign FB Brit Miller
Saints sign OLB Chris Chamberlain
Rams sign G Quinn Ojinnaka
Patriots sign WR Brandon Lloyd
Rams sign DT Kendall Langford
Rams sign C Scott Wells
Rams sign CB Cortland Finnegan
Rams cut DE James Hall
Rams cut CB Ronald Bartell
Rams cut C Jason Brown
Rams cut DT Fred Robbins
Rams cut DT Justin Bannan
Rams tender WR Danny Amendola

Best-off season move

Signing Cornerback Cortland Finnegan-the Rams desperately need help at cornerback in a pass happy league. They added a talented player who has a good working history with their new head coach.

worst off-season move. I think they should have considered paying for a wide receiver other than the injury proned Steve Smith. The Rams then could have proceeded in the draft taking WR if they wanted and not because they add to (although they did get two very talented ones to boot).

Depth Chart Projection:

Quarterback: Sam Bradford, Kellen Clemens, Tom Brandstater, Austin Davis

Running back: Steven Jackson, Isaiah Pead, Chase Reynolds, Daryl Richardson, Calvin Middleton

Wide Receiver: Brandon Gibson, Danny Amendola, Brian Quick, Chris Givens, Steve Smith, Denario Alexander, Greg Salas, Austin Pettis, Dominique Curry

LT: Roger Saffold, Thomas Welch, Ryan McKee

LG: Bryan Mattison, Robert Turner, Michael Hay

C: Scott Wells, Tim Barnes, Bob Herbert

RG: Harvey Dahl, Kevin Hughes

RT: Jason Smith, Quinn Ojinnaka, Rokevious Watkins

TE: Lance Kendricks, Michael Hoomanawanui, Matthew Mulligan, Mike McNeil, Ben Guidugli, Corey Harkey

DEFENSE

Defensive End: Chris Long, Eugen Sims, Robert Quinn, William Hayes, Matt Conrath, Scott Smith

Defensive tackle: Michael Brockers, Kendall Langford, Trevor Laws, Darell Scott, Cornell Banks, Jermelle Cudojo

Linebacker: Jo-Lunn Dunbarr, James Lauranitis, Justin Cole, Josh Hull, Alex Hoffman-Ellis, Noah Keller, Aaron Brown, Derrick Choice

Cornerback: Cortland Finnegan, Janoris Jenkins, Trumaine Johnson, Marquis Johnson, Bradley Fletcher, Josh Gordy, Jerome Murphy, Kendric Burney, Quinton Pointer

Safety: Quintin Mikell, Darian Stewart, Craig Dahl, Brian Jackson, Matt Daniels

Kicker: Greg Zuerlein

Punter: Tom Malone

Positions of strength:

Running back-Steven Jackson is one of the best in the game. The addition of Isaiah Pead gives the team a dynamic they haven’t had in awhile. Pead is extremely shifty in the open field and will be a guy who makes a lot of runs 20 or more yards in the N.F.L. He can be maddening sometimes and like all young players will have to work hard on his pass protection to get on the field consistently.

Defensive tackle: The defensive tackle group is much better than it was last year—especially as a run stopping unit. Trevor Laws and Michael Brockers will be a load for any offensive line to handle. Kandall Langford is no slouch either. Fairly impressive group.

NEEDS:

The Rams have players all over the field that could step up and produce this year, but there are still a lot of question marks at a lot of positions.

I think in the short term there are needs all over the field—they just have to hope the young players can step up. Robert Quinn needs a big year this year or defensive end could still be a need. The cornerback group is going to struggle this year, especially early in the season. It’s hard to be a good cornerback as a rookie, but the talent at the position for the future is exciting. The same thing with this WR group. This year it will seem like Wide receiver is still a need as both Brian Quick and Chris Givens transition to playing against NFL cornerbacks every week as opposed to a few times (if that in Quick’s case) a season. Does TE Lance Kendricks continue his improvement? Just how good is Sam Bradford? Safety is also a need.

But the biggest needs to me are:

Offensive line-What is Jason Smith? Can Roger Saffold rebound from a disappointing year two. That’s the biggest question for this team right now.

Linebacker-Outside of the middle linebacker spot there are serious question marks about the Rams linebackers. The Rams didn’t do much in the way off free agent this year at the linebacker spot.

Concluding thoughts:

The Rams are set up for the future, but the here and now is likely to be bumpy. Even if this is depressing for Rams fans to hear-the Rams are now rebuilding. Jeff Fisher will have to implement his defensive schematics and offensive philosophy. The Rams have to sort out the Greg Williams situation (potentially— he may never be allowed to coach again). The Rams also have to make sure they can keep Sam Bradford healthy. The NFC West is rapidly improving. The Arizona Cardinals were one of the best teams in the entire league the final half of last year and from top to bottom I think the Seahawks have more talent. The promise is there for the Rams and if Bradford plays like he did two years ago and not last year, the future is very bright with the wealth of young talent they will acquire and the excellent coaching they will receive. Like any team that was “rewarded” with the second overall pick right now there are more questions than answers.

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