Dumpster Diving

The few worthy names in the free agent pile have quickly disappeared off the boards, snapped up like fat tourists in a shark tank. Nate Burleson, top FA wide receiver? Signed to Drew Bennett money. Julius Peppers? The Bears offered a Scrooge McDuck-esque swimming pool full of cash. Personal favorite Aaron Kampman? After a whirlwind tour of cities (some visited and others just rumored), he lands in Jacksonville teal.

Meanwhile, Billy Devaney and Kevin Demoff are puttering around the back alleys of the NFL in a rust-orange pickup with plywood sides, looking for treasure among other teams’ trash.

“Look here! Can you believe somebody would let AJ Feeley just sit out here in the elements like this? Hell, we could put him right in our living room.”

“Don’t look now, pard, but I see a couple of big dudes struggling to get Fred Robbins to the curb. Whattya say we go over and help ‘em out, maybe they cut us a deal?”

“We ain’t got room in the truck to pick up no Fred Robbins!”

“Well, just toss out that Derek Fine we picked up two weeks ago. He ain’t in such good shape.”

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Tags: AJ Feeley, Billy Devaney, Derek Fine, Dumpster Diving, Fred Robbins, Keaggy.com, Kevin Demoff, Marc Bulger, Richie Incognito, Sad Chairs

Welcome to AJ “The Legend” Feeley

The Rams’ first splash in free agency was more of a ripple than a big splash — signing AJ Feeley away from somebody or another, to replace Mr. Carrie Prejean as the Rams’ backup quarterback. But wait, there could be reason to get excited about this pickup! As intrepid reader @RossMiles points out, Feeley is a Legend!

Oh. That kind of legend. (Fwd to 1:44 for a truly legendary moment.)

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Tags: AJ Feeley, Kyle Boller

A calculated risk on Atogwe

We might have seen the last days of Oshiomogho Atogwe on the Rams, and we won’t get even a draft pick in compensation if he leaves. That’s the risk the Rams face based on their decision today, to tender Atogwe at the lowest level.

If the Rams had tendered Atogwe at a higher level — for example, asking teams for a first round pick back in compensation if they signed him away — then Kevin Demoff would be obligated to write out a check even larger than the $6.34 million that Atogwe received last season after being franchised.

Analysis after the break:

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Tags: Antrelle Rolle, James Butler, Oshiomogho Atogwe, Restricted Free Agency

The Black Sheep: Trying to find a market for Marc Bulger and Alex Barron

It was a new year, and Rams fans were more than ready for a new start. When news broke that Marc Bulger was considering retirement, a collective “hallelujah!” rang out; since then, however, the story yet to be confirmed in any meaningful way. And as Coach Spagnuolo is fond of reminding us, “Marc is still on this team.”

Alex Barron isn’t ready to retire, but the Rams themselves openly wish he would go away. The latest news out of the buzz machine is that the Rams have tendered both Atogwe and Barron as restricted free agents, but are willing to listen to offers that are far below the suggested tender for Barron.

As both of these players prepare for life after the Rams, we can’t help but note a sad sympathy for two of the least-loved players in St Louis sports. Oh, there have been plenty of our own players and sports figures more hated and reviled in this town — Tony Banks, Lawrence Phillips, Jason Sehorn, Tino Martinez, Mike Keenan, and JD Drew to name just a few from my generation.

But it’s rare to find a combination of franchise players — quarterback and left tackle — that have so very few fans, so few people who will stand up and argue when the hate comes down. So few fans that it’s hard to understand that they could have any trade value at all.

But Barron isn’t the only one of these two that the Rams could deal. As Matt Bowen of the National Football Post points out, the Rams aren’t in any hurry to cut Bulger, and dealing the QB for a late-round draft pick would be an ideal solution.

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Tags: Alex Barron, Arizona Cardinals, Chad Pennington, Houston Texans, Kurt Warner, Marc Bulger, Minnesota Vikings

NFL Combine: Rams Wrapup

What did we learn from the NFL Combine? Lots of things, some more useful than others.

Devaney and the Rams have narrowed (or widened?) the field of potential top picks to four players: DEs Ndamukong Suh, Gerald McCoy, and QBs Sam Bradford and Jimmy Clausen. While it’s in keeping with his tendency to not tip his hand, I think it actually hurts the Rams’ ability to trade down by not declaring a favorite among this group. As long as there is a strong alternative for the one guy that the Rams take, there isn’t going to be that much demand to trade up to get that one guy. There appear to be two potential trade partners, though: the Bucs (to get Ndamukong Suh), or the Redskins (to get Sam Bradford). The more noise there is around the Rams and Bradford, the jumpier they get in Washington.

Ndamukong Suh is more intense, but Gerald McCoy is a funny dude. In his interview with Nick Wagoner at StLouisRams.com, Suh pointed out how important it is to him to be picked #1. “I’m a competitor. I want to be No. 1. So that’s what I’m going to strive for.” He talks like a man who still has something to prove. McCoy, on the other hand, seems more comfortable in his skin. This always-smiling, always positive attitude can be a blessing, but it can also be easily misinterpreted by fans, especially fans suffering through years of misery. If the team is losing and McCoy’s demeanor doesn’t seem particularly affected by it, that can drive a wedge between player and fans.

Sam Bradford put on 12 pounds of muscle, and that by itself might be enough. Bradford’s measurables came in very nicely: 6′4″, 236. Because a mob of people can be somewhat excitable, this measurement was the buzz of the second day. Adam Schefter, for one, pronounced it an all-but-done-deal that the Rams take Bradford first overall. But then again, looking good in one’s underwear doesn’t necessarily mean squat once you get on the football field.

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Tags: Brandon LaFell, Gerald McCoy, Jermaine Gresham, Jimmy Clausen, Ndamukong Suh, NFL Combine, Rob Gronkowski, Sam Bradford, Underwear Olympics

The wildcard in the hunt for the next Rams quarterback

John Clayton put on his “business of football” hat and wrote a pretty compelling argument on ESPN about why the Rams will take a quarterback first overall — without distinguishing between Bradford or Clausen. It’s not about football, says Clayton, it’s about money — specifically, top-3 money. (Well, it’s a little bit about football, as Clayton points to a few top-three picks on the defensive line and their failure to single-handedly turn around the teams that drafted them.)

This argument is interesting in the abstract, but it’s not abstract money that’s being spent here. It’s Shahid Khan’s money — or at least, it will be, if the NFL approves his deal to purchase the team in May.

How does Khan want his money spent, in this inaugural draft? That’s the wildcard.

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Tags: Daniel Snyder, Jimmy Clausen, Mark Cuban. Kevin Demoff, NFL Combine, Sam Bradford, Shahid Khan

Scouting Reports and Pre-Draft Crushes: Aaron Hernandez

When asked what the Rams’ need from this draft, the answer is simple: everything. But to put a more precise point on this answer, the Rams need to get the best available player at each and every point of the draft, because they have so many holes to fill. Reaching for players, especially in the high rounds, will continue to hamstring this team as it searches for breakthrough talent.

However, with that in mind, there is a certain philosophy that should, I think, guide the Rams’ choices in this draft: Get Suh first, and then go and grab as many impact offensive playmakers as you can in the next three choices. Now, if for some reason Joe Haden drops to #33 (a laughable example, but still), obviously the Rams should forgo that plan and grab him. But assuming it doesn’t rain frogs between now and the draft, here’s a suggestion for that top of the second round:

TE – Aaron Hernandez (University of Florida)

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Tags: Aaron Hernandez, Dallas Clark, Dustin Keller, Greg Olsen, Jermaine Gresham, John Carlson Brent Celek, NFL Combine, NFL Draft, Rams Second Round Pick, Tiger Formation

Recommended Reading: the Story of Callahan Bright

Andy Staples (@Andy_Staples) writes a profile of a fascinating talent who suffered the prototypical fall from grace between preps and college. Callahan Bright is a defensive tackle who, on National Signing Day of 2005, ranked #14 overall and #2 at defensive tackle in the Rivals.com Rankings. Ndamukong Suh ranked #51 in those same rankings.

But after declaring for FSU, he couldn’t manage to qualify academically, and once falling off track, fell through the proverbial cracks. Low-paying work? Check. Bouncing from school to school? Check. Criminal arrest and jail time? Check. He now plays for little-known Shaw University.

The story, fully told, is of a player that seems almost too perfect to become a Spagnuolo project — a still-raw but ferocious talent who is dedicating himself to what may be his last chance to fulfill an NFL dream.

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Tags: Andy Staples, Callahan Bright, Ndamukong Suh, Steve Spagnuolo

Three reasons the Rams aren’t in a position to draft a Quarterback

Reading this excellent article by Jason Cole at Yahoo Sports, “A Step-by-step Guide to Drafting a Quarterback,” I see a series of red flags for the Rams as they consider trying to find their quarterback of the future in this year’s draft. Perhaps ironically, these red flags correspond to the three steps of Cole’s advice to teams who are hoping to avoid an Alex Smith type of mistake.

Do the Rams understand the faults of their targeted player(s)?
If there’s one constant meme in this year’s quarterback draft class, it’s that each player carries a significant flaw. Sam Bradford has consistently operated under shotgun, in a non-pro-style spread offense, and facing little pass pressure. Jimmy Clausen has worked in a pro-style offense, but has question marks surrounding his temperament and some elements of his mechanics. Colt McCoy and the lower-tier QBs will all need a long development time.

Cole writes:

The pressing question facing the Rams is: are they forced to pick from a less-than-stellar list of QBs this year, whose faults outweigh their benefits? Alex Smith was a flawed pick for many reasons, including those mentioned, but he was a terrible pick at #1 overall. The 49ers had such a desperate need at QB that they overlooked the fact that the 2005 draft class was quarterback-poor. Of the QBs taken, only Aaron Rodgers (1st round, 24th pick) and Derek Anderson (5th round) have had Pro-Bowl seasons; Rodgers benefited from years on the bench behind a hall-of-famer, and Anderson is now in a serious decline after what looks like a fluke season.

The Rams may be facing a similar draft class, despite the Sam Bradford hype machine that wants to put him ahead of last year’s picks in Stafford and Sanchez.

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Tags: Aaron Rodgers, Alex Smith, Ben Roethlisberger, Colt McCoy, Darrius Heyward-Bey, Derek Anderson, Edgerrin James, Jamarcus Russell, Jimmy Clausen, Mark Sanchez, Matt Ryan, Matt Stafford, Michael Crabtree, Michael Turner, Rashard Mendenhall, Reggie Wayne, Sam Bradford, Tony Gonzalez

A Scouting Report on the Rams’ Draft

Nick Wagoner at StLouisRams.com had a chance to sit down with the preeminent scout on Twitter, Daniel Jeremiah (@MoveTheSticks), for an interview on how the Rams should approach this year’s draft. Unfortunately, I can’t link the story directly, as the official blog of the Rams doesn’t appear to support individual permalinks. So here’s a series of pertinent quotes, with a link and a warning: if you want to come back to this at a later date, you may have to scroll down a while before you find the article. http://www.stlouisrams.com/blog/

This meshes perfectly with my pre-draft sentiments, and the official RamsHerd selection in our FanBall mock draft odyssey. (Hint: his name rhymes with “Mmm, Donkey Kong Two.”)

Jeremiah scouted for both Cleveland and Baltimore, teams with an emphasis (Baltimore particularly) on big, disruptive players on defense. Last year, though, rather than use that top five pick, Cleveland cannily traded down twice and picked up a horde of players. Perhaps because their top guy on the draft board didn’t declare for the draft?

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Tags: Chad Pennington, Colt McCoy, Daniel Jeremiah, Mike Iupati, Move The Sticks, Ndamukong Suh, NFL Combine, StLouisRams.com