We are two days away from a football fan's true Christmas. The NFL Draft is approaching, and in its few remaining eves we are acting like crazed children trying to figure out what gifts will be bestowed upon us. We're arguing about which shiny bauble we want most, spying into dark corners for clues, and shaking apart rumors and half-truths and outright lies from those who would bring us our deserved presents.
This year is especially fraught with tension, as no one — not even Chiefs fans with the first chance to dig their greedy, grubby fingers into Santa's kit bag — knows who is going to get what. (Crafty Andy knows, but he's not telling.)
Colts announced Andrew Luck as No. 1 pick the Tues before draft. Chiefs not ready to make any announcement, likely to wait until Thurs night
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) April 23, 2013
Moreover, there are 8 new GMs and 6 new head coaches picking in the top 11, leaving us bereft of past precedent. That leaves us Rams fans in a frenzy, with two premium picks midway through Thursday night, and any number of draft scenarios that might unfold.
However, we have spent a year of study in the Jeff Fisher / Les Snead method, and one trend leaps out: they will want to make the Rams, almost to a man, bigger, stronger and faster.
This is a theme that RamsHerd writers Tim Shields and Will Horton discussed at length in Tim's "Shields of Dreams" podcast for KZOW FM this weekend. How does this theme impact the potential draft stocks of Tavon Austin vs Cordarelle Patterson or DeAndre Hopkins? Are the premier guards in play at 16, and if not, what happens?
This is but a snippet of an overall podcast filled with gold nuggets of football knowledge, spanning more than 100 minutes and featuring football talk with fellow Rams fans Brent Lancaster and Vinnie Perricelli, as well as members of the Waldorf University football program, where Tim works as a running backs coach. And at the end, you get to hear Tim defend his wholly unexpected endorsement of DJ Fluker, after dogging him for most of the offseason.
The whole show, in all its bombastic glory, is here:
And as if that wasn't enough, Tim and Vinnie will be podcasting during the draft's blockbuster first round, with an impressive slate of guests spanning a variety of NFL teams. Ben Albright (@NFLDraftMonster) will share his in-depth scouting knowledge on prospects across the board. Seth Cox (@SethCoxFB) of The Sports Headquarters, Vincent Frank (@VincentFrankNFL) and Tyson Langland (@TysonNFL) of Bleacher Report will provide perspective from our NFC West rivals. Stalwart draftniks Darren Page (@DarrenPage15), Joe Goodberry (@JoeGoodberry), Chris Hansen (@ChrisHansenNFL), Mike O'Connor (@OConnor_Jets) and Alex Dunlap (@AlexDunlapNFL) will have the rest of the league covered, conference-by-conference. And the guest list continues to grow, with draft insiders Chris Dougherty (@DraftInsider) and Josh Liskiewitz (@JoshLiskiewitz) providing knowledge along the way.
It's going to be a monster night. As if it could be any other way, for the biggest football holiday of the year.
