What the Rams should do with the No.1 overall pick.

I'm going to begin with a bold statement. If the Rams select a quarterback with the No.1 overall pick in the 2010 NFL draft, they WILL be the 2nd team in league history to finish the regular season 0-16. It's as simple as that.

As i highlighted in my last post, this years draft class is not short of admirers and rightly so. The 1st round has potential franchise caliber players at almost every position, particularly on defence where there are multiple stars at every position.

Nebraska's Ndamukong Suh and Oklahoma's Gerald McCoy are the two players filling the vast majority of No.1 spots on mock drafts. Both defensive tackles, both could start immediately, both worthy of the No.1 spot in my opinion.

Sam Bradford, Jimmy Clausen, Colt McCoy, TIM TEBOW... not so much.

These are the two scenarios I envisage for the Rams, depending on the choice Steve Spagnuolo and Bill Devaney make:

Scenario 1.
-Choose a defensive tackle.
-Player starts immediately, helps fill up the middle, stopping the run and taking double teams, creating desperately needed holes for a mediocre pass rush.
-Keep Marc Bulger for another year or find any quarterback who can throw just the short high percentage passes (anyone except JaMarcus Russell)
-Create a run heavy offence, revolving around Jackson and the emerging offensive line. With Jason Smith blossoming and Jason Brown commanding the line, solid running lanes can be opened and they could create enough of a pocket for the temporary QB to throw the few passing plays he would need to throw.
-Like the Lions before them, the Rams win a couple of games and begin the long road to rebuilding a once proud Franchise.

Scenario 2.
-Choose a quarterback.
-A huge rookie contract is demanded by an extremely high risk player (Hopefully the final one if a rookie salary cap can be placed in the new Collective Bargaining Agreement), effectively tying down the franchise to a massive cap penalty for at least the next five years, should the player not work out.
-Even if the player fits into the offence immediately, the team is no better than it was with Marc Bulger at the helm, at least for the first few years.
-They finish the season 0-16.
-Large Backroom Personnel changes.

Worst case scenario:
-The team is forced to move back to Los Angeles, effectively pushing back the rebuilding of the franchise by at least two years and wiping out the team that gave us the 'Greatest Show on Turf'.


The choice is obvious in my eyes. However, St. Louis fans can take comfort in one fact...

At least Al Davis isn't in charge.

NFL Scouting Combine

I read earlier this week that ex Redskins general manager Charley Casserley believes that this years first round draft class is the strongest since 1983. '83 of course was the year of the quarterback class, when 6 quarterbacks went in the first round. 3 of these quarterbacks were hall of famers, John Elway, Jim Kelly and Dan Marino. It also contained single season rushing record holder and hall of famer; Eric Dickerson.

But this isn't a history lesson, my point is that I would bet my student loan that this years first round won't come close to '83's.

Whether or not it's the most talented since then we will have to wait and see. Casserly has won 3 super bowls so he knows his stuff, but with a draft without a single clear star quarterback, I think Casserly's prediction is unlikely to unfold.

The Big Problem with journalism is...

That it's really hard to get noticed!

As I create this blog, there's 16 other people in the same room as me, doing exactly the same thing.

With such a large choice, why would anyone choose to read mine?

But pessimism is boring. So on to something interesting. Well to me it is anyway...

The NFL Scouting Combine.