Rams take Stafford in Banks' hindsight draft
by Ryan Van Bibber on Dec 16, 2009 4:27 PM CST
in 2009 NFL draft
Email
PrintOver at Sports Illustrated, columnist Don Banks has his hindsight 20/20 draft posted, in which he looks back at the players and results to assess what teams should have done in the draft. And what did his hindsight tell him about the St. Louis Rams?
With Detroit picking Michael Oher first overall, he has the Rams drafting Georgia QB Matt Stafford. It's not a bad hindsight pick at all, of course, since we're talking hindsight, maybe we should have made some sort of trade in 1998 to get Peyton Manning. Here's the quibble I have with Banks' analysis:
there's no team in more obvious need of a new starting quarterback for 2010. With that in mind, and Smith having underperformed as a rookie, I'd select Stafford here, with the knowledge that St. Louis could have given him a redshirt season of sorts while Marc Bulger and Kyle Boller served out this long and trying season for the Rams.
Maybe, but the offensive line would have been so bad that the third QB would have been playing by week 5 rather than week 14. The real issue I have here is his claim that Jason Smith has underperformed. Wrong. Smith played like a champ in the starting lineup, rarely making the same mistake twice, and the Rams obviously miss his presence on the field. Now, he could have said "disappointed," disappointed in the sense of Smith being injured this season.
Speaking of the draft, Illinois WR Arrelious Benn will enter the NFL Draft.
10 comments
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
While I agree with you
He could be saying that he hasn’t performed as well as some of his earlier counterparts (Joe Thomas, Jake Long) have. While I wasn’t sold on the pick for a while, (I wanted Oher…yeah yeah I’ve said it many a time) he has played well enough to merit his snagging at number two.
Laurinitis has easily blown past expectations though.
I believe in 2010
Agreed.
I think Jason Smith is playin great. Before the concussion that is. Everyone knew he was a bit raw being a TE convert. I think he has done a great job. Like you said Van, what good does a QB do if he gets injured by week 5? And Laurinitis should have been taken in the middle first rather than 2nd. Oh well, our gain!
This station is now the ultimate power in the universe!
Ramrod
I wouldn’t say Laurinaitis has blown past expectations – he’s exactly at the expectations that people had for him if he’d come out the year before – a linebacker well worth a mid-first round pick.
I like how he has Smith dropping out of the first round. Clearly someone has obviously been paying attention to the Rams this year…
I doubt Orakpo would go as late as Banks has him going – 11 sacks for a rookie is fantastic.
If I was redoing the draft maybe I’d put some other guys in the Rams picks instead. But I’d be very happy to keep it as it is, given we’ve snagged what looks like 3 potential decent starters with our first 3 picks in Smith, Laurinaitis and (injury permitting) Fletcher.
Chris Henry
Has been involved in very serious accident and may have died. Some reports say he died, some say he is on life support.
Can't think of a good sig
Banks may not be right
about his assessment of jason Smith. But he’s right on the money as far as pin pointing our need for a Quarterback.
I sure hope we don’t make the same mistake in the 2010 Draft.
SAM BRADFORD…we need this guy.
This is why I worry about drafting a qb
If you spend 150 million on a new hot stud qb, you’d better be able to protect him for an extended period.
by GrnGyant on Dec 16, 2009 6:28 PM CST via mobile reply actions
I think the departure of Cogs and Barron will actually help the O-Line in the long run...
Once Incognito got on every NFL referee’s radar screen he was virtually doomed. They were sure to call penalties on him for the slightest infraction that they’d let others get away with. Barron has not played that well (too many penalties) and seems to suck the life and desire to win right out of the team everytime he’s on the field. We’ll be better of without this 700 lb total of problems. What really worries me is Jason Smith’s head injury. You don’t hear much about O-Lineman getting severe concussions. That’s usually reserved for QB’s, RB’s and receivers. Smith and Brown are the anchors of the O-Line. The rest of the guys; Bell, Setts, Goldberg and Greco are probably average at best. And, it is yet to be seen how Bell will recover this off-season either. Our line next year will not be great, but maybe good enough for a running and scrambling QB like Micheal Vick to work behind. I’m also concerned about the constant pounding SJax has taken all year trying to carry the whole offense with no credible passing game and not many decent blockers. Jax needs Karney in the backfield and a real blocking TE to play his best. Jax has also got to have a reliable or he’ll be terribly degraded in another year or two. I hope he doesn’t play the rest of this season. We need to lose out to get Suh….
hindsight being what it is...
Yeah Stafford would be nice to have, but so would any decent WR’s, an OL, or a decent pass rush. The Saint Louis Rams have so many holes, it’s hard to say what needs to get plugged first. I’m interested to see what they do this offseason.
I'm confused
Why is Stafford even left for the Rams to pick at #2 in this hindsight draft? Sure, Oher has been great and I’m sure the lions could have used him immensely this year, but they also needed a QB too. Culpepper is obviously not the guy there. Why wouldn’t the lions still be taking Stafford and then maybe the argument can be made for Oher to the Rams at 2? To me, this shouldn’t even be the same kind of discussion.
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Certain photos copyright © 2012 by Associated Press or Getty Images. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of Associated Press and Getty Images is strictly prohibited.
