St. Louis Rams make a trade for WR Ronald Curry

by VanRam on Jul 22, 2009 2:00 PM CDT in News Comment 13 comments

The Rams have made a move to address their relative lack of experience at wide receiver, acquiring Ronald Curry from the Lions in exchange for DT Orien Harris. Essentially, the Rams traded Brian Leonard for Curry, since Harris was the guy they got in the Leonard swap.

Curry is a good get for the Rams, and he most likely becomes an instant favorite for one of the top three receiver postions. Curry was the #1 WR in Oakland in 2006 and 2007. He could be the Rams number two WR, behind Donnie Avery, or a number three used to move chains catching passes in the middle.

What becomes of Keenan Burton now? It's nice to have two guys that can play physical, and since both Curry and Burton are no strangers to the injury report, the addition of one does not necessarily mean less playing time for the other. Still, I can't help but wonder if the coaches are concerned about Burton's injury or ability, or both. In my mind, the most likely combo for three receiver sets is now Avery, Curry and Laurent Robinson.

And what about depth at DT? Harris was the fourth man in that rotation, an athletic guy who has some pass rushing ability. Of course, both Clifton Ryan and Adam Carriker are athletic guys who'll be crashing the pocket as the Rams starting DTs. Fourth round pick Darell Scott is the third DT, a more prototypical NT with enough athletic ability to surprise a few middle offensive linemen on rushes. Grabbing a spot behind those three could be Antwon Burton, a big run stuffer who could be used situationally in short yardage downs. Willie Williams, who the Rams kept on the practice squad most of last season, is another candidate, as a rotational guy his skills are more in line with the pocket-crasher type DT. Of the players currently on the roster, those two would be my top choices for the fourth DT role. However, Spags could surprise and keep five DEs and just three DTs, since his schemes are known use ends in the tackle spots.

Wildcat update: Don't forget Curry was a QB at North Carolina. Could we see some wildcat formations with Curry now?

Sando has the Scouts, Inc. take on the deal. In short, low risk, nice potential reward for the Rams.

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YES!!!!!

This is great. Not only is Ron C. An underrated player, I can’t help to be excited about this since I know him all to well. He is from Hampton, VA where I currently live and I have had the honor of playing against him in high school. This man is the definition of athelete. Also….please don’t forget that he played QB in high school (where he was ranked #1 in the country by USA Today) and at UNC so this opens up a lot of doors, especially in the wildcat department….

On this team, we are all united in a common goal: to keep my job.
-- Lou Holtz

by RamsMan83 on Jul 22, 2009 2:15 PM CDT via mobile reply actions 0 recs

Well, maybe so but his stats sure don't impress me much.

IMHO I think we lost ground in this trade. Now I know Harris is no prize either but just think about this…

1. The Pittsburgh Steelers are known for their defenses over the years and I gotta believe they knew what they were doing when they drafted Harris in the 4th round.

ESPN’s John Clayton had this to say about the Steelers defense last year:

The 2008 version of the Steelers’ defense comes with no nickname, just an incredible résumé. It ranks first across the board for total defense (239.1 yards a game), scoring defense (13.7 points) and stopping the pass (163.3). It ranks second in stopping the run (75.8).

(full story here).

And the NYTimes stated:

Steelers’ Defense Is as Dominant as Ever.

(full story here).

2. Harris is only 25 and was a 4th round pick by the Steelers in ’06 whereas, Curry is 30 and was a 7th round pick by the Raiders in ’02. So we lost a younger player for one who is 5 years his senior.

3. I thought Spag was trying to build a younger, more physical defense and now we are down to 5 DTs to speak of. He surely must know something we don’t.

Go Rams!

"We can't run. We can't pass. We can't stop the run. We can't stop the pass. We can't kick. Other than that, we're just not a very good football team right now." --- Bruce Coslett, New York Jets Head Coach circa 1990s

by Nbr1RamFan on Jul 22, 2009 5:18 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

You gotta believe they knew what they were doing when they drafted Harris in the 4th round?

Why not believe they knew what they were doing when they let him leave the team? That was after they were able to evaluate him much more fully, afterall.

Seriously though, your point about getting an older guy for younger one is sort of valid, but the rounds/picks they were drafted in is 100% inconsequential at this point. And when I think about the fact that we are already really young at WR, then getting someone with experience is somewhat defensible, although whether we gave up too much to get him can be debated.

I’m with 3K, I’m worried about our D-line. This better work out. (I think I said that about another move they made, they’re stacking up now)

Lived in LA during the Rams and Raiders days. Now based in NorCal, I am still a die hard Rams fan and Raiders season ticket holder.

by CoachConnors on Jul 22, 2009 5:36 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

What's with the name?

What the hell have you ever coached? HAHA

Your uncle molests collies.

by 3k on Jul 22, 2009 9:37 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Who told on me?

Oh that’s right, I did, lulz

Lived in LA during the Rams and Raiders days. Now based in NorCal, I am still a die hard Rams fan and Raiders season ticket holder.

by CoachConnors on Jul 23, 2009 12:25 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Well this is interesting

If we get the 2006/07 version, he could be very helpful. In those two years, he averaged 722 yards, 58.5 rec, & 2.5 TDs. Not top tier production, but certainly helpful. His last season was very disappointing, but hell, we’re talking about a member of the Raiders passing attack.
What makes this interesting to me is the DT position. I wonder if this was influenced by either Harris’ efforts/productions or Clifton Ryan/Darell Scott’s. I definitely am worried about our defensive interior. Not entirely negative, but worried.

Your uncle molests collies.

by 3k on Jul 22, 2009 2:41 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Me too

Curry looked good when I saw him play, and we need talent at Wide, but our D-line is stick-thin.

Lived in LA during the Rams and Raiders days. Now based in NorCal, I am still a die hard Rams fan and Raiders season ticket holder.

by CoachConnors on Jul 22, 2009 4:52 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

D-Line

if the defensive line has issues, it’s not going to come down to whether or we’d have had Orien Harris.

Turf Show Times

by VanRam on Jul 22, 2009 10:04 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Exactly

by PCarn on Jul 23, 2009 8:13 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

When I was comparing 4th round pick to 7th round pick

the point I was trying to make was this. I trust the Steelers being a defensive team to make a much better call in the 4th round than I ever would trust the Raiders to make a pick in the 7th. I didn’t mean to compare the players by where they went in the draft to each other. I don’t know, do you see what I’m trying to say? Just basically that Pittsburgh KNOWS defense and Defensive Linemen! So if they picked Harris being a defensive lineman, I would trust that pick. Does anyone ever trust a late round pick made by the Raiders? Sorry Raider fans but “the Raiders” are the Raiders? What can I say.

Go Rams!

by Nbr1RamFan on Jul 23, 2009 8:16 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Yes, I get it, and I’m not anti-Harris or anything. I would’ve tried to keep a young DL, to be honest with you.

This is just IMHO, but I think the time for trusting draft picks is over when it’s a year or two down the road. At that point it’s about what have you done for me lately, and I think (again, just my opinion) I think you can read as much into them letting him go as you can about them drafting him. We could say that Pitt knows defense well enough to draft good players, and maybe with the same logic we can further say Pitt knows defense well enough to know when to cut their losses on a guy who played for them. But it’s all speculation since we don’t have Steeler staff here to tell us what they were thinking.

At first I thought it must say something about Harris that the Rams were willing to let him go so easily, but when you factor it out Curry is a pretty decent Wide and a good value for Leonard (who was DNP anyway). I don’t think it goes any further than that simple math right there.

Lived in LA during the Rams and Raiders days. Now based in NorCal, I am still a die hard Rams fan and Raiders season ticket holder.

by CoachConnors on Jul 23, 2009 1:19 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Orien wasn't the savior but

Do we have a weaker spot on the team to be trading from? I know Harris wasn’t a pro bowler but it remains to be seen whether he would have provided needed depth. If this years D-line has the health of last year’s O-line, it’ll definitely raise questions about whether letting a young guy go now was the right thing to do.

Don’t get me wrong, I think Curry’s a good player. I’m more comfortable than I used to be with our Wides now with Avery, Curry, Robinson, Burton all in the mix… I just wish we could’ve found a way to shore up the wides without letting a young DL go, thats all.

I love it when guys say “Maybe Spags knows something we don’t”
Yeah, you think?

Lived in LA during the Rams and Raiders days. Now based in NorCal, I am still a die hard Rams fan and Raiders season ticket holder.

by CoachConnors on Jul 23, 2009 12:35 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs