FanPost

Grading the NFC West!

It seems that fans are split on where they stand on the Rams draft. I wanted to go ahead and look at our entire division and give a grade based on the picks throughout the draft. Let's start the grading (please keep in mind that this is my personal opinion and I am basing my grades on perceived value):

San Francisco 49ers: A-

The forty -whiners came away with a solid weekend. They solidified key spots on the O-line with Davis and Iupati. They already had Staley signed for the long term and the talent they added in the 1st round should help make that a formidable front line for years. In the 2nd round they landed a freak in Taylor Mays, who with the help of Ronnie Lott (He was ok back in the day.....riiiiiiiight), I have a feeling he will be looking to make coach Carroll regret passing on him. They added to the young LB core with Navarro Bowman...a player I would have liked in blue and gold at the WILL. In the 6th round, even though they already have Frank Gore and Glen Coffee, they knew that RB by numbers is the way this league has gone, so they added Anthony Dixon, another player that I wanted for the Rams, mainly to reunite him with coach Croom, who already knows the kid and would have an advantage in helping him to develop. The fact that he runs people over also helps. Then they grabbed a TE in Nate Byham once they filled their key holes with quality talent. Byham was a solid blocking TE at Pitt and I think he will be a nice piece for Gore to do his job a bit better. They didn't stop there. Once the draft was over they grabbed Jarrett Brown. I think he could be a solid #3 at QB if he can make the roster.

Seattle Seahawks: A

The SeaGals came away with a solid draft for a coach that just transitioned from college to the Pro's for a second go around. They came away from the 1st round lucky as hell (Maybe Coach Carroll fucked a Leprechaun before the draft). Russel Okung was a perfect gift and replacement for Mr. Jones. They followed it up with Earl Thomas who is a gifted DB (I think he is abetter fit at FS). He plays the safety spot as a ball hawk and has the ability to come down and play man-man coverage when needed. Then grabbing of Golden Tate in the 2nd was smart. He reminds me of someone we know well...Torry Holt. Walter Thurmond is a good pick and should add some needed depth to the secondary. They had a hole to fill by the departure of Kerney and they grabbed two talented pass rushers in EJ Wilson and Dexter Davis. In the 6th, they grab a nice project with some serious upside for a TE in McCoy (Nice value for the position and he has more than 2 catches and 1 year of college experience). The reason I gave them a A rather than a B+ was for the move to acquire Leon Washington for their 5th round pick. What a steal. That little shifty back will be a nice addition with Lendale White and Justin Forsett. Damn you Carroll. I hope Taylor Mays eliminates each of your WRs each time you play SF.

Arizona Cardinals: B

Arizona started day 1 with a bang, being so lucky to land Dan Williams. He is your perfect fit for the NT in a 3-4 scheme. He should do well lined up next to C. Campbell and D. Dockett. Daryl Washington was such a productive LB at TCU and offers versatility at their LB core, very good pick as their #2. Andre Roberts was special when he was at Citadel, but I don't know he will have more of an impact than maybe returning the ball. O'brien Schofield is a nice pick in the late 4th round as a DE. His named was called quite a bit at Wisconsin. I like the young QB Skelton they grabbed as a depth piece, who I think could challenge Anderson and Leinart in the near future. I think they could have used some help on the O-line, but I'm glad they didn't get it.

St. Louis Rams: C (And I am being generous)

Although I have always wanted Suh and I really wish we could have known that McCoy would have been around in the 3rd, but I don't have much to complain about the pick in Bradford. The pick makes sense. Our QB play has killed us or rather the O-line play has killed our QBs...take it how you want. That's about where things just go ...in all directions. The problem I had with our picks is that we were sitting in a golden position at the beginning of each round being able to grab any player we wanted, however I felt that we settled. It is all about the value of each pick. The Roger Saffold pick makes sense the more you think about it, however I think we could have gotten more value with Sergio Kindle (and don't tell me that he was injured and that he will miss his rookie year. He has had 4 knee injuries going back to high school, and it is thought that he COULD need Micro-fracture surgery in the future, similar to Jonathon Vilma.) or trade that chunk of gold pick to Baltimore for Gaithers, the 24 year old OT that has played well early in his career. They were very close to trading Gaithers to Dallas for their 2nd rounder earlier this off-season. Saffold would not have been my first pick in the 2nd round, but it can be justified. The 3rd round was equally as shocking with the pick of Murphy, a good sized DB. I didn't see how DB was more of a pressing need than OLB or DE, but when you know that none of our CBs had a INT, this is another pick that you can justify...kinda.

The 4th round is where I started dropping F-bombs and the 3 letter acronym (WTF) kept going across my keyboard. Gilyard was a picked liked by some, but knowing that our front 7 hadn't been addressed to this point in the draft and Everson Griffen, who is a 1st round talent available in the 4th....I just don't know what to say. Before, anyone says anything about Griffen being lazy, understand that I have watched this guy since he was a true freshman and I am very aware of what he brings to the table, probably much more than the majority of people on this site, except for maybe TrojanRam, and I can easily say that he is well worth a 4th round pick. Especially since Hall won't be around much longer and Little is a ?, and our pass rush needs to improve. Gilyard is not a bad WR, but where does he fit on our depth chart? I can't see his taking a roster spot over Avery, Robinson, and Gibson. Hell, I think he would have a hard time taking a spot from Burton. So to take a #4 or #5 WR over a DE or even OLB, or b-u RB, just doesn't make sense to me. This basically tells me that Brooks Foster's time with the Rams may be over before it began and that we wasted our 5th pick last year. I am a Marty Gilyard fan, even though he ripped his coach for taking a better job, and I like how he was always productive no matter the opponent. Still I would have liked the attention elsewhere. Nothing is as bad as the 5th and 6th round. These later rounds are where you are supposed make your draft, with Special Teamers and depth at different positions. However, we wasted our picks on a blocking specialist TE...We already have Bajema, why the hell do we need this guy when we still haven't addressed the front f----ing 7. Then finally we draft Hall Davis, an ex basketball player who could be a solid potential guy, maybe. I would have rathered seen us look at DT's like Arthur Jones and Cam Thomas or a DE like Austen Lane. The 6th round got even worse. We take another TE- Fendi Onobun, another ex basketball player who used his 5th year of eligibility to play TE. He is a pure project player, however a freak athlete. I can't imagine why we needed a 4th TE when our FRONT 7 still needs to be addressed. Then another head scratcher is drafted with DE Eugene Sims. I seriously think that both of these guys would have gone undrafted. There was so many decent players available in this round, I can't figure out what was going on with the decision makers. We passed on Anthony Dixon, Greg Hardy, Jonathon Dwyer, among others. The 7th round was why this draft was a C and not a D+. George Selvie is a great character kid with a military back ground, which attributes to his dedication and work ethic. Josh Hull is another blue collar kid, that was extremely productive at State Penn....Penn State. Although, he didn't solve the need at OLB, I like the pick.

So there you have it, while our division improved their rosters, I am skeptical about our draft. Where, I am normally the ultimate optimist, I feel we left too much on the table round after round. I really hope I am wrong and that we can find some impact players out of this draft.