I have had a few days to digest the draft and even though I am still a bit angry that OLB was not addressed, and DE was addressed so late, I am starting to warm up to the draft overall. I was able to read an article about the draft, that had some interesting quotes by Billy D. They lead me to think things didn't go as he had hoped but overall he is satisfied:
"Obviously, we're not any different than the 31 other teams going into the draft. Do you fill every need going in? Of course not. You miss on some guys. Every team will tell you the same thing if you ask. There are guys that went right before (you) in the round, so you don't fill everything."
and
"But right now, I feel like with the pass rushers and corners, and skill people we got, I feel good about the way the whole thing went. Was it perfect? Of course not. No draft is ever perfect, but I feel great about the way the three days went."
Take those comments for what there worth. There was one coment that bothered me...a lot:
"It's a project in the truest sense," Devaney said of Onobun. "But he's big, he caught the ball great. ... So at this point (in the draft), why not?"
Maybe because you still have not sufficiently addressed some other needs like OLB, DE or back up RB. So when I see guys like Anthony Dixon, Greg Hardy, and Jonathon Dwyer sitting there, I do not think a project at a position that you just addressed the round before is the best route.
Anyhow, typically when a team can walk away from a draft with 2-3 quality starters, it is considered a success. Unfortunately, we are in a different position than most. We not only need quality starters, but also quality depth at many positions. If we come out of this draft with 3 quality starters and more importantly if Sam Bradford works out well, I will be happy. I think many of these picks will prove to be a waste, but thats the way the cookie crumbles.
Last part is -I wanted to list guys that we passed on for our picks. I know that time will only tell, so here are some names to keep an eye out for during the next few seasons:
1st round (not too much here considering we went after the franchise QB):
Suh
2nd round:
Sergio Kindle
Lamar Houston
Taylor Mays
Carlos Dunlap
3rd Round
Ed Dickson
Colt McCoy
Navarro Bowman
4th round
Everson Griffen
Corey Wooten
Dennis Pita
Roddrick Muckelroy
5th round
Cam Thomas
Arthur Jones
6th round
Anthony Dixon
Greg Hardy
Jonathon Dwyer
Dezmon Briscoe
7th round
Dorin Dickerson
CJ Wilson
Disclaimer: (I am not saying we should have drafted everyone of these guys, but the guys I liked and hoped for are in there)
Now, I'm not going to go through and list my ideal draft because hindsight is 20/20 and that just wouldn't be fair. However, there was talent available in every round of this rich draft. This was a unique draft and I'm glad we had so many picks.
There are still a few guys that have not found homes that I will be keeping an eye on to see where they end up:
QB Jevan Sneed
RB Chris Brown
WR Danario Alexander
OT Ciron Black (I think he will make a good OG at the next level)
DE Antonio Coleman
CB Donovan Warren
SS Will Harris
LB Kion Wilson
I love and hate this time of the year. i check this damn site too many times a day and I am constantly looking to see what players are released and if they could benefit the Rams. Good times y'all.