Rams agree to terms with TE Fendi Onobun

by Ryan Van Bibber on Jul 20, 2010 9:03 AM CDT in St. Louis Rams news

The St. Louis Rams have agreed to terms with sixth round draft pick TE Fendi Onobun. The team hasn't officially announced the deal, but Adam Caplan of Fox Sports reports it to be a 4-year deal worth $1.92 million and a $129,000 signing bonus.

Onobun is the classic sixth round project pick. With measurables of 6'6" and 252 lbs, the University of Houston grad student with just one year of football under his belt, continues the tradition of college hoops players turning into NFL tight ends. Only time will tell if he's the next Antonio Gates. His contributions will be mostly limited to special teams this season, but the coaching staff will be working on a mind meld between him and QB Sam Bradford going forward.

And finally, some reassurance from the PD's Jim Thomas about the Rams last two unsigned draft picks, Bradford and OT Rodger Saffold:

There's no reason to believe that Bradford won't be in training camp on time, give or take a day or two. Condon does not have a history of holding out clients; and Demoff's track record in signing players has been good so far during his brief tenure in St. Louis.

That's been the talk for some time now. And like we said over the weekend, the Rams don't really have any leverage to play hardball at the negotiating table.

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Comments

He will be a mix between

Antonio Gates and Marques Colston

by PCarn on Jul 20, 2010 10:24 AM CDT reply actions

as my sig says...

Bradford to Onobun!

by Infemous on Jul 20, 2010 10:36 AM CDT reply actions

No

as my sig says…

Onubon > Gates

by Carneros on Jul 20, 2010 1:02 PM CDT up reply actions

does anyone have any stories/news...

on how Fendi was doing in training camp? From the sounds of this, he’s been doing pretty good for just 1 year of football.

by Rams Homer on Jul 20, 2010 11:18 AM CDT reply actions

From what i remember

He was struggling catching the football, and looking like a guy with one year of football experience but that was a month or so ago. It was from a question in an interview with Spags, so hopefully he was exagerating to light a fire under his bum. I think Ho’o has been doing much better, but we’ll see come pre-season.

Julio Jones for Rams 2011

by kinzav29 on Jul 20, 2010 1:56 PM CDT up reply actions

i heard mixed reviews

first i saw he was catching on fairly quickly then later i heard he had some drops.

by Buck Nasty87 on Jul 20, 2010 1:57 PM CDT up reply actions

Finally

I was wondering what was holding this up so long. I can only hope it was because he was doing so well in OTAs that he was holding out for a few extra bucks. I doubt it though.

Btw Van, mind melding is frowned upon outside the Vulcan community.

Onubon > Gates

by Carneros on Jul 20, 2010 1:06 PM CDT reply actions

If I had to make a guess, Onobun is going to be a failure.

I hope he makes it, but I don’t think he will due to the fact that he never played college football (having 2 catches doesn’t count). I know he’s similar to Antonio Gates, but I just don’t see it happening. That said, it’s a good draft pick for the sixth round because of he does make it in the NFL, he very well could be the next Antonio Gates.

If you give a man a fish and he'll stink up the whole town. However, give a man a fishing rod and he'll poke your eye out.

by StopSpe on Jul 20, 2010 1:35 PM CDT reply actions

I think he can be good if we utilize him correctly

I think he could ether be the next Antonio Gates or Marques Colston, as PCarn stated. I believe Colston was drafted as a TE, and was then converted to WR. Onobun actually ran a faster 40 time, and he is bigger. It really comes down to his route running ability and hands. He can be a real weapon if he can hone those two skills.

Onubon > Gates

by Carneros on Jul 20, 2010 1:58 PM CDT up reply actions

Billy and Spags must think he's doing pretty good...

otherwise, why would they give him a 4 year contract? Oh wait, this isn’t baseball… the only thing guaranteed is the signing bonus. hmmm, $130,000 isn’t too much. So, maybe he’s still got a lot of work but has plenty of upside?

Yeah, i’d love to see him utilized more as a WR than a tight end. With his height and speed, those little DB’s can’t keep up or bring him down. Just got to get him past all the big boys up front. I could see him as marques Colton the 2nd.

Of course, for this to happen… we need a offensive coordinator with the mindset of Mike Marz.

by Rams Homer on Jul 20, 2010 3:09 PM CDT up reply actions

I think we all knew this when he was drafted

So, maybe he’s still got a lot of work but has plenty of upside

by bdemartin on Jul 20, 2010 8:04 PM CDT reply actions

Rams FO love those palindromes ;-)

from macsfootballblog.com

Fendi Onobun, TE, Houston – Signed (4-years, $1.918M; $128,821 signing bonus)

by RBramfan on Jul 21, 2010 1:31 AM CDT reply actions

I just asked Sando to look into it. He loves numbers. Let's see what he comes up with.

Maybe someone needs to interview Demoff and ask him (VanRam).

I can take a beating ... I'm a Rams fan.

by Midasknight on Jul 21, 2010 10:56 AM CDT up reply actions

Email response from Sando regarding Demoff and palindromes:

“I think he’s having fun with numbers. It’s something I’m aware of but haven’t done anything on. I’ll check with him and let you know what I find out.”

I can take a beating ... I'm a Rams fan.

by Midasknight on Jul 21, 2010 1:05 PM CDT up reply actions