2012 NFL Draft And Jason Smith's Future With The Rams

by Ryan Van Bibber on Oct 20, 2011 10:48 AM CDT in 2012 NFL Draft

This morning, I linked to a 2012 NFL mock draft predicting the St. Louis Rams spending the third overall pick on Stanford offensive tackle Jonathan Martin. After watching the performance of the offensive line this year, it's hard not to be a little disappointed. Granted, they were a much better unit against the Packers last week, but it's alarming that Sam Bradford has been sacked 21 times now and for the first time in his short NFL career his status for starting is in doubt. The key to all this disappointment and the biggest question mark for the Rams' OL troubles: Jason Smith.

Since drafting Smith with the second overall pick in 2009, it's fair to question just what the future hold for him. He's mediocre on the outside, along with being maddeningly inconsistent as a pass blocker. He also eats a ton of salary cap space through 2014 thanks to the old manner in which rookie contracts worked.

Out there on the interwebs, there's been some armchair coach talk about moving Smith to the inside, guard. There's an obvious comparison here with Robert Gallery. Would Smith be a better guard than he is a tackle? It stands to reason that his run blocking skills would translate better to the inside, but the question many have with Smith is whether or not he possesses the mettle to be an offensive lineman in the NFL. The acquisition of Harvey Dahl was supposed to address that, but the results are mixed so far.

If Smith really does have the potential to play on the inside, it coincides with the team's roster situation for 2012. Jacob Bell, the incumbent left guard, restructured his contract to free up cap space. It makes him a free agent after this season. If the Rams do feel like Smith could play guard, they could move him to Bell's spot, and shift Saffold over to the right in the event they did spend their second high draft pick in four years on an offensive tackle. Of course, they could also find a right tackle somewhere else and leave Saffold on the left. They have options.

Whether or not the Rams do spend a high draft pick on an offensive lineman, they do need to start finding some youthful talent to develop along the front five, rather than relying exclusively on shaky veterans as backups. Hopefully, they can develop Tim Barnes or Drew Miller, but linemen ought to be a focus of their middle round picks this year.

Something has to happen. The Rams cannot start the 2012 season with the same level of offensive line play that marred their start this season.

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Could Jason Smith make the switch to offensive guard?

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No

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Comments

Consider this...

Over the past handful of seasons, we have spent an alarming amount of money on the OL. Absolutely absurd amounts, honestly. Granted, we were basically forced to pay Jason Smith that much, but Jason Brown, Dahl, Jacob Bell, etc. have all been “prized” free agent acquisitions. The problem is, even with 2 “top notch young guards” and those 3 “all-pro” acquisitions, our line is the worst in the league. How is this possible? There are very, very few other teams that have the amount of money invested in their O-Line that we do, yet they manage quite well. Drew Brees has one anchor, Jahari Evans, and the rest of the line has fallen into place. Peyton Manning has Jeff Saturday, and the rest of the line holds up fairly well, or at least enough for him to make his reads and make the throw.

The point is, I believe we have a deep-rooted problem in our offensive line, whether it is coaching, fundamentals, or any other factors. It is ridiculous that we are potentially on our way to spending ANOTHER 1st or 2nd round pick on a linemen, when this line should be, not only highly formidable, but dominant. Maybe it is time to consider new personell for our OL, because if we take another “top notch” prospect and watch him struggle (i.e Jason Smith), and we miss out on a big-game receiver simply because we picked up Lloyd, who we aren’t even sure is the answer seeing that he hasn’t played, and guys like Blackmon/Jeffery fall into the hands of Arizona/Seattle, it will be sickening.

Rant concluded!

by RamBradford08 on Oct 20, 2011 11:04 AM CDT reply actions 2 recs

+1

by Freewheeler2 on Oct 20, 2011 11:12 AM CDT up reply actions

I am going to beat my dead horse here again.

I want a #1 receiver. I want a #1 receiver. I want a #1 receiver. I want a #1 receiver. I want a #1 receiver.

Yeah, yeah, yeah I know we traded for Lloyd but nobody knows how he will perform. What have we lacked all season and last season. A true #1. If we draft around #3 or close, get a #1 receiver. I cannot make it any clearer.

by crashoveride01 on Oct 20, 2011 11:31 AM CDT reply actions

We can get a number 1 reciever in the top 10

But I agree with you that is more important to me then another OT

by ChrisL951 on Oct 20, 2011 11:38 AM CDT up reply actions

I agree

A #1 receiver should be our pick. If Lloyd decides to stay, which I believe he will, this would make for a strong receiving core. Moving Jason Smith to guard will probably work, but in essence, we spent a #2 pick on a guard. That hurts, but so does Sam Bradford.

by MOOSERAM13 on Oct 20, 2011 11:38 AM CDT reply actions

i agree we need to get a #1 WR.

I don’t think we HAVE to get it in the draft though. There are a lot of top tier receivers that are scheduled to hit the free agency at the end of this year who are already proven commodities and can come in and help immediately, much like we expect Lloyd to. Of course, that requires some capspace and some nuts from our FO, but they pulled the trigger on Lloyd, so I don’t see why they wouldn’t pull the trigger on a FA WR not named MSW. If we can pick up a stud WR in the FA before the draft, then we should look for the best OT in the draft to replace Jason Smith. If we don’t get a FA WR, then there is no way we shouldn’t grab Blackmon or Alshon.

Two things about me will never change. I will always root for the Rams, and I will always root against the Niners.

by DuhhhRams! on Oct 20, 2011 12:12 PM CDT up reply actions

This Jason Smith is bringing the Rams

franchise to it’s knees! First off, he may be sending Devaney out the door (not a bad thing), he could be impacting Spags (he may need to be a coordinator), he is helping get our franchise QB killed, he is greatly attributing to our great 0-5 record and what really irks me is with all the aforementioned talk about we spend on our O-Line, there is now talk about using what is turning out to be a coveted 2012 pick on another OT! This is insane. The Rams development plans certainly did not call for drafting another OT in 2012 after investing so heavily with Smith and Saffold. The Rams desperately need to spend their top 2012 pick on a game changing WR or a pesky CB. They need to use the 2nd round to either grab the CB or WR they didn’t get in Round One or get a desirable OLB. The ripple affect this Jason Smith is causing throughout the organization is truly a show stopper.

by RamTeaPartier on Oct 20, 2011 1:52 PM CDT reply actions