FanPost

Shiny Things



I would like to preface this abomination by saying that I agree that we need OL help. I believe the OL is the single most important upgrade that we can make. That's why I think if we are going to throw money at something, it should be RT. The market also happens to line-up rather nicely with that need (if not in actual financials, at least in supply/demand).

I think we retain Turner/Smith/Rok to fight it out for the leftover guard position (along with a mid-round draftee) and then use the other two for back-ups (which Turner and Smith showed themselves pretty capable of last year). I know people would like a flashier solution for the open guard spot after all of the pain and suffering our line has underwent, but not this year. We need to spend the resources on RT.

Without further procrastination, I would like to present my First Three Rounds:

  • 1.) Eifert/Ertz
  • 1b.) Austin
  • 2.) Bailey/Da'Rick Rogers/Marques Wilson
  • 3.) Swearinger/Rambo/Thomas

I admittedly do not have enough knowledge to fill out the rest of the draft, so we can debate who else to add in this scenario, but as you can see I leaned heavily on playmakers. Last year, the Front Office doubled up on CB to create a strength out of it, this year they are going to surround Sam with weapons. Consider a reverse or a slant to Austin in which he has a mammoth TE downfield blocking for him in addition to someone like Bailey who already knows what it's like to be downfield with him. Consider having the different dimensions of Givens, Quick, Ertz, Austin all on the field at the same time! Then you also have a one of the 2nd Round talents, whether it be the route running specialist, Bailey, or one of the "Enigma Duo"

All of that talent is going to be pretty inept if the line doesn't mesh, but if we can fill RT with Levitre or Smith then I think it will make a world of difference. Paul Bordeau is a very good OL coach and we have talent on the line, albeit, it needs to stay healthy, but I think the upside of this scenario is enough to not overfill the OL for the sake of injury fear, which every team is faced with.

I'm not married to the exact draft spot for each player, but I think this is reasonable. Also, I do not endorse any future in which Steven Jackson is not a Ram next season. I would prefer that the conversation does not degrade to a back and forth about his future with the Rams, so please assume that SJ will be back next year at a cap hit of $4.5 million when discussing the plausibility of this scenario. Lowering it to $4 million is also alright if it helps you sleep at night.

(In all of those hypotheticals up there, I didn't even mention defenses' fear of SJ smashing through their feeble limbs)