Offensive tackles have been all the rage lately. Yesterday, we looked at some positive numbers about the St. Louis Rams starting bookends in pass protection, courtesy of Pro Football Focus. ESPN then had some tackle talk, which continued today on Twitter with Matt Williamson of ESPN and Scouts, Inc. After seeing Williamson putting Russell Okung among the top five left tackles, I asked him about the Rams tackles. Here's what he said:

@WilliamsonNFL: Rams' OTs have a ton of potential. Doubt Smith ever lives up to high draft slot, but could be vastly improved next season

Needless to say, it got me thinking. Admittedly, I'm biased, but I think the Rams have a pretty good pair of tackles at the foundation of their offensive line. They also have Sam Bradford, who looks like he's going to be an elite quarterback, and elite quarterbacks have a way of making their offensive lines look even better, just ask Tom Brady. 

It's hard to argue with the Rams decision to pick Saffold in the second round last year, though many fans and pundits complained about it at the time. Alex Barron fans, I guess. Looking back at the Jason Smith pick, and reading comments like this, you do wonder a bit, enough to put on the old armchair GM hat and stroll back down memory lane. 

Shall we?

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Over at Sports Illustrated, columnist Don Banks has his hindsight 20/20 draft posted, in which he looks back at the players and results to assess what teams should have done in the draft. And what did his hindsight tell him about the St. Louis Rams?

With Detroit picking Michael Oher first overall, he has the Rams drafting Georgia QB Matt Stafford. It's not a bad hindsight pick at all, of course, since we're talking hindsight, maybe we should have made some sort of trade in 1998 to get Peyton Manning. Here's the quibble I have with Banks' analysis:

there's no team in more obvious need of a new starting quarterback for 2010. With that in mind, and Smith having underperformed as a rookie, I'd select Stafford here, with the knowledge that St. Louis could have given him a redshirt season of sorts while Marc Bulger and Kyle Boller served out this long and trying season for the Rams.

Maybe, but the offensive line would have been so bad that the third QB would have been playing by week 5 rather than week 14. The real issue I have here is his claim that Jason Smith has underperformed. Wrong. Smith played like a champ in the starting lineup, rarely making the same mistake twice, and the Rams obviously miss his presence on the field. Now, he could have said "disappointed," disappointed in the sense of Smith being injured this season.

Speaking of the draft, Illinois WR Arrelious Benn will enter the NFL Draft.

Ask and ye shall receive. The St. Louis Rams and their second round draft pick, MLB James Laurinaitis have agreed to a four-year deal. No financial terms have been disclosed yet.

This is great news, and leaves the Rams with just one pick left to sign, first rounder OT Jason Smith, and  they're reportedly working on it as we speak.

Laurinaitis figures heavily in the team's plans this season, where they expect him to be an every down contributor to the defense. He was considered one of the top middle linebacker prospects in this year's draft, along with USC's Rey Maualuga. Both players were drafted early in the second round, and many felt like Laurinaitis could have been a top ten pick had he left Ohio State after his junior season.

Hmm, I wonder if we'll be talking about this on Turf Show Radio tonight...probably should listen to find out.

The St. Louis Rams have agreed to terms with 4th round draft pick DT Darell Scott and 6th round pick QB Keith Null. Details are not immediately available. RB Chris Ogbonnaya, the team's 7th round pick, made it official today by signing the deal he agreed to earlier in the month.

That leaves two biggies unsigned, first rounder OT Jason Smith and second round pick LB James Laurinaitis. Rams VP of Football Operations and cap guru Kevin Demoff reiterated his confidence that both picks will be signed and in camp on time. The wires are filled with reports of second round picks getting their contracts worked out, so the slot values are taking shape. 

It's been a busy spring for lawyers in the NFL. Teams have signed draft picks at a blistering, even record pace. This piece at ESPN explains some of the reasons behind the accelerated work to get rookies under contract. Whatever the reasons for speed this offseason, the Rams are one of six teams yet to sign any of their draft picks. Why?

Last year the Rams made 3rd round pick OT John Greco their first rookie from the '08 draft with a contract. That happened on June 12. This year, I suspect the front office overhaul has created some delay in contracts, as well as conversations with OJ Atogwe, who's contract issues need to be resolved soon. Another question surrounding the Rams draft pick deals, particularly the guys drafted in rounds 3 through 7, is whether or not the team will shift from the Shaw/Zygmunt three-year rookie contracts to the more standard four-year contracts for late picks. Rams new contract man Kevin Demoff has always been a four-year guy, and uncertainty about the CBA makes four-year deals more attractive for their extra year of security. With that, I think it's safe to assume the Rams will start offering four-year deals to late round picks this year, but we won't know for sure until they actually sign one.

I thought it might be interesting to see whether or not the players drafted around the Rams picks' have signed deals, since that information reveals much about the slotting system used in the late rounds and offers a guide as to what kind of contracts the Rams rookies will receive. I went back and forth about whether or not to include a contract prediction. Notoriously waffly when it comes to gambling (DO NOT sit at a black jack table with me), I hesitated, but then thought, "To hell with it...I've got nothing to lose." So here's the late round pick predictions. I'm also going to assume the Rams embrace the four-year contract.

Round Three, Iowa CB Bradley Fletcher, 66th pick

An odd numbered round, the Rams had the second pick (66th overall) pick, shocking almost everyone by taking the under-the-radar Fletcher. Jets RB Shonn Greene, another Iowa player, was the first pick of the round, and he signed a four-year deal worth $2.655 million with a $905,000 signing bonus. The  Chiefs have yet to sign the third pick from that round, but the Bears signed the fourth pick, DT Jarron Gilbert, to a four-year, $2.49 million deal with a $740,000 signing bonus.

Greco, the second pick of the third round in 2008, signed a three-year, $1.794 million contract with a $644,000 singing bonus.

Prediction: Fletcher signs a four-year deal worth $2.59 million with an $800,000 signing bonus. Reports from spring practices speak well of Fletcher, and few would be surprised if he doesn't see playing time in the nickel this year.

Round Four, Clemson DT Darell Scott, 103rd pick

The third pick of the fourth round, neither of Scott's immediate draft slot neighbors (with the Chiefs and Browns) have signed. The closest player in the draft order to Scott that has signed a deal is Bears DE Henry Melton, who inked a four-year, $2.261 million deal with a $511,230 signing bonus. The last pick of the third round, Giants TE Travis Beckum, signed a four-year, $2.363 million deal with a $611,000 bonus.

Last year, the Rams signed CB Justin King, the second pick in the fourth round, to a three-year, $1.526 million deal with a $376,000 signing bonus. King signed on July 23, 2008. Keenan Burton, another, later fourth round pick, signed on July 4, 2008.

Prediction: Scott signs a four-year, $2.29 million deal with a $570,000 bonus.

Round Five, North Carolina WR Brooks Foster, 160th pick

After swapping picks with the Falcons in the Laurent Robinson trade, the Rams had the 160th pick, the 24th selection of the round. Eagles OT Fenuki Tupou signed a four-year deal, but details have yet to be disclosed. The Dolphins signed 25th pick TE John Nalbone, to a four-year, $1.923 million contract with a $173K signing bonus. The 22nd pick, Redskins LB Cody Glenn, signed a four-year, $1.925 deal with a $175K bonus.

In 2008, the Rams signed G Roy Scheuning, the 157th pick, to a three-year, $1.278 million deal with a $!28K bonus. He signed on June 11, 2008.

Prediction: Foster signs a four-year, $1.9236 million deal with a $173,600 bonus.

Round Six, West Texas A&M QB Keithh Null, 196th pick

No player within two draft slots of Null has singed, except for Eagles WR Brandon Gibson, 194th pick, but his contract has yet to be disclosed. The closest pick with accessible contract info to sign from the sixth round is Giants DB DeAndre Wright, the 200th pick. He signed a four-year, $1.842 million deal with a $92K bonus.

The Rams did not have a sixth round pick in 2008, traded away.

Prediction: Null signs a four-year, $1.848 deal with a $93K bonus.

Round Seven, Texas RB Chris Ogbonnaya, 211th pick

The Falcons signed DT Vance Walker, the first pick of the round, to a four-year, $1.817 million deal with a $66,730 bonus. The Chiefs have yet to sign the third selection from the last round, and the Eagles have yet to disclose details for the fourth selection. The fifth selection, Dolphins LB J.D. Folsom, signed a four-year, $1.8132 million deal with a $62K bonus.

Rams seventh round pick LB Chris Chamberlain to a three-year, $1.186 million deal with a $36K bonus on July 20, 2008. I'm leaving out Vorbora's deal since it's irrelevant (ha! get it?) to this prediction.

Prediction: Four years, $1.816 million with a $66,000 bonus.

The Rams kicked off a round of OTAs yesterday with penalty prevention 101. It's a much needed course for a team that struggled with penalties on top of their numerous other struggles. A new offense means new snap counts, and learning those will be vital for an offensive line that featured two of the most penalized players in the league in Incognito and Barron. Speaking of penalties and the o-line...

Think about how you'd grade Alex Barron if he didn't incur so many penalties. His value as a player goes way up if he cuts down the number of false starts from say the seven he had last season to just a couple. As it stands now, Barron's an acceptable starter. If he can establish some discipline on the snap counts, he brings even more value. Now, I don't mean to say that with five less false starts Barron's bought his ticket to the Pro Bowl, but with his proclivity to stay healthy, he does become a valuable asset.

As for our other penalty prone lineman, I was ready to dump Incogntio after last season...along with 75% of the roster. Since then emotions have given way to rationality. Incognito plays well in the middle; however, if he can't get over his mental hurdles, the Rams have plenty of options to replace him at guard, especially if some of the more promising undrafted rookie free agents, like Roger Allen and Ray Feinga, sieze their opportunity in camp this year.

Couple items of interest:

• Tinoisamoa will visit with the Rams North, aka the Chicago Bears, today. He'll also visit the Eagles.
• Michael Vick speculation.  
• Florida is changing it's game a little bit to help Tim Tebow with his future NFL career.
• The NFL and the players union will start CBA talks next month.

Another day at minicamp is in the books, and surprisingly enough there's nothing earth-shattering to report. It's Derby Day. Today's about mint juleps. The big news from camp today...

We've got some great photos from camp today, just click on the "more photos" link in the caption or when you roll your cursor over the pic. There's a good one of fourth round pick DT Darell Scott working too, but I had to go with Null.

Jason Smith is humble. Does a guy who volunteers to carry the vets' gear sound like the kind of guy who's going to engage in a protracted contract holdout? He's also looked good on his feet. 

Keith Null, a "strong and accurate" arm? That's good to hear. I think his upside is limited to a competent backup, but maybe Ryan Leaf imparted a nugget of wisdom or two on the kid, when he wasn't borrowing pain killers. 

The most interesting news from the day is the uncertain status of TE Joel Klopfenstein. The second round pick from 2006 who's been disappointing (to put it charitably) is battling it out for the third TE spot with Daniel Fells. Fells looked good down the stretch last year, better than Klop in my opinion, not a particularly high standard though. I'll go ahead and predict that Klop gets eighty-sixed before the season starts. 

Atogwe tweaked a hamstring. Dude, stretch. 

Derby aside: I don't know how the horse Dunkirk got its name, but students of military history will recognize that name. Dunkirk was the French beach where the remains of the British army (and a few French units too) were pinned against the English Channel by the Germans in 1940. Miraculously, though at a high cost, the ever resilient Brits evacuated the troops, only to return in subsequent years to kick arse. I put a five spot on that horse. 

SBN's NFC West bloggers rounded up their team's draft results. How'd each team do in the eye's of the fans?

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