Talk of adding a 17th game to the NFL regular season schedule's gotten more and more play in the last year or so. Needless to say, the league's no closer to adding a game than they were when the season expanded to 16 games in 1978.

Adding a game raises a smattering of other issues like, cutting the regular season, expanding rosters, creating a development league, higher salaries, yada, yada, yada.Of course, the bottom line is revenue.

Here's a twist on the 17th game addition though: adding spring games, either intra-squad scrimmages like in college football or some kind of exhibition game. That sounds great...until the top draft pick blows his ACL.

70/1 for the Rams to win the Super Bowl. 5/1 to win the NFC West. 

Hey, after last season, I'll take those odds. The folks over at Bodog were king enough to share some Rams-related stats with us. Not a betting man, I was oddly interested from the predictive standpoint. 

Things to be oddly optimistic about:

• Rams favored to win more than 3.5 games at home, -135. That's a plus. The Rams first home game is against the Super Bowl champion NY Giants, a difficult match for sure, but the Giants are coming in without sack master Osi Umenyiora and Strahan opted to stay retired. Alex Barron's breathing easier. After the Giants the Rams get the Bills, Cowboys, Cardinals, Bears, Dolphins, Seahawks and Niners. The most winnable games on the list are the Dolphins, Niners, and Bears. Mistake free play could bring a win against the Cardinals, esp considering their chronic disarray under center. If the Rams are competitive, a games against the Seahawks are always tight. I'm more optimistic about our chances against the Giants than the Bills.
  
• The over/under on Bulger's stats are 3325 passing yards and 19.5 TDs. That would be his second best season in the last four years.
• Take the over on Steven Jackson. His over/under for rushing yards is 1300; he topped 1000 yards in 12 games with a terrible offensive line and offense last season. His over/under for receiving yards is 450, far off his 800+ yards in 2006. He should top that this year. For TDs, Jackson's o/u is 12.5, a tougher call than his yardage numbers. 
• Precedent weighs heavily in odds making, and Torry Holt is still favored to be a top WR. His over/unders are: 92 rec, 1172 yards, 8.5 TDs. He topped all those, except for TDs (he had 7), with a gimpy knee and a pathetic offense last year.

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What's an OTA you ask, why it's an "Off Topic Activity," i.e. something not immediately related to the Rams.

Why violate the sacred covenant of TST, a Rams blog, you ask? To jump in with our $.02 on the Brett Favre thing of course.

I always liked Brett Favre; it was hard not to. He played with class and more importantly he played at an elite level and with a distinct style and approach that puts his name among not only the game's elite talents but as a player who changed the game, one who helped shaped how it's played and how we view it. 

That said, I think he ought to find another outlet for his passion for the game. Oh sure, I understand. When something's consumed almost evry aspect or your being for the last 16 years (more with college, etc.) walking away from it is terrifying because it's just so damn hard to imagine your life without it.

But if Favre comes back now, at 39, he risks tarnishing that legacy. He had a great season last year, but  the two season's prior to that his INT% was higher than his TD%. Sure, that had a lot to do with his supporting cast, but 4,000 seasons aren't common for 39-year-old QBs. To find a team with the personnel to help him to another Favre-like season he'd have to be a backup. The Brett Favre legend starts with him as a backup; ending it as a backup takes something away, exposing his vulnerability, his pedestrian humanness. Leave us with the legend, that's how fans, this fan at any rate, wants to remember Brett Favre.

I'm dancing like Jason Taylor around a few things on the dockett this morning but there's still plenty to talk about, so I've got a few shorter posts ready to go.

First things first, let's jump in with a hot political topic. No, this has nothing to do with the election; TST is a refuge from the world's maddness. Nobody wants the Rams to leave St. Louis - at least not metro area or regional fans - but that topic is going to be with us through at least 2015 when the team's lease on the Ed Jones Dome lapses.

As you know, the Rams lease allows the team to opt out in 2015 if the EJD doesn't rank as one of the top 8 venues in the league, a very unlikely scenario with the stadiums that have been built recently and will be built between now and then.

You don't need to be a doyen of city politics to see where this heading: a request for a publicly financed new stadium. That will mean a tax increase of some kind, and with modern NFL stadiums now approaching the $billion dollar mark, the tax increase would be noticeable on the municipal level. A few weeks ago the PD's Brian Burwell mused on a publicly financed stadium, reminding readers that the public tacitly acknowledge this likelihood when the Rams came to St. Louis. He also suggests that the Rams start winning before asking Joe and Jane Lunchpail for a slice of their hard earned pay. Can't argue with that.

But let's just start with the big question first. Would you support a tax increase for a new stadium to keep the Rams in St. Louis?

One thing holding the Rams back from starting negotiations with their second overall pick (now that Miami has wrapped it up at #1) is that the front office and coaching staff is divided on who to draft, according to this report at Pro Football Weekly.

Here's how the Rams insiders' draft talk breaks down:

Taking a parallel with our discussion of Dorsey versus Long (or Gholston) here at TST, the reporter, Nolan Nawrocki, says that the debate centers on what exactly the defense needs, an end or a tackle. Looming over the discussion is the decision on how to utilize Carriker if the Rams take their second first round DT in as many drafts as well as the ghost of past first round draft picks like Jimmy Kennedy, once believed to be a can't miss kid himself. Without a doubt Carriker's a versatile defender, but I've never felt - and granted I ain't no expert - that he's best suited to be a full time DE. The PFW piece cites an "evaluator" sharing a similar opinion of Carriker:

Now, Dorsey's no Jimmy Kennedy; I think that much is relatively clear. But drafting him leaves us with a glaring need at DE that Carriker just doesn't fill, as has been said here before and is a subject of debate among the Rams decision makers as well.

When it comes to reporting, so much depends on your source. The PFW spin is that this is a hotly contested topic, with the potential to drive a wedge between members of the decision making team. Compare that with this post from the PD's Bernie Miklasz:

That's a far more harmonious picture, and I suspect the differing views have something to do with the sources for each writer. Obviously, Miklasz likely has more regular contact with the Rams. But there's nothing to say that we shouldn't take either report at face value.

The PFW piece also mentions the possibility of a trade, with little new info other than the Saints made a "lowball" offer and they're potentially trying to acquire TE Jeremy Shockey. However, at the end the PFW story brings up the Jackson trade rumor which I have to say is pretty dubious based on reports in the local media and the fact that they cited health concerns and attitude. Yes, there was that little bit of tension between he and Linehan last season, but Jackson's a gamer and young enough that he figures to be the centerpiece of the Rams Al Saunders-led offense for years to come.

Expect more intrigue over the coming days.

Trading the second overall pick has become THE Rams draft topic with just over a week to go. Yesterday there was the report from NFL.com that the Saints had carried on some "informal" talks with the Rams about trading up to #2 and yesterday Bill Devaney's appearance on local sports talk radio 1380 as teevis89 pointed out. The wrap up from the Devaney interview at 1380 can be found here on STL Sports Insider. For those of you just dropping in on this topic, the gist of it is that the Rams will explore a trade and feel comfortable that they can drop down "a little lower than Kansas City's pick" and still get a player high on their draft board.

Kansas City picks 5th, so let's say they'll trade down no further than 8th, which is where the Ravens pick...the Ravens said to be interested in Matt Ryan. With a pick somewhere between 3 and 8, they should be easily able to grab one of the top OTs in the draft. Not Jake Long, but Boise State's Ryan Clady, Brandon Albert or Jeff Otah. Obviously, that meets a need, and I can't help but wonder if the Rams brass isn't thinking since Jake Long would be a likely fit at #2, why not trade down just a little bit and fill that need with a less expensive but still highly talented, ready to make an impact player.

If they went defense with a lower top ten pick, there's a slight chance they could take Chris Long or Vernon Gholston. Sedrick Ellis or Keith Rivers are other possibilities.

Trading down is not a bad thought, especially if a trade down netted the Rams a player from their trading partner that met one of their primary needs like CB or WR, or maybe even another second round pick. What's the drop off in talent levels between the possible choices at #2 versus the possible choices at 3 through 8?

Speaking of players available, the hype machine is shifting gears and last month's top five sure things have changed a bit. Remember when Vernon Gholston wasn't considered a top 2 pick? Well, now Don Banks at Sports Illustrated has Gholston going #1 overall to the Dolphins in his mock draft. The Rams select Jake Long in that scenario, but he notes that Gholston remains a distinct possibility. Here's the write up:

It's interesting to note that Chris Long, in that draft, fell out of the top five, going sixth to the Jets. Why? Banks states that there's some concern Chris Long has already reached his ceiling. If that's the case and truly reflects the sentiments of those in the know, then the Rams could still nab Chris Long by trading down. While not though to be a rushing specialist, Long doesn't exactly seem like a slouch in that department. The talking heads at NFL.com think Chris Long can do it all pretty well, whereas Gholston's the pure playmaker.

Here's a couple more draft links for you.

Move over Alex Barron. Brown's GM Phil Savage says that Jake Long could be Pro Bowler at RT his first year in the league. While there's no question there'd be some development time on the left side, the debate about whether or not Long can be an NFL LT seems to be all but gone now. Here's another riff on something in that link, for the kind of $$ Long's going to get it could well force teams to play him on the left side. Could that be part of the Rams reasoning in considering a trade down? Getting a first round talent, but not paying him LT money with a healthy Pace still around...

Finally, if the Chiefs trade Jared Allen, it could shake things up in the draft. Since they're looking for draft picks in exchange for Allen, it leaves the Rams out, but they could easily trade their #5 pick and another pick or two to the Rams in order to move up to #2 and draft Jake Long or Matt Ryan.

Hmmm...all this trade talk is making me hungry. I'm going to go get a muffin and mull it all over some more. It is casual Friday after all, and surely "casual" applies to one's 9-5 approach on such a holiday, right?

Here's my insta-analysis of the schedule, an on-the-spot, unscientific, completely anecdotal, two cent take. Assuming the team's general health (lightening doesn't strike twice does it?), I see 8 wins as things stand right now. That doesn't sound very optimistic, but eight wins damn well might be enough to win the NFC West this season.

But stabbing blindly at a guess on the Rams 2008 record at this point isn't going to yield much in the way of accuracy. Impossible to predict, because the draft is going to change things a great deal, not just for the Rams, but for our opponents as well.

I do, however, look at this schedule and see a serious need for a pass rusher to make the d-line the kind of force our offense was just a few seasons ago. I firmly believe that adding a sack master defensive end will make this unit something of an equalizer in those games on the schedule where the Rams seem over-matched at first glance. Add to that, the unit's progress last year in controlling opposing rushers, and a stout d-line should easily narrow the spread in those early season David/Goliath games against the Giants, the Cowboys and the Patriots...and the not-so-Goliath-but-still-tough matchups against Seattle, Philly, Washington and the Jets.

Now, whether that addition is Vernon Gholston or Quentin Groves or Chris Long, I think the Rams need to go for the DE over a tackle like Dorsey. Dorsey's a stud, but tell me how good our defensive front looks without Leonard Little, even with Dorsey at DT? Beyond Leonard Little, the Rams don't have a pass rushing expert at DE. We have good players on the depth chart after Little, but none of them can be considered true blue QB killers.

Little turns 34 in October. Like running backs, life for defensive ends gets awfully difficult after 30, even for Hall of Famers. Want more proof? Check out this factoid from our field rivals/internet friends over at Field Gulls:

Little had 13 sacks in 2006, but it's unreasonable to assume he can carry the burden of being the Rams sole sack specialist at DE this season at 34-years-old. In fact, if the Rams want to maximize his contribution, they'll limit the number of snaps he plays.

If Little is lost to injury (God forbid), then who takes his place? Obviously, they can use the 3-4 again some, with Witherspoon as the outside LB crashing in for the sack. That was an effective unit, but it won't be the constant force that a d-line - 3-4, 4-3 or somewhere in between - would be with another stud DE to go with Little.

Anyway, you see my point here, right? We need a DE, a pass rushing specialist DE, more than any other need on the defensive side of the ball. Dorsey's a helluva player, but drafting him second overall doesn't give the Rams a DE to be Little's understudy or replacement should he start to show his age this season.

Now, go back and look at the videos of Quentin Groves in that Field Gulls post linked above. That kid's a stud, and would give the Rams that second DE I'm talking about here. By some accounts, he'll be available when the Rams pick at the beginning of the second round. But he might not either. The FG post suggests taking him with Seattle's 25th pick. I realize they're not setting the SeaChicken draft board, but as hype builds around Groves abilities, he could get plucked away before pick #33 rolls around.

Or he might not...imagine this scenario: Rams draft Dorsey #2 and Groves #33. Let me pause to wipe the droll off my chin. There, got it. Anyway, that would be one helluva d-line, huh? But can we afford to take a pass on a talent like Vernon Gholston? I probably wouldn't.

The Rams portion of the two round SBN mock draft is in the books. Here's the Rams recap:

Round 1: Vernon Gholston, DE, Ohio State Univ.
Round 2: Devin Thomas, WR, Michigan State

We've been over the Gholston pick plenty, and I was prepared to draft an OT in the second round. You can read the rationale over there, but Devin Thomas was too good to pass up and the best OTs on still on the board had a question mark or just weren't worth the 33rd overall pick. Nebraska's Carl Nicks would have been the guy here, but his love for house parties and the resulting ban from Pro Day at Nebraska means that some team would probably pass on him there anyway. SBN's Nebraska blogger from Corn Nation explains the pretty minor trouble Nicks got into in the comments.

Having a WR like Thomas playing with Bennett and Holt his season would be a great fit for the Rams and give them one of the most talented WRs in the draft to fill one of their biggest needs.

If this draft were to continue into the third round, I'd be looking strongly at Toledo's John Greco. He's an OT who can play all four positions on the line, and is a really strong run blocker that would be big upgrade at RG for the Rams this season.

But that's just one potential path for the Rams in the draft this season.

Over at NFL.com, their mock draft has the Rams taking Michigan OT Jake Long in the first round, with Stlouisrams.com's Nick Wagoner making the pick via video.

If you want to look at more mock drafts, here's the links to more than you can shake a stick at.