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Kennedy's a Donkey

And just like that the Kennedy era comes to a close in St. Louis, Jimmy Kennedy that is. (hat tip to kevinramsfan)

Really, it was probably the best for both parties. Fans and others in St. Louis had grown weary of JK's presence on the line, and coaching transitions, an outright lack of tutelage, and injuries marred his time here and his first round status upped the ante to a level nearly impossible for him to live up to. Best of luck to ya, JK.

Reading between the lines of this trade, two things immediately come to mind:

  1. Haslett and Linehan must have some real confidence in their three newest D-line draft picks. Carriker's already been named the starter, before JK was shipped out even. As far as second day picks Keith Jackson Jr and Clifton Ryan, the coaches must feel that they can provide solid depth, at least as big boys on the line to clog up lanes and draw double teams. I'm pretty confident in Carriker, but much more guarded about Ryan and Jackson. Obviously, a lot of our trepidation stems from watching back up runners look like Steven Jackson against the Rams d-line last year. I sure hope Haslett and Linehan are right here, because while JK may never have been a Pro Bowler, at least we had another warm, experienced body for depth.
  2. The coaching staff may very well have confidence in the rookies, but it's hard not to wonder if the Rams are now back in the market for a DT...ahem, Kris Jenkins. From the Post-Dispatch article:
The trade also could indicate that the Rams are interested in resuming trade talks with Carolina about veteran Kris Jenkins.

Hmmm, the burden to get a disgruntled Jenkins off the payroll should now be pretty heavy in Carolina, and I suspect their once ridiculous asking price of a first round pick will moderate somewhat - maybe a TE and a third rounder in '08? Or maybe they're banking on a pending release/cut this summer of someone that could really help out the D-line depth.

Stay tuned. I get the sneaking feeling the D-line as we'll know it this season is still taking shape.

Here's the Bronco fan view of the deal at the Mile High Report.

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Defensive Overhaul Continues
Glad to see Kennedy gone! This defensive was one of the worst in the league under Martz, and Linehan came in to clean house...

Kennedy
Butler
Fisher
Lewis
Archuleta
Furrey (at saftey)
Claibourne
Coackley

This defense was pathetic, and needed a change from top to bottom. Great job by coach Linehan and the front office to move away from a sad era in Rams defensive history. This overhaul cannot make this defense any worse than it was under Marie.

by Rams8888 on Jun 9, 2007 3:01 PM CDT   0 recs

names
people drafted after jimmy kennedy, and before the rams 2nd round pick, pisa (per wikipedia):

ty warren, troy polamalu, nnamdi asomugha, larry johnson, rashean mathis, dallas clark.

by SJ on Jun 9, 2007 3:30 PM CDT   0 recs

2001 Draft
While looking back at drafts doesn't help much, two of our first round picks in 2001:
Picket/Lewis, both DTs.
Two DTs selected in second round:
Kris Jenkins, Shaun Rogers

Oh, the humanity.

by strugglemonkey on Jun 10, 2007 9:25 AM CDT to parent up   0 recs

To be fair
that article says nothing about the Rams being one of the teams that are talking.  Plus, that can be interpreted a couple of different ways.

The one that might (hope?) make the most sense is Miami knows Linehan coached Culpepper 2 years ago in Miami.  Miami calls Linehan and says "Duante's available for a sixth round pick...interested?"  Linehan responds with "No."

Miami then reports that they have "talked" to a team about trading Culpepper.

by Big Red on Jun 11, 2007 5:30 PM CDT to parent up   0 recs

news page
If anyone is interested, I found this page that has newspaper, sports
sites and blog feeds all in one page, I check it every day: http://www.dcdeal.com/rams

by drodd1039 on Jun 11, 2007 12:20 PM CDT   0 recs

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