It's a Tuesday morning in limbo...waiting for an April 6 court date that will determine whether or not we have football this season. Of course, there's also the draft, and getting ready for that is what we're focused on in this morning's look at all the NFL and St. Louis Rams news fit to print.
Rams check out another lineman and safety
The Rams were one of several teams on hand to watch Arkansas State OL Derek Newton at his pro day. Tony Pauline at Draft Insider thinks he can play OT, but many teams regard him as a guard. Ryan Kerrigan, according to Pauline, is also burning up draft boards, and the Rams have a workout scheduled with Boise State S Jeron Johnson (more on that later).
Edmunds Gates impresses at his pro day
22 NFL teams had representatives on hand in Abilene, TX to watch Abilene Christian WR Edmund Gates work out his pro day. It was an impressive performance by all accounts. ACU also produced Bears WR Johnny Knox, and some are already claiming Gates to be a better player.
Jim Thomas at the PD caught up with new owner Stan Kroenke to talk Rams. Kroenke says they haven't started discussions on the stadium issue yet, but will ramp it up in 2012. He goes at length about free agency, noting that he believes in building teams through a system and the draft, without ruling out the right addition here or there.
Rob Rang looks at a few possible first round trades, trades up in the draft order. Those are more likely to happen if there's a rookie wage scale in place, but that seems highly unlikely at this point. He speculates on the possibility of the Rams making a swap with Dallas for their ninth pick, trading a third round and a late round pick to make it happen and draft Julio Jones or A.J. Green.
Jim Irsay optimistic about the CBA
Colts owner Jim Irsay thinks the CBA will get resolved outside of the courts at the bargaining table. He even expresses a note of optimism. Somebody pinch this guy.
Breaking down A.J. Green vs. press coverage
A really fascinating look at how A.J. Green beat press coverage on a fade route in the red zone against Colorado. Running a perfect fade route against press coverage and making it look easy...that's why Green is a top ten pick.