The Reasons Why The St. Louis Rams drafted Alec Ogletree

The Rams GM Les Snead is always looking to move around. Yesterday, the St. Louis Rams traded up to pick 8 to draft Tavon Austin. It wasn't a surprise that the Rams traded back again - this time from pick #22 to #30 with Atlanta - and drafted Alec Ogletree. He did have a couple of run ins with law, but has that ever stopped Fisher before?

Ogletree was the right fit for this team, and he fits the bigger, faster, model Fisher has going with the defensive side of the ball. Ogletree, Jo-Lonn Dunbar, and James Laurinaitis makes a hell of a linebacking trio.

Honestly he does have a few issues that worry me, but like I've been hearing this off-season, it's not what a player flaws are, it's what he does well and how that player will help the team.

The Division Factor

The St. Louis Rams are in the same division as the incredible Arizona Cardinals. The only way to combat Carson Palmer is to prevent him from attacking the Rams.

Gotta wonder how much the Ogletree pick was influenced by Russell Wilson & Colin Kaepernick four times a year

— Joe McAtee (@3k_) April 26, 2013

Oops, guess I had my teams mixed up, sorry Cardinal fans I had to. But anyway, Ogletree's athleticism will help the Rams against Kaepernick and Wilson. Yes, the Rams played them tough, but the team was missing that certain piece. Ogletree can spy the quarterback and then if they decide to run option plays, he'll have the speed to chase the running back.

His Skillset

He's the most athletic linebacker on the team. At 6'2, 242 lbs., he ran a 4.7 at the combine. He looks quicker than that on film, and he will be moving sideline-to-sideline making plays.

The only thing that bothers me is that he doesn't attack blockers, or let's them block him instead of shedding the contact. Part of the reason may be because he's a converted safety, or his linebacker coach didn't put the "dog" in him like Jeff Fisher will.

However, as a result of him moving to linebacker, he has good coverage abilities. It's an important attribute to have in linebackers, now that the league is increasingly becoming more and more pass heavy.

How the Rams will use him

The Rams will use Ogletree in a lot of different ways. He will be used to spy quicker quarterbacks and used in coverage, and with his sideline-to-sideline speed he will be making plays in the flats also. The Rams have Dunbar to take on blocks and blitz the offense, but since Dunbar will be a free agent next year, the Rams could teach Ogletree how to do those things too.

But day one, he is the new Rams starting weak side linebacker, and they are happy to have him.