2016 NFL Draft: St. Louis Rams' Team Needs?

Where's Gil Brandt? Has he passed NFL.com's "Team Needs" NFL draft duties over to Lance Zierlein? On Tuesday, Zierlein released his first attempt of the year at a projected 2016 NFL Draft order and needs for every team. In his projections, Zierlein has the Rams drafting 19th in the first round. He identifies the Rams' top need as wide receiver, with defensive end, defensive tackle and center as other needs.

19. St. Louis Rams
2015 record: 2-3 (.640)
Top need: Wide receiver
Other needs: Defensive end, defensive tackle, center
Senior prospects at positional needs: WR: D.J. Foster (Arizona State), Sterling Shepard (Oklahoma), Josh Doctson (TCU); DE: DeForest Buckner (Oregon), Shilique Calhoun (Michigan State), Shawn Oakman (Baylor); DT: Sheldon Day (Notre Dame), Jarran Reed (Alabama), Adolphus Washington (Ohio State); Center: Nick Martin (Notre Dame), Mike Matthews (Texas A&M).
Analysis: Another year, another draft in which the Rams need to find a wide receiver they can build their passing game around because that guy doesn't appear to be on the roster -- still. Chris Long's contract number for 2016 could price him out of a job, but even if it doesn't the Rams could use depth at the defensive end spot. Finding inexpensive depth at defensive tackle and competition at the center spot could also be on the Rams' checklist.

For the most part, Zierlein has nailed this correctly. I would likely replace defensive tackle with both safety and cornerback, although defensive tackle could have a depth issue if Nick Fairley is not re-signed and Ethan Westbrooks is permanently moved to the outside. Chris Long's contract ($14.25 million salary cap hit) could very well become problematic in 2016 (the final year of his contract). Will the Rams sign him to an extension? William Hayes and Eugene Sims both become Free Agents in 2016. The Rams are still looking for that elusive "Number 1" wide receiver. They've already traded Chris Givens and Brian Quick is set for Free Agency in 2016. At center, Tim Barnes has been mediocre at best through 5 games this season and Demetrius Rhaney is an unknown quantity.

There is growing support for revamping the tight end position. Jared Cook and Lance Kendricks account for $13.9 million in salary cap hits this season. Clearly the production is lagging far behind the dollars. The secondary could undergo massive changes in the offseason, as Janoris Jenkins, Trumaine Johnson, Cody Davis, Mark Barron and Rodney McLeod are all eligible for Free Agency in 2016.

Last week, I presented my first 2016 NFL Mock Draft of the year and ranking of team needs. Wide Receiver, Defensive End, Safety, Cornerback and Center were the Rams' top needs (ranked in order). The Rams' 2016 positional needs were ranked using the following criteria: potential Free Agent losses, potential positions in need of upgrades and assessing the possibility of existing roster players reaching their potential/ceiling.

St. Louis Rams Current Roster & Depth Chart

C	Tim Barnes	Demetrius Rhaney
RG	Rodger Saffold	Garrett Reynolds
LG	Jamon Brown	Cody Wichmann
RT	Rob Havenstein	Andrew Donnal
LT	Greg Robinson	Darrell Williams
TE	Lance Kendricks	Cory Harkey
TE	Jared Cook
WR	Tavon Austin	Brian Quick	Bradley Marquez
WR	Kenny Britt	Stedman Bailey
RB	Tre Mason	Benny Cunningham
RB	Todd Gurley	Chase Reynolds
QB	Nick Foles	Case Keenum	Sean Mannion
PK	Greg Zuerlein
P	John Hekker
LS	Jake McQuaide
DT	Aaron Donald	Nick Fairley
DT	Michael Brockers	Ethan Westbrooks
DE	Chris Long	William Hayes
DE	Robert Quinn	Eugene Sims
MLB	James Laurinaitis	Bryce Hager
OLB	Jo-Lonn Dunbar	Daren Bates	Alec Ogletree
OLB	Akeem Ayers	Cameron Lynch
CB	Janoris Jenkins	Marcus Roberson
CB	Trumaine Johnson	Lamarcus Joyner
SS	T.J. McDonald	Mark Barron	Maurice Alexander
FS	Rodney McLeod	Cody Davis	Christian Bryant
	Practice Squad	Injured Reserve
	DE  Matt Longacre	CB E.J. Gaines
	DT  Louis Trinca-Pasat	WR Isiah Ferguson
	DT  Doug Worthington
	CB  Melvin White
	CB  Eric Patterson
	RB  Malcolm Brown
	FB  Zach Laskey
	WR Nick Toon
	TE  Justice Cunningham
	OT  Isaiah Battle

St. Louis Rams 2016 Free Agents

Position	Player	FA Status
QB	Case Keenum	RFA
RB	Benny Cunningham	RFA
RB	Chase Reynolds	RFA
TE	Cory Harkey	UFA
WR	Brian Quick	UFA
C	Tim Barnes	UFA
K	Greg Zuerlein	UFA
DT	Nick Fairley	UFA
DE	Eugene Sims	UFA
DE	William Hayes	UFA
OLB	Jo-Lonn Dunbar	UFA
OLB	Daren Bates	RFA
CB	Janoris Jenkins	UFA
CB	Trumaine Johnson	UFA
SS	Mark Barron	UFA
FS	Rodney McLeod	UFA
FS	Cody Davis	RFA

When all is said and done, I'd like to see the Rams take the Best Player Available in the 2016 NFL Draft. After all, that strategy seemed to work quite well in the last two drafts, as the Rams eschewed drafting for need with a pair of first round selections and instead chose Aaron Donald (2014) and Todd Gurley (2015). Few can complain about those results.