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The St. Louis Rams have fallen pretty far since their heyday as “The Greatest Show on Turf.” In the Crosshairs will break down the recent history of a team’s first round picks and try to discover draft day trends and upcoming needs.
2009: Jason Smith-OT-Baylor
2008: Chris Long-DE-Virginia
2007: Adam Carriker-DT-Nebraska
2006: Tye Hill-DB-Clemson
2005: Alex Barron-OT-Florida St.
The Rams are forced into taking Ndamukong Suh with the first overall pick, unless a team makes a move for him. This would allow the Rams to move down and gain more picks further down the board. Suh is the best defensive player in the draft and the recent draft history shows the Rams are building the interior of the offensive and defensive lines.
I’m not going to put “bust” labels on anyone in this Crosshairs section because if we have learned anything, it’s that it can take offensive and defensive linemen time to mature in the NFL. If Carriker and Long can progress, then Suh is another nice piece to the puzzle and gives the Rams a formidable front.
The Rams are in desperate need of a quarterback and the days of Marc Bulger being a top quarterback are long gone. They threw money at him for some reason to keep him around, but you have to start thinking that maybe Bulger falls under “system quarterback” when Mike Martz was in town. He just isn’t the same quarterback, injuries have also played a factor in his decline. Keith Null and Kyle Boller proved ineffective when used last year and the team signed Mike Reilly at the end of last year. Reilly could be a nice find for the team and will look to prove himself next year in camp.
2010 Draft Day needs:
St. Louis is in the midst of a pretty big rebuilding project and again look to get back to the “Glory Days.” The NFC West is a very winnable division as other teams are also in rebuilding modes, such as the Seattle Seahawks and the Arizona Cardinals with Kurt Warner’s recent retirement. Anquan Boldin is probably on his way out of Arizona also.
The Rams have many needs, but as far as importance they are looking to add in the positions of QB, DT, WR, TE, OLB, CB, and RB. Now we see the importance of the chance of getting out of the pick with Suh as they would have a chance to address at least two of these positions with impact players instead of just one in Suh.
If they can’t get a team to bite for the first overall pick, their hand is forced to take the best defensive player in the draft and the rebuilding project is slowed down. They would be wise to shop this pick.