The new guys

[Donkeypuncher]

Yeah, it's not important but I would still prefer one to get at least a score that doesn't prove him to be practically braindead.
The oft repeated, and oft wrong, mantra: They can't really screw this one up.

[Rambulance]

Yeah, they said that in 2001 when we had the 3 first round picks....

[Bayonett]

If our next three picks aren't offense, this draft is an instant failure.

[Donkeypuncher]

Michael Brockers should be a beast. He is huge and can move. At the very least should eat space so Laurinitis can see the QB and be free to move. Now the front line is set and all they need is a WLB (or MLB and move Laurinitis) and the front 7 is set, fairly young, and talented.

I wanted Claiborne (especially with the Cards having Fitz and Floyd, we need two good to great CBs). I know nothing of the draft spot values, and honestly think that is a bunch of computer geek hogwash, but to move out of the top ten to the teens and only get a mid second rounder in return seems like the Rams panicked and got hosed. I would probably have rather even reached and got Floyd.

They are the ones who talked to Claiborne and passed. The Cowboys never even spoke to him. They may know something we don't. And now, the Rams are set for the second round where they generally pick even better than the first. I really hope they go D, O skill, and O line (in no particular order). This is where we can really judge how smart the braintrust is.

[Donkeypuncher]

Charlie Casserly said the Rams should get Cordy Glenn, Coby Fleener, and Reuban Randle. Glenn I would be more than happy with, then again I would rather the Rams get Bern Brostek our of retirement than see Jacob Bell be awful again. Randle would be a better option than Stephen Hill or Alshon Jeffery. I really like Jeffery's ability but he just has lazy written all over him, although he did cut weight and do his workouts ripped and very well. I think I would hate taking Fleener worse than Bayo hates taking another DT in the first. It is too soon to give up on Kendricks and unless they want to do a Gronk-Hernandez situation and focus on the TEs, it would be terrible.

I would like Cordy Glenn, Reuban Randle, LaMichael James (would have LOVED Doug Martin), Zach Brown, Jonathan Martin, Casey Hayward, Ronnell Lewis.

[Snake Eyes]

Like you said we get an WLB and our front seven should grow to something special.

With fours picks in the next 33 picks, we should set ourselves ups nicely for the future.

[Bayonett]

With fours picks in the next 33 picks, we should set ourselves ups nicely for the future.

You would have thought..

[Snake Eyes]

Finally the Rams will have toughness again, even our corners can and will tackle. These guys have talent, but baggage, Fisher is the right guy to handle guys with baggage.

I will let Don Banks speak now...

I suppose when you're the St. Louis Rams, coming off the soul-deadening debacle that was last season's 2-14 humiliation, you can't help but fill some holes and meet some needs in the opening rounds of the draft. Just by turning in your selections. But as it turns out, the Rams have played the draft game a whole lot better in the Jeff Fisher era than they did their actual games last season.

I like what I'm seeing so far from St. Louis and new general manager Les Snead on draft weekend. The Rams have been in near constant motion in this year's draft, dropping down from No. 2 to sixth, and ultimately to 14th in the first round, and then moving down again from 45th to 50th with the third and final of their second-round picks. All along the way, they kept stockpiling players, and taking steps in a bid to become one of the NFL's turnaround teams in 2012.

I'm not quite ready to pass judgment on how far cellar-dwelling St. Louis might ascend in the suddenly rugged NFC West, but the Rams are rapidly picking up the pieces after hitting rock bottom in the final season of Steve Spagnuolo's coaching tenure. The haul for Friday night was impressive in a cumulative sense: Appalachian State receiver Brian Quick, a tall, rangy possession receiver at No. 33, with the first pick of the second round; gifted but baggage-laden North Alabama cornerback Janoris Jenkins at No. 39; and versatile Cincinnati running back Isaiah Pead at No. 50, a much-needed situational runner to pair with lead rusher Steven Jackson.

Near the top of the third round, at No. 65, the Rams doubled down on the talented but character-challenged cornerback set, selecting Montana's Trumaine Johnson.

For the Rams, the centerpiece selection of the night came when they rolled the dice and took Jenkins with the middle of their three second-rounders. The story of the ex-Florida Gator cornerback is well-known at this point: arrested three times at Florida, he left Gainesville with a string of incidents trailing him, including a bar fight and two marijuana possession charges. Jenkins has four children by three different women, with the kids all age 3 and under. It's a challenging personal history for the Rams to deal with, to say the least.

But that's where Fisher's experience might well prove valuable. He was, of course, the head coach in Tennessee when the Titans drafted talented but troubled West Virginia cornerback Adam "Pacman'' Jones in 2005's first round. The Jones era didn't wind up being worth the trouble in Tennessee, but the Rams' second-round investment in Jenkins means the stakes won't be as high for a Fisher-led team this time.

Not that Jenkins himself is buying the Pacman comparison. Asked about it during his first interview with the Rams media on Friday, Jenkins scoffed: "I mean, no, because I never shot up a strip club or nothing like that.''

The bottom line in St. Louis is that the Rams are in mass acquisition phase this weekend, and my quick read is that they're getting both quantity and quality. I like a team in loading up mode come draft time, and consider what the Rams turned their original No. 2 overall pick into from early March on: LSU defensive tackle Michael Brockers at No. 14, plus two extra first-round picks; and two extra second-round picks. And with the five picks they've made in the first three rounds, the Rams have every right to expect three or four rookie starters, with a key contributor in Pead. That's the kind of draft class, or at least the start of one, that can wind up laying a cornerstone of sustained success for a struggling franchise.

After a lost 2011 from start to finish, the turnaround in St. Louis may have just begun.

Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/201...#ixzz1tU78fHlR

[Rambulance]

It's pretty apparent what Snisher is doing here. Injecting some attitude + talent and trying to get some swagger. The Rams have some nice young, talent but they are almost too nice.

[Donkeypuncher]

I really liked the talent taken in rounds 2 & 3, but also confused. Jenkins is a stud, but if he was a moron without money I shudder at what will happen now. Then they take another corner? Did they just draft a nickleback in the third or are they Martzing him to a safety position? Pead I really like, but wanted Pierce or James. Unlike James though, Pead can be a #1 later. Quick has great measurables, and all the receivers had their question marks, but that was a name I did not expect.

I am post-draft happier now than I have been in years past, but can also see this being a big time "woulda shoulda coulda" draft. If Claiborne outproduces Jenkins, Floyd out produces Quick, and/or James outproduces Pead, those are the three big players they passed on that I would have preferred.

[Donkeypuncher]

Quick, Givens, Amendola, Smith, Gibson, Pettis, Salas, Alexander, Curry. Who gets the axe?
Amendola, Smith, Salas, and Alexander are all getting over injuries which could be a factor. Pettis needs to show he can play without the drugs. But my guess would be:
Quick, Smith, Amendola, Givens, Pettis, Salas.
DX had the size advantage but lost that with Quick coming on, plus he is only good for about 15 snaps a game. Gibson has not panned out. Curry may provide special teams but the Rams got D depth for that.

[Rambulance]

But my guess would be: Quick, Smith, Amendola, Givens, Pettis, Salas.

That would be my guess as well for the 6 spots. We may keep 7 until Pettis' suspension is over. The kids will play for Fisher. Everybody loves DX, but I'm sick of him never playing and holding a roster spot all season. Smith is now 2 years removed from a nasty injury, maybe he'll be a spark that nobody really counted on.

[Donkeypuncher]

Bradford, Quick, Givens, Pead, Salas, Pettis, and Kendricks could be a good offense for a while. Throw in veterens like Jackson, Smith and Amendola and it could actually average a touchdown a game as soon as this year!

[Snake Eyes]

The new defense, isn't the old defense, new guys, new toughness...

DE: Robert Quinn
DT: Michael Brockers
DT: Kendall Langford
DE: Chris Long
OLB: Jo-Lonn Dunbar
MLB: James Laurinaitis
OLB: Aaron Brown ????
CB: Courtland Finnegan
FS: Trumaine Johnson/Craig Dahl
SS: Quintin Mikell
CB: Janoris Jenkins
NB: Trumaine Johnson

Johnson seems more suited to playing Free Safety then corner, IMO. Most of the defense, will be new starters.

[Donkeypuncher]

I will take a speed bump out there over Craig Dahl. He is horse apples on D.