Draft Recap- St. Louis Rams

After the Dolphins announced they had signed Jake Long, the Rams' choices with the second pick in the draft were really narrowed down to 2. They could either select a pass rusher, Chris Long, that would help them improve a pass defense that ranked 21st last year, or they could select a run stopping tackle, Glenn Dorsey, that would help them improve their 20th ranked run defense.

They chose Long, who had a monster (14 sacks) senior season at Virginia after a non-descript career as an underclassman. If Leonard Little comes back healthy next year, and doesn't run anyone over in a drunken stupor, the Rams could have a formidable little pass rush in 08

In the second round, the Rams took University of Houston wideout Donnie Avery. Avery will get a chance to be the new #2 wideout on the Rams, now that Isaac Bruce's 39 year run with the Rams has finally come to an end. Avery is really, really fast. He is listed as running a 4.39 40 yard dash, which was the fastest of any wide receiver in this draft class. He has a reputation of having suspect hands though, but they were good enough to catch 91 balls for 1456 yards last year, so how bad can they be?

Third round pick John Greco was a tackle at Toledo, but his pass blocking is said to be not so good, so he'll probably get a shot to start at guard this year.

AND THE REST..

After taking a wideout and a guard with their 2nd and 3rd round picks, the Rams did the same thing with their 4th and 5th round selections, taking Kentucky WR Keenan Burton in the 4th round, and Oregon St. guard Roy Schuening in the fifth. They also moved to shore up their secondary by taking Penn State corner Justin King in the 4th round (they had 2 4th round picks). King has good speed but gets manhandled by bigger recievers. He was drafted to push Tye Hill, who was a first round pick in 06 but thus far has been kind of a bust. Seventh round picks Chris Chamberlain (Tulsa) and David Vobora (Idaho) are linebacker types who will try to stick on special teams.

IN SUMMARY

It says a lot about this draft that Chris Long was the second player taken in it. What it says is that this draft was really weak. The Rams have so many holes on defense that taking a wideout with their second pick was a luxury they really can't afford.