The new Rams regime put the old regime's first draft under Scott Linehan effectively out of its misery today, trading Tye Hill to the Falcons for a pittance of a seventh-round pick and cutting Joe Klopfenstein.
The Rams' big draft-day trade in April '06, then, balances out to Claude Wroten and a seventh-rounder in 2010 for Jay Cutler. And you wonder why this team is 13-35 since then.
Let's amortize that 2006 draft line-by-line.
* First round: Tye Hill. Played decent at times his rookie year, then struggled with injuries and appeared to lose all confidence on the field. Replaced as a starter in just his 4th season by Jonathan Wade.
* Second round: Joe Klopfenstein. Rams tried to make a blocking TE out of him when he could never block at all, and then he appeared to lose any hands he had coming out of college, too. A good guy; just looks like the NFL is too much for him.
* 3a: Claude Wroten. Off-the-field problems never ended for this clown, including a domestic assault and a suspension by the league for marijuana use. Not like this should have surprised the Rams - he was arrested and suspended from the NFL COMBINE for possession. This pick never improved from the terrible idea it was when it was made.
* 3b: Jon Alston. Washed out here in the role of "buck" pass rusher. Looks like a starter at OLB in Oakland now, though, a little better fit for his size.
* 3c: Dominique Byrd. Another player who barely made it on the field due to off-the-field issues, which I believe included a DUI and a bar fight here in St. Louis. Now with the Big Dead.
* Fourth round: Victor Adeyanju. Still on the team!
* Fifth round: Marques Hagans. For the millionth time in team history, a project to convert a college player from one position (QB) to another (WR) fails.
* 7a: Tim McGarigle, cut in 2008, now in UFL.
* 7b: Mark Setterstrom. Still on the team!
* 7c: Tony Palmer. Claimed off practice squad by Green Bay, who waived him in 2008.
Just three years after the 2006 draft, all the Rams have to show for it is two backup linemen.
And that seventh-rounder in 2010.
Holy cats. And no, I'm not complaining when I couldn't have done better, because I would have, and easily. I was going with Broderick Bunkley in the first round, Mark Anderson in the second (yes, I know he went in the fifth, but look what he's done with the Bears in comparison to Klop with the Rams) and Jerious Norwood in the 3rd. Let's face it, the guy in charge of the draft that year was completely out of his depth.
Thank you, Scott Linehan.
photo - stlouisrams.com
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