Top 5 UFA WRs: 1 - Sidney Rice. Big, young, had major breakout season in 2009, but how's his hip? 2 - Santonio Holmes. Fast, develops chemistry with QBs quickly, one of the best clutch receivers in the league. 3 - Santana Moss. 93 catches last season and a surprisingly effective deep threat for a 32-year-old. 4 - Lance Moore. Productive slot receiver with 10 and 8 TDs his last two healthy seasons. 5 - Braylon Edwards. Capable big WR and deep threat but a known head case.Sleepers: Jacoby Jones, James Jones. Jacoby the Texan has size, youth and blazing speed, and was starting to put it all together at the end of last season. He was a popular pick for breakout WR heading into 2010; maybe the pundits were just a year early. James the Packer is said to have elite starter talent, and is frequently compared to Anquan Boldin, but he drops a lot of passes.
Out of the running: Vincent Jackson (franchised by San Diego), Mike Williams (re-signed with Seattle), Ben Obomanu (re-signed with Seattle), Derrick Mason (re-signed with Baltimore), Darius Reynaud (re-signed with the Giants), Domenik Hixon (re-signed with the Giants), Jason Hill (re-signed with the Jagwires), Torry Holt (NFL Network)
Voting present: Steve Breaston, Malcom Floyd, Mike Sims-Walker, T.J. Houshmandzadeh, Brandon Stokley, Brad Smith, Rashied Davis, Courtney Roby, Derek Hagan, Brian Finneran, David Clowney, Sam Hurd, Kelley Washington, Devin Aromashodu, Antonio Bryant, Ruvell FREAKING Martin, Chansi Stuckey, Maurice Stovall, Michael Clayton, Terrance Copper, Demetrius Williams, Keenan Burton, Joey Galloway, Dennis Northcutt, Johnnie Lee Higgins, Kevin Curtis, Greg Lewis, Troy Williamson. A long list, but pretty slim pickings. Breaston has a ton of positives but you'd be adding another bad knee to a receiving corps that's already had a lot of blowouts. Floyd's big but can't stay on the field. Sims-Walker seemed to disappear in every game last year but a couple.
The doctor will see you now: Steve Smith (Giants), Mike Furrey, Isaiah Stanback
Gawd no: Randy Moss, Donte Stallworth, Plaxico Burress, Dwayne Jarrett, Hank Baskett, Legedu Naanee. Moss' act has clearly worn thin around the NFL. Stallworth was an absolute bust in Baltimore last year (2 catches) and wouldn't be worth the bad PR. Burress is more likely a gawd-no from the Rams; I'm mostly ambivalent about the guy. Jarrett's up for his 2nd DWI charge in 3 years. Baskett's only notable for marrying a Playmate, and boy, did I have a much crueler way to phrase that originally. Naanee had a drunken fight with police this offseason but deserves even more scorn for fooling fantasy leaguers into thinking he'd be a decent waiver pickup after the first game last season. Yes, I fell for it.
Gawd no update: Why did I ever decide to give Terrell Owens the benefit of the doubt? If he even plays this year now, he'll be coming off recent surgery to fix an ACL reportedly torn while making his VH1 reality show. What an idiot.
RamView's move: More than anywhere else last season, the wide receiver position was where the Rams ran aground, so the team stocked up on big, sure-handed receivers and red-zone threats by drafting Austin Pettis and Greg Salas. Danny Amendola will certainly stick as a slot receiver and ought to thrive in Josh McDaniels' offense. Beyond them, it'll be a dogfight to make the team at WR. Danario Alexander flashed as a deep threat but showed a lot of rough edges. And knees about as sturdy as Joe Namath's. Donnie Avery might have Brandon Lloyd potential, or he might not make it out of training camp. Again. Based on his flurry of productivity as soon as he came to replace Avery last season, you'd call Mark Clayton the Rams' #1 wideout, but he's coming off a torn patellar tendon and still has to be signed to a contract. The main thing Laurent Robinson has going for him right now is that the coaches seem to like him. Brandon Gibson wishes he could say the same.
RamView's move, though, shocked as I am to say it, is no move at all. Rice is the only member of this FA class who impresses me enough to justify making a major move, and I don't know enough about his hip condition to say signing him would be a good idea. And he's had just the one huge season, which to me increases the gamble. Sure, I'd take Breaston over Avery, and either Jacoby or James Jones might have #1 WR potential here, but tinkering around the edges with moves like those isn't going to get the Rams much bang for their free-agent buck. A healthy Rice is the only feasible pickup I'd recommend to the Rams from a WR class that's surprisingly weak at second glance. Getting former Mizzou Tigers Alexander and Brad Smith on the field at the same time is a fun idea that would generate local interest, but Smith is too limited as a receiver, and the Rams lack room on the roster for someone who'd just be a gadget guy, to lead me to think Smith would play a down for the Rams this year that counts.
Shoot the moon: You don't have to be Neal Clark Warren to compute a good match between Sidney Rice, the Rams' lack of a marquee receiver, and Stan Kroenke's checkbook. Rice certainly sounds like Rams Nation's preferred free agent option at WR. He's just 24, a major deep threat who broke out in 2009 with 83 catches, 1,312 yards and 8 TDs. Wait a minute, what happened to 2010? Rice had hip surgery, missed half the season and had only really one impact game, and that was against Buffalo. Rice opted for the surgery in August after rest hadn't cleared up the injury, which he originally experienced in the 2010 playoffs. His agent, Drew Rosenhaus, now claims Rice is in the best shape of his life. Well, good thing he's an unbiased observer. Still, Rice is the the plum of the WR class, the best chance the Rams have of bringing in a player who can credibly step right into the #1 WR role. Just like when they drafted Sam Bradford, the Rams' only move here is to go big, or go home. If they've got reason enough to be satisfied with the condition of Rice's hip, go for it.
Prediction: There's a reason the Rams drafted Lance Kendricks and plan to greatly increase the tight ends' role in the passing game this season. There's just not enough help out there at wide receiver. I'll predict they'll be a player in the Rice sweepstakes, but step aside once the bidding goes beyond what makes good sense, and go to training camp with the receivers they have now, re-signing Clayton and Robinson.
Tight ends up next.
Photo: Sports Illustrated
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