2012 NFL Combine, day 2 (QB/WR/RB)

At 26.2 miles of running, a marathon is one of man's toughest physical accomplishments, to the point that people who can run half of one are so proud of it they'll stick one of those "13.1" stickers on the back of their vehicle. So where's the sticker for somebody who watches 7-plus hours of NFL Combine footage on a Sunday? Talk about your grueling marathons. Here's the highlights:

* Quarterback. The Rams aren't looking for a quarterback in this year's draft, not high, at least, but this may have been the most important position at the Combine for them anyway. Day 2 of the Combine opened with Robert Griffin III ripping off a 4.41 40. The Rams didn't interview him in Indianapolis, but they should at least buy him dinner, for putting the value of pick #2 overall through the roof. Andrew Luck was no slouch, either, putting up numbers similar to Cam Newton's last year in just about everything. They're the obvious 1-2 punch at the beginning of this year's draft now.

What do I hear for #2? Two first-rounders? Three first-rounders? Let the bidding begin!

* Wide receiver. But let's skip the QBs for the moment and go to a position the Rams probably will take in this year's first round. A lot going on at WR:

* Justin Blackmon didn't run the 40, but that didn't really seem to hurt his standing as the draft's top wide receiver. His first gauntlet run was excellent, and the ball he dropped on the second run was thrown well low. He muffed a slighly-underthrown ball on a deep sideline route, but also made a good grab of a bad throw on the first speed out drill. He's far from the biggest receiver there, but he plays bigger than he measures and was one of, if not the best route-runner, there. He makes a decent case for a top-five pick.

* Not that Michael Floyd (Notre Dame) isn't close. His second gauntlet run was one of the best of the day because he cleanly handled several tough, low throws. He also had a perfect first run. He also ran a 4.47, and given that he's a good 2-3 inches taller than Blackmon, Floyd could be an excellent consolation prize for a team that might miss out on Blackmon after trading down. Ahem.

* Stephen Hill (Georgia Tech) made the biggest move of anybody at this year's Combine, not just by burning a 4.38 (that NFL Network originally overclocked at 4.30), but by looking great at all the position drills. His gauntlet runs were probably the best of the day. He looked good on slant routes, made a nice overhead catch on a deep dig route, and the only pass I saw him drop was thrown too far behind him. Great size and speed in the Demaryius Thomas mode, and though his game tapes won't show a lot of action because Georgia Tech is an option offense, the Combine tape shows Hill can ball.

* I'm a biased Illini fan, but A.J. Jenkins had a good day. The Brandon Lloyd clone turned in a 4.39 and made a beautiful connection with a Ryan Lindley pass on a deep corner route.

Like Hill, there were some other sleeper candidates to show some life today:

* T.J. Graham (NC State) blazed a 4.41 and had an excellent 2^nd gauntlet run after a couple of drops on the first run.

* Juron Criner (Arizona) seemed to get more than his fair share of bad passes but made the most of them with several tough catches.

 * Lavon Brazill (Ohio) could be worth a look as a late pick. Very nice gauntlet run, sub 4.5 speed, played the deep ball well. 5'11” height may be his issue.

Then there are the receivers the Rams and other teams may want to stay wide of:

* What the heck is Alshon Jeffery (South Carolina) thinking? He's reportedly dropped at least ten pounds this year, the thinking being that he's trying to get lighter to run a faster 40 time. And that'll be at his pro day, because he chose not to do anything at the Combine. Maybe he felt getting measured went badly enough. Though he's still just a tic under 6'3”, that's still 1-2 inches short of his billing.

* A lot of balls hit the ground during gauntlet drills, but I don't think anyone had it worse than Travis Benjamin (The U), who dropped three in a row before slowing to a crawl just so he could finally haul one in. He looked good on vertical routes but had another bad drop during the short out route drill.

* Dwight Jones (North Carolina) struggled mightily. He had a bad drop in the speed out drill and later ran one deep route so poorly, and quit on it, that he got chewed out by the coaches. You never want to have that happen at the Combine.

* James Rodgers (Oregon State) is Jacquizz's brother, inherited the family height gene, and I can't believe he's serious about being a wide receiver. A lot of good throws to him fell incomplete because he's too darn short to get to them at 5'7”. Why not try out for center in the NBA while you're at it?

* More bad drops: Marquis Maze (Alabama) had two passes soap through his hands on comeback routes. Greg Childs (Arkansas) had two bad drops of slant passes. Gerell Robinson (Arizona State) dropped a pass on a comeback route that hit him in both hands. Jermaine Kearse (Washington) had a bad drop on a deep route. Devon Wiley (Fresno State) also had trouble hanging on to the ball.

* Wish they'd been faster: Joe Adams (Arkansas) ran a disappointing 4.55 and had a drop in the gauntlet drill. Mohamed Sanu ran a 4.67 and had a terrible drop on a deep route.

* Back to the QBs real quick:

Even without Luck and Griffin throwing, there was a lot to like in the QB group. Kirk Cousins and Brandon Weeden had excellent sessions. Cousins threw perfect slant passes and short outs. I don't think Weeden threw a single bad ball. He put his short outs exactly where they were supposed to go and arced one beautiful deep corner pass after another. Nick Foles looked stronger than he did at the Senior Bowl. Nice accurate out routes and slants, and pretty deep passes on vertical routes. Did tend to underthrow the deep corners, though. Austin Davis continues to show plenty of arm. He looked strongest on the shorter stuff but also threw to the corner well. I think he's going to be a good pickup for somebody. Kellen Moore was similarly pinpoint on the short and timing stuff but was even less of a deep thrower. Patrick Witt (Yale) showed he could make about all the throws, and Ryan Lindley looked a major spell better than he did at the Senior Bowl, with a series of pretty, deep passes.

On the other hand, I have no idea how Case Keenum could rack up such crazy numbers in college when he looked so awful here. Was probably the worst player on the field. He threw slants behind receivers, couldn't throw the deep dig route, which was cake for every one else, accurately, couldn't throw decent out routes, couldn't keep deep sideline passes in bounds... simply an awful outing. Jacory Harris showed neither accuracy on short outs nor deep arm strength. Darron Thomas (Oregon) did his own share of underthrowing. Jordan Jefferson (LSU) made up for them by overthrowing almost every short pass, showing little hope of completing a short out route ever. Mike Mayock can say he just wants to see the ball leaving Jefferson's hand all he wants – a five-yard pass flying ten yards out of bounds just doesn't do anybody a whole lot of good.

* And at running back:

The Rams once again have some nice candidates for change-of-pace third-down back, and no Billy Devaney picking this year and ignoring the need. Lamar Miller (The U), LaMichael James, Ronnie Hillman (SDSU) and Chris Rainey all ran 4.45 or better 40s and showed they can do the job. James can run all the routes. He was textbook making catches in the flat and looked nice running the deep corner. Hillman had good moments there as well and made some of the best cuts as a runner in the hole. Worthy of his school's most famous alumnus, Marshall Faulk. Rainey didn't have a perfect catching day but looks like a completely natural pass catcher. David Wilson's (Virginia Tech) right there as well, having run a 4.49 and having done well at all of the passing drills.

A surprise here was Chris Polk, who I thought stunk at the Senior Bowl. But he's also a natural pass catcher and he did some of the best route-running there. He was about the only player who sold the flat route like you're supposed to when he ran the wheel route.

If you want your team to look good getting off the bus, your guy is either Davin Meggett or Robert Turbin (Utah State). Meggett is built like a truck and Turbin is rocked up like a bodybuilder. Really hurts his agility, though, especially as a receiver. Bradie Ewing is considered “just” a fullback, but he looks like a solid receiver and seems to play faster than his timed speed. No idea how he is as a blocker, though.

On the down side:

* Lennon Creer didn't look anything like the guy who shined at the Shrine Game. Really needs to clean up his footwork. One of the few guys to kick the pads during one of the change-of-direction drills, and he stumbled running through the hole in another. Also had a tough time with the catch on the flat route. Puzzling day for a player who'd had a good offseason up till now.

* Doug Martin (Boise State) got a lot of positive reviews from Mayock, but he dropped a screen pass and got eaten up at the end of the running backs' version of the gauntlet.

* Cyrus Gray (Texas A&M) also showed plenty of footwork issues, including doing a full spin running one of the flat routes. Yikes, that's a big hit or a pick-six waiting to happen. Hillman did that, too.

* I don't think Marc Tyler inherited his pop's speed. 4.76. Also had a clumsy drop of a deep pass and overran the hole in the “dummy drill,” which very few backs ever mess up.

-$-

Time becomes a serious issue for yours truly the next couple of weeks. Still have the defensive Combine sessions Monday and Tuesday, and free agent previews, and they'll be clashing with a week-long class and an upcoming trip out of town. May be difficult to get those things out in very good order, sorry in advance.

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Quote of the day #2

"I think Jeff Fisher just lit a big cigar."

- NFL Network's Michael Lombardi, commenting on Robert Griffin's 40 times

Quote of the day #1

"After RG3's smokin' 40, condolences go out to Cleveland, Washington and Miami. The Rams' no. 2 pick just became that much more valuable."

ESPN's Adam Schefter on Twitter. Baylor's Robert Griffin III ran unofficial 40's of 4.41 and 4.38.

2012 NFL Combine, Day 1 (OL/TE)

Day 1 of the 2012 NFL Combine was newsworthy mostly for its lack of news. Let's see if we can manufacture some, then:

Offensive line

* The Rams have a very viable alternative to taking Justin Blackmon at the top of the draft if they want one. Matt Kalil cemented his status as top offensive lineman in the draft with good performances in just about everything. He had the 2nd-fastest 40 at the position at 4.99 and the 2nd-fastest 10-yard split at 1.70. He also did a very respectable 30 bench presses. He's the right size, he's got his weight over 300 – he's this year's elite offensive lineman. And it's not like the Rams don't need one. Or two. RamView's first preference for the Rams' first-round pick has been, and still is, Matt Kalil.

* The player who made the biggest leap today, at least in my estimation, was Georgia's Cordy Glenn. He built on a strong Senior Bowl showing with a 5.15 40, 1.76 10-yard split and 31 bench press reps. But he didn't just shine at the “Pajama Olympic” stuff. Glenn moved extremely well for his 345-pound size in all of the drills. His lateral movement was terrific; he was one of the few who maintained solid straight lines, again, despite his size. He was quick out of his stance in the kick-slide drill and showed a good sense for a cutoff angle. (Has to be careful with that, though, or veterans will inside-out him silly.) He was also close to flawless in the mirror drill. I'm convinced Cordy Glenn ranks as a top-15 pick in the draft.

* Huh, I just opened up my football dictionary to “guard”, and whose picture was there? David DeCastro. DeCastro is the best guard prospect we've seen in many years. He moves well, covers ground well, does everything so textbook he was the guy the coaches kept using to show everyone else how to do the drill. He showed excellent recovery speed the rare moments he got successfully faked during the mirror drill. One of the best bench pressers there, too (34). He should be picked higher than the 17 Mike Iupati went a couple of years ago. DeCastro is arguably a top-ten prospect.

* Donald Stephenson (Oklahoma) won the Pajama Olympic medal with the fastest 40 (4.94), best broad jump (9'6”) and a ridiculous best vertical jump (35.5). We didn't really get to see him in drills, though that explosiveness showed in how well he covered ground in kick-slide. Silver medal goes to Adam Gettis (Iowa, 5.00, 9'4”, 31.5). Gettis did well in the mirror drill but opened himself up so much in the pull-block drill I'm certain a defender would have put him on the ground.

* Mike Adams (Ohio State), who's considered a late first-rounder, is going to test a lot of front offices. He's had injury issues, he was suspended a couple of times in school, and his weak 19 bench presses didn't speak well to his upper body strength. It'll be important for him to move well, and he did, covering a lot of ground in kick-slide and moving very well laterally in the mirror drill. I fell pretty sure Adams would not be on Steve Spagnuolo's big board; what about Jeff Fisher's?

* Rishaw Johnson (Cal, Pa.) had a very good and a very bad day. He ranks near the top on just about all the non-positional drills. But his lateral movement was horrible; he hopped back and forth instead of sliding. He also showed a disturbing amount of trouble following coaches' directions, which included a hilarious moment where he ran the wrong way as the “rabbit” on the kick-slide drill. His line coach could have a very exasperating training camp if he can't catch on to things quicker.

* Some underrated prospects:

* Ben Jones, Georgia: didn't show elite change-of-direction, but looked surprisingly nimble in kick-slide, and finished near the top in a lot of the non-positional drills.

* Lamar Holmes, Southern Miss: seemed like one of the top linemen athletically and looked good in a lot of the drills. Looked a little slow in his first kick-slide rep but improved on it measurably the second time. Moved very smoothly.

* Philip Blake, Baylor: showed well athletically, looked good in kick-slide and won NFL Network's “Value Player” award.

* Desmond Wynn, Rutgers: very solid athlete who caught my eye a lot. Moved very smoothly. Good lateral agility. May be a little slow getting his feet right when he comes out of his stance.

* Kevin Zeitler, Wisconsin: guards don't usually look as good as he did in the kick-slide drill. He even looked better than DeCastro, which is saying something.

* Nate Miller, Colorado: excellent in Shrine Game, covered ground well in kick-slide drill. Not sure about the angles he took in the pull-block drill, though.

Also: Kelechi Osemele, Iowa State; Mitchell Schwartz, Cal; Amini Silatolu, Midwestern State. If you knew that's in Wichita Falls, Texas, you get the star. I was guessing Oklahoma.

* Some (possibly) overrated prospects:

* Going out on a limb, Riley Reiff. Can't say I really get it with him just yet. I don't see a top-10 or top-5 prospect there. (Actually, I see Fred Flintstone.) Didn't think his change-of-direction was very good, and he took poor angles in the pull-block drill. Where he looked best was kick-slide, so I imagine there's a lot of enthusiasm for him as a pass protector.

* Mike Brewster (Ohio State) played with much poorer balance than I'd expect from a well-regarded center. Agility of any kind is a weakness for him. Gets his head out too far on blocks, plays too out-of-control. Looked clumsy in kick-slide, though that's not unexpected for interior linemen. Did look good in the mirror drill.

* Jonathan Martin (Stanford) – honestly, didn't get to see a lot of him. Took a bad angle in the pull-block drill. I really expected that drill to be run a whole lot more cleanly than it was.

* Prospects who were just bad:

* Justin Anderson (Georgia) spent about half the Combine on the ground. Plays with really poor balance.

* Brandon Washington (The U) should have stayed in school. He needs a lot more coaching. His kick-slide footwork was atrocious, like he was trying to skip backwards. And talk about playing out of control - he nearly veered off the course running the 40. And he looked like a horror show when he was on course, like a very large Pekingese.

* Zebrie Sanders (Florida State) looked something like Jabba the Hutt when he ran, and the Combine is unfortunately serving as confirmation of his Senior Bowl week, which didn't go well.

Tight end

Any tight end acquisition the Rams do is going to have to be in free agency. This year's class of tight ends is very small and very bad. None of which bodes well for the Rams, whose new head coach and offensive coordinator have histories of loving to throw to the TE, and have nothing at the position with their new team besides hands-of-stone Lance Kendricks. Wasn't Frank Wycheck the primary receiver on the final play of Super Bowl XXXIV? Hard to believe there's even any Wychecks in this class:

* Orson Charles (Georgia) is supposed to be the #1 prospect, and after killing everyone in the weight room with 35 benches, appeared poised to dominate the Combine at the position, but instead, CHOSE not to run any of the other non-positional drills. The hell? He did run position drills, with mixed results. He looked good on the comeback route and had a perfect second gauntlet. He also dropped one deep ball that was right in his hands, adjusted poorly to balls in the air and botched his first gauntlet by RUNNING THE WRONG WAY before the last throw. Hey, the end zone's THAT WAY! Also let the ball into his body just a little when making catches.

* James Hanna (Oklahoma) impressed with a 4.49, then un-impressed with hands of stone on a couple of pass-route drills. He did run a perfect gauntlet drill, though. Also didn't adjust well to the ball in the air.

* Cory Harkey (UCLA) was one of my favorite players for his blocking at the Shrine Game. At the Combine, though, ugh. How can the best blocking TE in the country only do 13 bench press reps? We also found out he had exactly one catch last season. It showed in his route running. He turned way too soon on timing routes and simply didn't have the speed to run the corner route, finishing well short of a (rare) perfectly-thrown pass. He at least ran the gauntlet well.

* Mike Egnew (Missouri) looked tall. As a converted basketball player, he excelled as expected at the jumping events. That's about it. He looked like an amazingly uninstinctive player. The ball catches him, not vice versa. He had a drop in the gauntlet and in the comeback drill. Lets the ball into his body too much. In the first drill, where they're supposed to run a three-yard out, he ran a one-yard out.

* Ladarius Green (La-Lafayette) ran a 4.53, but didn't shine here like he did Senior Bowl week. He also cut his short out routes too short. He did have a flawless gauntlet route, and looked fine on the comeback route. Not certain if he skipped lifting or did too poorly to make the top 10. Neither is encouraging.

* DeAngelo Peterson (LSU) had the worst gauntlet drill of the day, with two drops. He also nearly botched an underthrown ball on a deep corner route.

Not every tight end was disappointing, though I'm still not sure what they'll amount to:

* I say Evan Rodriguez (Temple) had the best Combine at the position. Even with a drop in the gauntlet, he was the best route-runner there, and didn't mess up at anything else. Smooth, good hands, always playing under control. He's a H-back, though, I think about 6'1”. Not going to be a feature tight end in the traditional mode.

* Dwayne Allen's (Clemson) 40 time was a very disappointing 4.89, and he had a drop during gauntlet, but he still played very in-control, and had the best catch of the day on the sideline to kick off the corner route drill.

* Drake Dunsmore (Northwestern) caught everything and looked good on the comeback route and the deep corner. He did weave a lot in his first gauntlet run but had a perfect second run.

* Emil Igwenagu (UMass) showed off good hands early, but poor throws during the gauntlet drill got him out of sync, and he later dropped a deep pass. He's also considered an H-back type.

* David Paulson (Oregon) was good in the gauntlet and in the corner route drill but is well behind the rest of the TE pack athletically.

NFL Network: I like the improved graphics this year, but there are still a lot of the usual problems in NFL Network's Combine coverage. After drooling about it for an hour, they turned out to be off a full tenth of a second on Gettis' 40 time. At least we know at home by now not to trust any unofficial time, right? They annoyingly continue so far to not list every player's bench results. In fact, the bottom crawl only ever showed the top ten performers at the non-positional drills – that had better expand through the course of the weekend. I demand everybody. They pissed away most of the o-line group 2 drills to interview Jerry Freaking Jones. At least interview the owner of a winning team, would ya? They took a commercial break right in the middle of the tight end gauntlet. You will be able to hear me howling for miles if (when) they do that during the wide receivers tomorrow.

The most annoying thing, though, was to have Jamie Dukes and Michael Irvin demonstrating what to expect from specific drills, while that drill was going on. You're supposed to show us that stuff BEFORE the drill starts!!

Also, how long before people start getting as annoyed with constant Peyton Manning hype as we did with Brett Favre? I'm getting there.

Tomorrow, the glamor positions: QB, RB, WR. Let's see how much ground the absent Justin Blackmon gives up to Michael Floyd, Kendall Wright or Alshon Jeffery.

-$-

BLACKMON NOT RUNNING

Oh, fuck. Claiming his hamstring is "a little tender," Justin Blackmon has decided not to run at the NFL Combine this weekend, hoping to be ready to run at Oklahoma State's pro day March 7th.

So we're never really going to know how fast the guy runs the 40. Conditions will probably be faster at OSU than in Lucas Oil Stadium, but by how much?

Is this Michael Crabtree all over again, except he needed surgery? Undersized, just-average speed if that, too injured to run for anybody, racked up a lot of catches in a gimmicky Big 12 spread offense?

Complain that I'm obsessing about the stopwatch a little too much, but would you really want to spend the second pick in the draft on a WR who measured in today at 6 feet even and can't crack 4.6?

Start studying Matt Kalil, folks. Also, Morris Claiborne. And Trent Richardson. Les Snead's being presented as an expert in this area because he helped draft Julio Jones last year.

Julio Jones is 6'3" and ran a 4.39.

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Fisher press conference

Rams head coach Jeff Fisher had a bunch of interesting things to say in a press conference at the NFL Combine earlier this afternoon. We've heard him say some of these things before, but they bear repeating. To wit:

- For you 23% in the ESPN SportsNation poll who wanted to draft Luck or RGIII, Fisher says trading Sam Bradford "wouldn't be an option." Trading the #2 pick overall, though, is obviously very much in play.

- The Rams have "a number" of unrestricted free agents they would like to keep, and Brandon Lloyd is one of them.

- Sam Bradford is "an outstanding person. He's very, very talented athletically and he's got a great future. We have to do whatever we can to surround him with good people." 

- Steven Jackson "has still got a lot of carries left."

- The Rams have discussed Albert Haynesworth but "it remains to be seen" whether or not they "go ahead and do something." Fisher also repeated that while with the Titans in 2010, Randy Moss was "great for our locker room."

- Fisher posed a scenario where the Rams could trade to a lower spot and then trade back up. He does not automatically rule out taking an offensive lineman in the first round even though the Titans famously never did it in Fisher's 16 years there.

- The entire coaching staff should be announced in the next couple of days. Great, more bio work for me.

-$-

In a radio interview with  Bernie Miklasz today, Fisher called Justin Blackmon "no Megatron" but that he's "on the level of Andre Johnson." Also, a "better version" of Michael Crabtree. That doesn't sound like the talk of a team that's looking to trade down to me, but it is draft season. Football rivals politics for dishonesty this time of year.

Reported by Howard Balzer from the Combine: Fisher says Jason Smith's concussion problems are behind him now. Jacob Bell could be re-signed here; Fisher said he "has ability" and played well in the 2nd half of last season before getting injured.

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Rams report, 2/24: Combine off to good start for Rams

* The 2012 Combine is going well for the Rams so far, even before players take the field for drills.

Both coin tosses to break ties for first-round draft position went the Rams' way. Miami won a tie with Carolina for pick #8, giving them just a little better trade-up ammo. Kansas City won a tie with Seattle for pick #11. Maybe they'll take a cornerback Seattle badly wants and leave the Seahawks with this year's equivalent of Jimmy Kennedy.

Robert Griffin III's weigh-in also went well for the Rams. He's officially six-two-and-three-eighths and 223 pounds. Given the amount of lying college programs do about the sizes of their players, it was vitally important for Griffin to clear the size hurdle with flying colors. The Rams' second pick overall is building in value already.

My compliments to Baylor University for NOT lying about Griffin's measurements. They listed him at 6'2" 220. Let's see if Oklahoma State will be as honest with Justin Blackmon.

* More on #2. Pro Football Talk reports mixed messages from the Browns. On one hand, they're reportedly interested in Matt Flynn. On the other, head coach Pat Shurmur says Cleveland will be willing to use their first-round picks (#s 4 and 22) to "move around" in the draft.

The Redskins are said not to be interested in Flynn. Analysts right now say the have two options at QB, RGIII or Peyton Manning.

An ESPN SportsNation poll right now asks what the Rams should do with the #2 pick:

48% say trade it; 23% say take Griffin or Andrew Luck (really?); 29% say take another player.

* Lineman down. Stanford tackle Jonathan Martin will not participate in Combine drills due to food poisoning. That's a bit of bad news for the Rams, because Martin would be in the picture if they trade down to #6 (Washington) or #8 (Miami).

* More Browns news, because I can't help myself. Pat Shurmur called plays last year for Cleveland's colossally-bad offense, doubling as the Browns' offensive coordinator, a frequent hubristic failing of rookie head coaches. So the Browns hired veteran offensive mind Brad Childress to be their OC this season.

Except, Shurmur says he's still calling the plays. It sounds like the plan is for Childress to develop the game plan during the week and stay in the booth on game day, with Shurmur calling plays in a "collaborative" effort. I assume Childress would have plentiful input into in-game adjustments.

Does this smell like the Scott Linehan - Greg Olsen situation to anybody else? Do these head coaches never learn? I'll continue to expect little out of the Browns next season until Shurmur relinquishes the gameday play-calling to Childress. I'd say that even if Shurmur had looked like a genius OC here. A head coach just has too many other things going on.

* Dodgers update, because Stan Kroenke forces me to. A fairly big development in the ongoing saga of the sale of the L.A. Dodgers is that the team led by former manager Joe Torre has dropped out of the bidding. This at first sounds concerning because it would seem to strengthen Kroenke's hand, (and those of the remaining bidders) and Kroenke getting closer to making a big play in the Los Angeles sports market doesn't exactly bode well for Rams fans in St. Louis.

However, the Torre group dropped out of the bidding because McCourt doesn't want to let go of the parking lots around Dodger Stadium. He'll sell the team, and the stadium, but won't sell the parking lots. Hard to see Kroenke making a deal where he wouldn't have the parking lots, either. And this article analyzing the situation also doesn't list Kroenke as one of the favorites to land the team.

Not that I'm resting easy until the Dodgers are officially sold to someone else...

-$-

#2 pick: hot commodity?

Looks like I was as wrong as I've ever been in my last post: ESPN reports that "multiple teams" have already been in contact with the Rams about making a deal for the #2 pick overall. (And the Combine has barely even started!) Adam Schefter's article lists the usual suspects: Cleveland, Miami, Washington, and Seattle, though a trade within the division would seem completely unlikely. Then again, I've already been wrong about this pick once today.

-$-

2/23 draft news: Richardson out of Combine

* Alabama running back Trent Richardson will not perform on-field drills at this weekend's Combine. He has notified all 32 teams that he had minor surgery on his knee three weeks ago to lessen discomfort. The injury was suffered in practice prior to the "national championship" game, so, early in January. The surgery is said to be no big deal per Adam Schefter, and Richardson is progressing on schedule. Skipping Combine drills is a precaution. NFL.com reports Richardson will hold his workout on March 27. Alabama's pro day is the 7th.

RamView reaction: Great, that's two prominent players with influence on the Rams' first round strategy who'll do nothing at the Combine. Many consider Richardson in the mix for any first-round pick the Rams make, with Steven Jackson turning 29 this year and having high mileage. Robert Griffin III will do the running and jumping stuff, which I find pretty pointless for QBs, but skip the throwing, which I find amazingly important for QBs.

* Mock news. At NFL.com, Steve Wyche projects the Rams to trade with the Browns and still get Justin Blackmon, who he calls a perfect fit, at #4. At ESPN.com, holding to the typical mock draft rule not to predict trades, Mel Kiper has the Rams taking Blackmon at #2. Not as big a Blackmon fan, Todd McShay's mock, from three weeks ago, sends Matt Kalil to the Rams at #2.

I wish I could be as sure as the rest of the world that the Rams will be able to trade #2 away. Will the Browns really need to trade up two spots? Miami's definitely not sticking with Chad Henne, but they could easily go after Matt Flynn. The Dolphins and Redskins, who somehow can spend a billion dollars on salary every year Daniel Snyder has owned them, and STILL come up something like $40 million under this year's cap, are top suitors for Peyton Manning, if/when the Colts cut him. If those two teams get their QBs, the Browns would be idiots not to stand pat. The Rams and Vikings ahead of them are not going to draft a QB. With the amount of not-idle talk in Seattle, maybe Cleveland has to trade up to 2 to guard against Seattle trading up to 3 as a backup plan if they can't get Manning, but the chances of Griffin simply falling to the Browns at #4 seem reasonably good right now. Rams Park should focus on that #2 pick with the mindset that they're going to be stuck with it.

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Rams report, 2/22: London exchange

The St. Louis Convention & Visitors Commission has reached an agreement with the Rams to amend the current stadium lease to allow the Rams to play one "home" game in London next season. The Rams originally had an agreement with the NFL to play one "home" game in London each of the next three seasons, but the CVC wants to leave that open to future negotiations.

In exchange for the right to travel over 4,500 miles to get drubbed by the Patriots instead of staying at home for it, the Rams have agreed to make up the lost week of pay to the Dome's contracted employees, which include the ticket takers and ushers. The lease has also been amended to allow the city to use the Dome twice a month during football season for conventions. This had been limited to once a month. I'm unaware of conventions clamoring to come to St. Louis during football season, but the CVC is positive the extra dates will "more than make up" for revenues lost by the loss of a Rams game downtown.

I doubt this agreement amounts to anything in the long run, other than each side has shown willingness to cooperate with the other. So far the negotiations between the city and the Rams have been much closer to cordial than to acrimonious, which is always a good thing.

I hesitate to mention we're a week away from the Rams' very likely rejection of the Dome upgrade plan proposed last month. We'll then be another two months from hearing - at long last - Stan Kroenke's thoughts on the issue.

-$-

While they're at it, since the Rams are slated to play at Buffalo this season, why don't they push the league to be the road opponent for Buffalo's "home" game in Toronto? Why not be the first NFL team to play regular-season games in three different countries? And Toronto could make for another cool excuse for a road trip...

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Rams report, 2/21: No franchise player for Rams

* According to Jason LaCanfora on NFL Network, the Rams are not going to use the franchise tag on anyone before the March 5th deadline. This came up as the result of a ProFootballTalk interview with Brandon Lloyd yesterday in which he said he's open to returning to the Rams, and wouldn't be upset if they used the franchise tag on him.

Well, of course he wouldn't. The franchise tag would jack his salary from roughly $1 million last year to $9.5 million this season. PFT has opined that the Rams need to franchise Lloyd, because it's better than signing him to a long-term contract at age 31, and already needing one wide receiver, they can't afford to lose Lloyd to another team.


Continuing to publicly keep all of his options open, Lloyd continued to express his desire to play for Josh McDaniels and the Patriots in Monday's interview, also professing admiration for Tom Brady and for the Patriots organization. And continuing to keep his message mixed, the Patriots are the one team his St. Louis-based agent Tom Condon has difficulty dealing with.

In the end, I think PFT's glossing over that the Rams have far too many needs to fit under the salary cap to expend a huge chunk of it on a 31-year-old wideout. I like Lloyd and would like to keep him, but the Rams can't break the bank for him. The only player I possibly imagined the Rams franchising was Donnie Jones. Lloyd isn't going to break the bank anywhere he goes, so he should go for the best situation, which is obviously Foxborough. He's such a big upgrade over Deion Branch that I'd recommend the Patriots play nice with Condon for a change.

* Combine: what not to watch. Reports are that neither Andrew Luck nor Robert Griffin III are going to throw at the NFL Combine this weekend, and will save it for their back-to-back pro days March 21 and 22 (Griffin goes first). Honestly, this sucks for the Rams (and the Colts). A solid Combine from either doesn't drive up their value, true, but it could have driven up the value of the Rams' second pick overall. The ideal scenario would have been Griffin lighting the place up and teams tripping over one another with trade offers for the Rams. Instead, we're all on hold another three weeks, holding our breath that neither QB blows their on-campus workout.

* Combine: what to watch. As far as I can tell, Justin Blackmon is running at the Combine, in what should be the most-watched 40-yard dash in Rams history. That's pretty much the whole weekend as far as RamView is concerned, but I'll attempt to cover this year's televised proceedings as usual.

* Food for thought as Paul Boudreau eventually takes over the Rams' offensive line: while acknowledging he had a limited number of attempts, Pro Football Focus says the tackle to grade out the best in pass protection in the league last year was - Harvey Dahl.

You can probably guess how well the other Rams' tackles ranked. Jason Smith 41st, Adam Goldberg 47th, Rodger Saffold a jaw-dropping 65th.

* Ramview.com is as up-to-date as it's been since Halloween. I've still got some coaching writeups to do, but they can all be linked to from there. The calendar now has the correct year (!), and I'm searching for fresh stuff to put in the Recommended Reading section. I will eventually admit the 2011 season existed, just haven't had time to create the archive for it. The all-time teams will be getting updates as well when I get time. Josh McDaniels is going on one of them, guess which!

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Coaching staff rundown: wide receivers coach Ray Sherman

Briefly considered for the head coaching job here in 2009, Ray Sherman is anticipated to be coming to St. Louis for the 2012 season to take on the Herculean challenge of coaching the team's wide receivers. As we are seeing with most of Jeff Fisher's hires, Sherman has an extensive coaching record to run on, in his case, over 20 years of NFL experience. He started as a running backs, then WRs coach, for Jerry Glanville's Oilers in 1988-89. He's been an offensive coordinator or assistant head coach/offense for four different teams, but never longer than a season. He's coached WRs and RBs for the 49ers, and QBs for the Vikings. We'll focus on his work with WRs, which he's been dedicated to coaching for the last 10 years: 2000-04 with the Packers, 2005-06 with Jeff Fisher and the Titans, and 2007-10 with the Cowboys.

In a line that'll make anybody's resume look good, Sherman coached Jerry Rice for two seasons in the 90s, two of the thirteen years Rice made the Pro Bowl. Rice led the league in receiving yards and TDs in 1993. With John Taylor hurt a lot of '92, the 49ers actually got 600+ receiving yards out of Mike Sherrard. Taylor returned in '93 for 58-940-5 TDs. Jeff Fisher was the 49ers' defensive backs coach those same two years.

Donald Driver blossomed into a Pro Bowl receiver under Sherman in Green Bay. After three seasons in obscurity, Driver burst onto the scene in '02 with 70 catches, over 1,000 yards and 9 TDs. He topped that in '04 with 84 catches, over 1,200 yards and another 9 TDs. Javon Walker's widely remembered as a bust pick for the Packers, but in '03, he led the team in receiving yards and scored 9 TDs, and he had a Pro Bowl season in '04: 89 catches, almost 1,400 yards and 12 TDs. Walker blew out a knee the first week of '05 and ended up washing out to Denver. Bill Schroeder and Antonio Freeman both had over 60 catches and nearly 1,000 yards apiece for the Packers in 2000 before their careers declined. Terry Glenn had 56 catches and over 800 yards there in '02. So Sherman's been able to coach up young prospects into Pro Bowlers, and to get outsized results from unheralded vets.

Working for Jeff Fisher with next to no wide receiving talent? Sherman's already been there, done that, in 2005-06. Those Titans teams threw predominantly to the tight ends. And understandably: the leading receiver both years? DREW BENNETT. Next!

Sherman repeated a lot of his past success in a four-year run at Dallas. Sure, I could have coached Terrell Owens to Pro Bowl seasons in his prime. (For the record: 81-1,355, 15 TDs and a Pro Bowl in '07; 69-1,052 and 10 TDs in '08.) But at the same time, previously-unknown Patrick Crayton turned in four seasons averaging 600 yards a season. After the Cowboys showed Owens the door in '09, Miles Austin came out of nowhere - he had been almost strictly a kick returner - and racked up back-to-back Pro Bowl seasons, 81-1,320 and 11 TDs in '09. Dez Bryant got off to a good start, on the field, his rookie season in '10, 45-561-6 TD.

A lot of the statistics of Sherman-coached receivers are even more impressive, imho, when you see how much those teams also threw to their backs and tight ends. Ahman Green had a ton of catches in Green Bay. Jason Witten, who's probably always going to be Tony Romo's primary receiver, led Dallas in receptions all four year Sherman was there, even the T.O. years.

Dallas did not renew Sherman's contract after 2010. Austin's numbers, though still impressive, dropped off a bit after he signed a big contract. Dallas had given up a king's ransom to get Roy Williams from Detroit only to see him ring up 2-and-a-half years of lower production than he did as a Lion. The real reason, though, was probably that head coach Jason Garrett saw Sherman as a threat who undermined his authority. Sherman was ostensibly one of the candidates Garrett beat out when he got the HC job in Dallas, though many felt Sherman's interview was just a courtesy on his part to allow the Cowboys to satisfy the Rooney Rule. Sherman was a well-liked coach by his players, to the point where they went to him to complain about Garrett's play-calling. The move to let Sherman go was roundly criticized in the press. However, last season, WR coach Jimmy Robinson revived Laurent Robinson's corpse, and Bryant turned into a #1-quality WR. Austin's production plummeted, as he struggled with injuries. Meanwhile, Sherman didn't work anywhere in the NFL in 2011.

None of the political B.S. that got Sherman run out of Dallas exists here in St. Louis, though, where he should be a great fit. Jeff Fisher isn't an inexperienced head coach insecure in his power like Garrett. And unlike Garrett, Fisher's a players' coach who's unlikely to be threatened by position coaches who are also players' coaches. (Seems like that's something you'd want in your staff.) Just as importantly, Ray Sherman has a solid record in getting top performance out of established stars (Brandon Lloyd?), coaching young WRs up into elite players (Justin Blackmon?) and even getting surprising production out of unlikely players (Danario Alexander? Dare I hope?). Whoever Sam Bradford's throwing to in 2012, Ray Sherman should play a big part in assuring that they're noticeable improvements over those he threw to in 2011. A-minus

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Coaching staff rundown: tight ends coach Rob Boras

Rob Boras, previously tight ends coach for the Jagwires, has been interviewed by Jeff Fisher and the Rams for the TE coach position here, and if he doesn't already actually have the job, he's considered the favorite to get it.

Boras coached TEs in Jacksonville the last two seasons. Marcedes Lewis went to the Pro Bowl in '10 with career highs of 58 receptions and 700 yards, but he dropped off drastically this past season, to 39 catches for 460. He held out at the beginning of training camp, which is always a bad omen. Always an inconsistent catcher, he was downright terrible with dropped passes this year and fans accused him of playing without motivation after getting the big contract he was after. The Jagwires aren't exactly swimming in TE prospects, though Zach Miller had 20 catches in '10 before losing most of the '11 season to shoulder and “lower leg” injuries.

Those two years already give Boras more NFL TE coaching experience than the last guy the Rams picked to do the job, but he can also claim six years of service with the Chicago Bears on his resume. Greg Olsen had 60 catches and 8 TDs in '09, 54 and 5 in '08, his second season in the pros. Desmond Clark had three straight years over 40 receptions from 2006-08 under Boras, with 6 TDs in '06. It's neither Boras', Olsen's nor Clark's fault that the Bears brought tight end-hating Mike Martz in to run their offense. Olsen got traded to Carolina; Clark's production dropped off the cliff, leaving Kellen Davis and his 18 catches as the Bears' go-to TE last season. At least he had 5 TDs.

Boras hasn't coached strictly tight ends anywhere else, but he's also been offensive line coach and offensive coordinator at UNLV, and was even head coach for a year at Benedictine University (in the Chicago area).

Most of the entries on Boras' resume look like positives. No, I haven't seen where any of his TEs have been praised for their blocking.Yes, Lewis regressed badly last season, but he also had to work with an overwhelmed rookie QB and got next to no help from an untalented WR corps. Olsen was budding into a star until the Bears brought in Martz. That, and Lewis' huge 2010 season, and the maximizing of Clark's talents tells me that Rob Boras can coach up TEs. He'll certainly have the opportunity to demonstrate impact in St. Louis. B-minus

The difference between Jeff Fisher and Steve Spagnuolo? Fisher picked a tight ends coach with eight years of NFL experience coaching the position. Spagnuolo picked a buddy with two years of experience coaching TEs. In college. Think it showed any?

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Coaching staff rundown: offensive line coach Paul Boudreau

Paul Boudreau is expected to return to the Rams for the 2012 season after a successful stop here in 2006-07 that saw him inexplicably replaced by Scott Linehan crony Steve Loney. Boudreau has had a 25-year career as an NFL offensive line coach, with stops in New Orleans, Detroit, New England, Carolina, Jacksonville and Atlanta.

From 1987-1993 with the Saints, Boudreau's offensive line finished in the top three in fewest sacks allowed four times, leading the league in 1992 with just 15 sacks allowed. Saint linemen made two Pro Bowls in that span: guard Brad Edelman in '87 and center Joel Hilgenberg in '92. LT/LG Jim Dombrowski and RT Stan Brock were mainstays on those lines. The Saints were 3^rd in the league in rushing in 1997 but had declined to 17^th by the time Boudreau left for Detroit.

Barry Sanders ran for 1,500 yards or more all three years Boudreau coached the Lion o-line. LT Lomas Brown went to the Pro Bowl in '94 and '95. Center Kevin Glover joined him in '95, his first Pro Bowl after 11 seasons in the league. The Lions were a top-ten line for fewest sacks allowed until dropping to 25^th in '96, with Brown having left for the Big Dead.

Bruce Armstrong made the Pro Bowl for the sixth and final time in 1997, the first of Boudreau's two seasons under Pete Carroll in New England. The Patriots allowed the 4th-fewest sacks in the league in '97 but were a bottom-of-the-league rushing offense both seasons.

Boudreau knows centers. Tim Ruddy made his only Pro Bowl while Boudreau was with the Dolphins in 2000. The Dolphins were also 5th-best in 2000 in sacks allowed, with 28. And that was with Jay Fiedler at QB – Dan Marino retired after the 1999 season, Boudreau's first year there. That line also had Richmond Webb at LT. Those Dolphins teams also did not run especially well.

Boudreau's next two years in Carolina were forgettable, especially the 1-15 team of 2001. The Panthers did not run particularly well, and declined from 32 sacks in '01 to 44 in '02, unable to get the right side of the line settled.

In three years in Jacksonville, the Jagwires finished in the top 10 in sacks allowed twice, and the most they gave up was 32. Boudreau went through several left tackles, but Vince Manuwai, Brad Meester, Chris Naeole and Maurice Williams cleared the way for top-ten running games in '03 and '05.

Which brings Boudreau to St. Louis for the first time, and Steven Jackson's best season on the ground, 1,528 yards in 2006. Those Rams gave up a ton of sacks, though – 49 in '06, 48 in '07, near the bottom of the league both years. Those lines had a ton of injuries, though, the tail ends of the careers of Orlando Pace and Adam Timmerman. The '07 team got shell-shocked by losing Pace the first game of the season and never really got on track, leading to an extended beating that pretty much ended Marc Bulger's run in St. Louis as well. Boudreau got very nice results down the stretch in '06 with spare parts like Mark Setterstrom, Brett Romberg and Todd Steussie, and the '07 offensive line was kind of like last year's secondary injury-wise. Though Bulger got battered and Boudreau couldn't coax disciplined play out of Alex Barron or Richie Incognito, fans were caught well off-guard when the Rams fired Boudreau and were confident he'd pick right up where he left off in Atlanta.

Which he did. With two players acquired as rookie free agents on the right side of the line, Harvey Dahl and Tyson Clabo, the Falcons became one of the best offensive lines in the league. Clabo made the Pro Bowl in 2010. Atlanta allowed only 17 sacks in 2008 (5^th in NFL). They were 3rd-best in the league in 2010 (23 sacks). They finished in the top 10 all four years Boudreau was there. They were also the #2 rushing team in the NFL in '08, but have dropped to the middle of the pack since.

A criticism of Boudreau is that his linemen play dirty. Atlanta's line gained a reputation for cut-blocking downfield and hitting after the whistle. Justin Tuck went so far as to call Atlanta's offensive line "dirtbags" in the days leading up this year's playoff game. The Packers and Lions also complained this season about dirty play by the Atlanta line.

With the Falcons unable to adequately replace Dahl or injured LT Sam Baker in 2011, and with notable humiliations on 4th-and-shorts in the playoffs against the Giants, Boudreau paid the price in the offseason, freeing him up to come back here. Most of Rams Nation is happy with this development, though after Steve Loney, we'd probably have been happy with a Sherpa yak tender. I doubt that Boudreau has the magic to salvage Jason Smith, but he's got a record of polishing castoffs and overlooked players into gems. He's got a solid record coaching up centers, where the Rams honestly have a gaping hole at the moment. And he's developed cohesive, successful lines in New Orleans, Jacksonville and Atlanta, without those teams having to make big splashes for “name” players. Sam Bradford and a nation of Rams fans need your best work, coach. Make it happen. B-plus

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Coaching staff rundown: defensive line coach Mike Waufle

Mike Waufle is expected to be named the Rams' defensive line coach when Jeff Fisher announces all of the coaching staff hires in the coming days. Odd fact about Waufle: he's never worked with Jeff Fisher up until now, and isn't related to Fisher or anyone else in the Rams organization. Then again, I didn't review marriage records.

Waufle has been the Raiders' defensive line coach the last two years. He got his pro start in Oakland, coaching d-line there from 1998-2003. The Raiders had 39 sacks last season, which tied the, yes, Rams for 15^th in the league. Tommy Kelly led the team with 7.5. The Raiders ran a 4-3, but oddly, most of their sacks came from players listed as DTs, including Kelly and Richard Seymour, though I'd bet they got moved around a lot. Seymour returned to the Pro Bowl both seasons under Waufle, after a three-year absence. Even so, the Raiders were terrible against the run. They rated 27^th with 136 yards per game, but their 5.1 average per carry was the worst in the league. Only Tampa allowed more than Oakland's 24 rushes of 20 yards or more. Buffalo was a distant 3^rd with 18. The Rams allowed the most 40-yard-or-more rushes with 7; Oakland was right there for 3^rd place with 5.

The Raiders were just as bad against the run in 2010. They allowed the most rushes over 40 yards (7) and the third-most over 20 (17). They finished 29^th in rushing defense with 133.6 ypg. Things went a lot better in the sack department – the Raiders finished 2^nd in the league with 47, improving by 10 sacks in Waufle's first year. Kamerion Wimbley led with 9; Kelly had 7. A couple of nobodies at end, Matt Shaughnessy and Lamarr Houston, combined for 12 sacks. They're also the source of the team's big dropoff last year, combining for only 2. Shaughnessy missed most of the season due to a shoulder injury.

Facts and figures from Waufle's first run with the Raiders:

1998: Sacks: 12^th (41). Only 31 sacks the year before Waufle arrived. 11 by Lance Johnstone, 10 by Darrell Russell. Russell went to the Pro Bowl. 15^th against the run (104.6).

1999: Sacks: 9^th (44). 10 by Johnstone, 9.5 and another Pro Bowl for Russell. 12^th against the run (97.4).

2000: Sacks: 11^th (43). Big fat Grady Jackson led with 8. Russell dropped way off (3), taking Johnstone (3.5) with him. 5^th against the run (96.9).

2001: Sacks: 13^th (41). 15 different Raiders had at least half a sack. Regan Upshaw 7, Roderick Coleman 6, Tony Bryant 5. Russell was suspended 4 games and eventually was banned from the league for failing multiple drug tests. 22^nd against the run (124.2).

2002: Sacks: 6^th (43). Raiders went to the Super Bowl. 13 had at least a half-sack, including Coleman with 11. Otherwise, Waufle again got a lot of sacks out of a bunch of JAGs (just a “guy”). 3^rd against the run (90.8).

2003: Sacks: 28^th (25). Oof. Coleman still led the team, but dropped all the way down to 5.5 sacks. He and Trace Armstrong struggled with injuries as Raiders. And Oakland continued to get nothing out of highly-drafted DEs Tyler Brayton and DeLawrence Grant. DEAD LAST against the run, a terrible 156.9 ypg. All that happening at once will tend to get coaches fired.

And the whole Raider coaching staff got canned after the 2003 season, but it's safe to say Waufle landed on his feet, going to the Giants and developing one of the most dominating lines in the game from 2004-09.

2004: Sacks: 9^th (40). Giants were 2^nd in the league the year before with 45. 2nd-year DE Osi Umenyiora had 7 sacks, Fred Robbins 5. Michael Strahan missed half the season due to a torn pectoral. Giants were only 28^th against the run, 134.8 ypg.

2005: Sacks: 9^th (41). 14.5 sacks for Umenyiora, 11.5 for Strahan. Giants also improved to 12^th against the run (103.5).

2006: Sacks: just 23^rd (32). 6.5 for Umenyiora, 5.5 for Robbins. 35-year-old Strahan battled foot injuries most of the season and had just 3. 14^th against the run (114.4).

2007: Giants win the Super Bowl and lead the league in sacks with 53. 13 for Umenyiora, 10 for Justin Tuck in his 2^nd season, 9 for Strahan, 5.5 more for Robbins. Back up to 8^th against the run (97.7).

2008: Sacks: 6^th (42). Not bad at all considering Strahan had retired and Umenyiora missed the season after blowing his knee. Tuck had 12 sacks, and Mathias Kiwanuka stepped up with 8 in his 3^rd season. And another 5.5 sacks from Robbins. 9^th against the run (95.8).

2009: Sacks: dropped to 18^th (32). 18 different Giants had sacks, but Umenyiora led the team with just 7, followed by Tuck with 6. 14^th against the run (110.8). The line, including Tuck, again had a lot of injuries. Umenyiora began clashing with management. And, as you'll remember from the year, the Giants lost defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo to the Rams. Still, most felt that Waufle was scapegoated in New York and shouldn't have been let go.

Umenyiora went to two Pro Bowls with Waufle as his line coach. Tuck went in 2008, Strahan in 2005.

Waufle had nearly 20 years of college coaching experience before coming to the NFL, most of it coaching d-line for West Coast schools, including Cal, UCLA and Fresno State. He and the Rams' new QB coach, Frank Cignetti, worked together on the Cal staff for a couple of years. Waufle coached Regan Upshaw while he was at Cal; also former Tampa pass rusher and one-time Ram Chidi Ahanotu.

If the Rams do get Mike Waufle as their defensive line coach as anticipated, it will be a coup for the team. His defensive lines have frequently been top ten in sacks. His ability to turn young DEs into Pro Bowlers has me thinking I should hoard some Robert Quinn rookie cards. And that Chris Long is not too far from that trip to Hawaii he deserved this year. Waufle has also proven successful at getting pass rush from the tackles and from unexpected sources. He flatout knows how to get to quarterbacks in this league. The Rams need all of that they can get. The main concern is that some of Waufle's lines have gotten gouged by the running game, especially the last two seasons. But he's also coached on top-10 run defenses, and most years his lines have underperformed, you can usually point to a significant injury. Waufle's a proven developer of defensive line talent who's gotten proven results. I think it's fair to ask if the Rams picked the right guy off the Giants' staff in 2009 when they hired Spagnuolo. Another solid coaching pickup by Jeff Fisher. A-minus

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Nick Miller suspended

Jim Thomas has reported on Twitter that Rams punt returner/wide receiver Nick Miller has received a four-week suspension from the NFL for using performance-enhancing substances. This appears to be a popular trend among Rams punt returners, as Austin Pettis was similarly suspended at the end of last season.

Miller is under contract with the Rams for 2012. For now.

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Rams report, 2/15: Fisher returns to competition committee

* Committee hearing. Rams head coach Jeff Fisher, who co-chaired the NFL competition committee from 2002-10, has returned to that committee. The competition committee meets to review NFL rules and recommend changes.

Is membership on this committee important? Definitely. It took Mike Martz's and Tony Dungy's influence on the committee in '04 to get the league to return to correctly enforcing the illegal contact rule instead of letting Patriot defensive backs mug wide receivers downfield all game. The change was too late to help Martz, but it helped Dungy over the Belichick hump and to a Super Bowl XLI championship for the Colts.

It's also a nice sign the league takes your team's head coach seriously, and probably draws Fisher at least a scintilla of additional respect from referees who know the coach spends some time with the rule book.

And when you're taking over a 2-14 team, you need every scintilla you can get.

* Rams special teams west. The Chiefs officially named Tom McMahon their special teams coach yesterday. He will be joined in K.C. by former Rams special teams quality control coach Derius Swinton.

Witnessing the recent histories of the two franchises, it's really weird to see the Chiefs snapping up special teams coaches from the Rams. They have fared much better in that phase of the game over the years than the Rams have.

Also gives Dominique Curry an obvious landing place if he doesn't stick here (though I would think he will).

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Cecil named Rams secondary coach

The latest addition to the Jeff Fisher Friends and Family Plan at Rams Park is controversial former Packers and Big Dead safety Chuck Cecil as secondary coach. Cecil was the secondary coach and defensive coordinator under Fisher during a ten-year period with the Titans. He is one of Fisher's closest friends and the order from above to fire him was considered part of the reason Fisher left the Titans in 2011.

Controversial? Cecil was one of the biggest cheap-shot artists in the history of the game as a player. His proclivity for vicious hits, and for spearing opponents, landed him on the cover of Sports Illustrated in 1993. (And, in the NFL's grand tradition of sending mixed messages, got him into the Pro Bowl in 1992.)

You're never going to ask Chuck Cecil to demonstrate tackling technique, not based on his style as a player, which frequently was to leave his feet and lead with his helmet. Repeated concussions induced by this "method" shortened his career to just seven seasons.

Cecil started with the Titans in 2001 as a defensive quality control assistant, became coach of safeties and nickel backs in 2004, then secondary coach in 2007.  The Titans finished 3rd in the league in interceptions in '07 with 22, and 6th in '08 with 20. 2008 was a landmark season for the Tennessee secondary: DBs Chris Hope (5 INT), Cortland Finnegan (5 INT) and Michael Griffin (7 INT) all went to the Pro Bowl.

When Jim Schwartz went to the Lions as head coach in 2009, though, and Cecil replaced him as defensive coordinator, he couldn't translate those terrific results across the Titans D.

In 2009, the Titans ranked:
28th in scoring defense (25 ppg)
28th in total yards
12th in rushing defense (106.9 ypg)
31st in passing defense (258.7 ypg)

In 2010:
15th in scoring defense (21 ppg)
26th in total yards
20th in rushing defense (115.7 ypg)
29th in passing defense (252 ypg)

The Titans lost 8 of their last 9 in 2010, forcing only 7 turnovers down that stretch. Cecil was considered by some to be in over his head as a coordinator, and the team was criticized for its lack of discipline. Cecil himself was fined $40,000 after getting caught flipping off the officials during a TV closeup. (Obviously, he couldn't have known he was on TV at that moment. He was mad over a penalty call.)

And now it's RamView's turn to send mixed messages. Dislike what he did as a player, be unimpressed by his turn at defensive coordinator, but Chuck Cecil is a hell of a secondary coach, and I would think Rams Nation is pretty excited to have him. We've been begging for decent hitters in the secondary ever since Billy Jenkins. We've been begging for decent safety play of any kind roughly since Aeneas Williams (also no slouch as a hitter). Furthermore, the last two Saint playoff losses show how badly Gregg Williams' defense is exposed by bad safety play. Chuck Cecil coaches up good safeties. I think I should have bought a Darian Stewart jersey the last time the Rams website had a sale. If he doesn't screw up this training camp, he's a Pro Bowl safety in the making. Another thing the Ram secondary has BADLY lacked in recent seasons, even with O.J. Atogwe doing solid work, is the ability to create turnovers, especially interceptions. They picked off only 12 passes last year, led by Josh Gordy with just 3.

Watching Cortland Finnegan, it's fair to wonder how much Cecil coaches his players to play dirty. And that will be criticized, here and elsewhere. But there is no mistaking Cecil's ability as a secondary coach. I'm expecting a dramatic increase in INTs from this defense, and young DBs like Stewart and Gordy and Bradley Fletcher, if he EVER stays healthy, are in perfect position to make strong leaps forward as players. Cecil should be a strong addition to the Rams' coaching staff. A-minus

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PFW: Rams GM job unattractive?

Pro Football Weekly poses an interesting question in the wake of the culmination of the Rams' GM search this past weekend:

[George] Paton's decision to remain with the Vikings as assistant GM raises this question: Why would he prefer to be an assistant GM in Minnesota rather than a GM in St. Louis? The most logical answer is that the Rams' GM job didn't offer a lot of authority. Kevin Demoff remains in place as the Rams' executive VP of football operations and chief operating officer, and Jeff Fisher is the new head coach with undoubtedly a fair amount of input into personnel, so the new GM may not have all that much authority. When the Steelers' [Omar] Khan turned down an opportunity to pursue the position, that may have been another indication that the job wasn't all that attractive, and the Rams' slow pace in filling the position may have been yet another sign that was the case.

There's sense in this, and Paton wasn't alone in taking a promotion to a lesser position at home vs. coming to St. Louis; Lake Dawson took the same route in Tennessee. The helm at Rams Park has clearly been turned over to Jeff Fisher, and while we can debate whether it's better for the coach or the GM to have final say over the roster, Fisher wouldn't have come here without that authority, and the last thing the Rams need would be he and the GM clashing repeatedly on roster decisions.

It's also where the last administration made one of its biggest mistakes. Billy Devaney, the veteran front office man, should have had final decision on the Ram roster over Steve Spagnuolo, the inexperienced head coach. The result of doing things the other way? You cut half your 2011 draft that season and get fractured decision-making like last year's offseason decision to pile aging veterans onto the roster.

Having decided to go with the veteran coach and a rookie GM, it's the right decision by the Rams to have tilted the balance of power toward Fisher. A GM candidate who didn't take the job because it didn't give them enough power did a poor job of assessing the situation on the ground here in St. Louis. If Les Snead's the one to figure it out and know his role coming in, I like his future prospects here even better than before.

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Snead named new Rams GM

Les Snead has been chosen as the Rams' new general manager. The Rams' search ended sooner than expected when the Vikings promoted the other finalist for the position, George Paton, to their assistant general manager position yesterday. So for the second straight general manager, the Rams are going to hope Thomas Dimitroff rubbed off on somebody.

After starting his NFL career as a scout for the Jagwires, Snead, 37, has been with the Falcons the past 13 years, the last three as director of player personnel. He was one of highly-regarded Falcons GM Dimitroff's top lieutenants. Snead oversaw college and pro scouting, researched free agent acquisition, evaluated the Falcons roster on a day-to-day basis and helped determine salaries for player acquisitions.

We're again assured by league insiders that this is another great hire for the Rams. Snead is well-regarded as an experienced talent evaluator, for his adaptability and that he works well with people (he has worked with four different head coaches and two interim coaches). Maybe that's because he has a psychology degree from Auburn (as well as a master's in education). He's reportedly highly-regarded around the league and is considered a rising star among NFL front office men.

These are the Falcons' three drafts with Snead as DPP.
2009: 1 - Peria Jerry; 2 - William Moore; 3 - Christopher Owens; 4 - Lawrence Sidbury; 5 - William Middleton; 5 - Garrett Reynolds; 6 - Spencer Adkins; 7 - Vance Walker.

This was not a very good draft for the Falcons. Jerry is their version of Jason Smith, right down to being replaced by a pick from the next year's draft, Corey Peters. They drafted him despite his age, injury history and Clay Matthews Jr. still being on the board. Moore started most of the last two years but may have lost his job to James Sanders at the end of this season. Owens has been a career backup. Sidbury's a rotational DE but outproduced free agent splash Ray Edwards in the sack column this year with 4. Reynolds (Hacksaw's nephew) started this season after the Rams signed Harvey Dahl, but bombed and is back on the bench. Adkins has been a career backup but looked good in his first start in Atlanta's final regular-season game this year. Walker is a rotational DT. Middleton is no longer with the team. D-plus at best. Snead definitely had his hands in the Falcons' drafts. He was the go-to guy for the Falcons website's draft day interviews.

2010: 1 - Sean Weatherspoon; 3 - Corey Peters; 3 - Mike Johnson; 4 - Joseph Hawley; 5 - Dominique Franks; 5 - Kerry Meier; 6 - Shann Schillinger.

Weatherspoon's making a mark as one of the game's best young linebackers. Corey Peters is a starting DT. Mike Johnson struggled in 2011 with concussion problems. Hawley is their center of the future and started at RG the back half of last season. Franks stepped in after Brent Grimes got injured and has a great shot at starting next season. Started ahead of Owens. Meier hasn't contributed much due to a blown knee and a groin injury. Schillinger's a backup free safety who missed most of 2010 due to a busted ankle. This still looks like a terrific draft by the Falcons; they're poised to have four starters in 2012 from it. Solid A at worst.

2011: 1 - Julio Jones; 3 - Akeem Dent; 5 - Jacquizz Rodgers; 6 - Matt Bosher; 7 - Andrew Jackson; 7 - Cliff Matthews.

Jones seems on track to be worth the farm the Falcons traded for him. 54 catches, 959 yards, 8 TDs as a rookie. (Snead was said to have contributed a lot of research that went into the decision to trade up to draft Jones.) Dent became the special teams ace, gained a reputation for solid tackling and could start in '12 if Curtis Lofton moves on in free agency. Rodgers had 400 combined yards as the change-of-pace back. Bosher was 30th in the league in punting average, but the Falcons were 17th in net, and he put 40% of his punts inside the 20. Jackson was on the practice squad or practice squad IR all season. Matthews was on the main roster but didn't have any statistics in 2011. This draft obviously hinges on Jones, but Atlanta got decent contributions from the two picks after him. And unlike the Rams, they didn't cut half the draft before the season was even over. C for now. Most probably grade it higher, but I automatically dock a grade letter because YOU NEVER DRAFT A KICKER.

Other significant Falcons acquisitions 2009 - 2011:
Tony Gonzalez, 2009, acquired for 2nd-round draft pick. Has averaged 78 receptions, 800 yards and 6 TDs a season as a Falcon. Team's second-leading receiver all three years. Not the dominant force he once was, but he's still a Pro Bowl TE and still has it.

Dunta Robinson, 2010, free agent. Only three INTs for Atlanta in two years, and Pro Football Focus graded him out this past season as one of the worst corners in the league.

Ray Edwards, 2011, free agent. Signed to a hefty contract despite offseason knee surgery that kept him out of offseason workouts and preseason games, Edwards was a bust for Atlanta last year, with just 3.5 sacks. He was considered a good run defender, though, and you'd assume he'll improve greatly in 2012 with good health.

Matt Bryant, December 2009, free agent. Three game-winning FGs in 2010 and hit 28 of 31 FG attempts. Even better in 2011, 27-for-29.

The good pickups were pretty good, but the bad pickups look pretty damn ugly so far. C-minus at best, and I'm being highly charitable.

Jim Thomas' STLToday article on Snead's hiring on Sunday attributes the signing of offensive linemen Harvey Dahl and Tyson Clabo to Snead, before he was Atlanta's DPP. Dahl and Clabo were both signed as undrafted rookie free agents.

It's hard, if not impossible, to know as a far-outsider how much Les Snead had to do with any of these picks or player acquisitions. The Falcons do seem to have a nasty habit of making big splashes on injured players, which Snead absolutely has to avoid here. The Rams have already had far too much of that. Snead seems to have helped the Falcons land very solid draft classes in 2010 and 2011. The Rams absolutely need that. I'll give the hiring of Les Snead a B based on that and based on the approval it's getting from insiders.

Of course, the hirings of Billy Devaney and Steve Spagnuolo probably got good grades and the NFL insiders' seal of approval, too.

-$-

I may have blown my load for the weekend on the GM hiring, but I'll still try to catch up with the coaching staff hires.

-$$-

Rams report, 2/10: GM race approaching finish?

* Steve Wyche says at NFL.com that the Rams are down to "two or three" finalists for their general manager position, and should have the new GM hired next week. The last finalists will meet with owner Stan Kroenke over the next few days. The Rams are trying to get the GM in place in time for pre-Combine meetings with the coaching staff and team scouts. Wyche does not give any indication who the candidates may be. We know Vikings director of player personnel George Paton and Falcons DPP Les Snead have gotten two interviews. I'd consider them the leaders in the clubhouse.

* Remember Jovan Olafioye? Don't. After signing the CFL tackle to a contract that was later rejected by the NFL league office, the Rams have now cut Olafioye for an unspecified "medical issue". Gee, maybe that explains how he tried out with half the teams in the NFL without being signed by anyone. Also, how could the Rams cut him if they didn't have him signed to a legitimate contract? Anyway, Olafioye has returned to the B.C. Lions, many frequent-flyer miles richer.

* Ex-Rams update. Usually when we say an athlete was "robbed", it's because he wasn't given an honor we thought he should have received, or lost out because of a fluky play or a bad call. But in former Rams running back John Cappelletti's case, his southern California home was actually robbed about two weeks ago, and he's missing an estimated $50,000 worth of memorabilia. The thief's haul included his 1979 NFC Championship ring and a 1973 Penn State national championship ring. Cappelletti gave his 1973 Heisman to the All Sports Museum at Penn State, or the thief would probably have that now, too. Statistics say that burglars are rarely caught, so let's hope that law enforcement can at least get John's valuable items back undamaged.

* I'm going to try - emphasis on try - to get bios up for the rest of the coaching staff candidates this weekend. Good luck to everyone trying to survive the first football-less weekend of the year.

-$-