Rookie free agent profile: Kevin Saia, G, Louisiana Tech

Kevin Saia 6'3" 306
G, Louisiana Tech
placed on injured reserve July 31
Rankings: NFLDraftScout: 33rd-ranked guard, #616 player overall, free-agent grade.

Scouts Inc: 34th-ranked guard, rated as a free agent. Grade: 30, borderline draft prospect.

NFLDraftBible: 51st-ranked guard.


Biography/honors:
2012: All-WAC second team. Started all 12 games at left guard. Offense was #1 in the country in points per game (51.5!) and total yards (578 per game) and ranked in top 20 in rushing yards. Line only gave up 10 sacks all season.
2011: Started all 13 games at left guard. Team ran for over 1,800 yards.
2010: Started all 12 games at left guard.
2009: Played in six games, starting three at left guard.
2008: Redshirted.

Major: not listed.

Injuries: none reported.

Pro day results: (NFL Combine guard averages in parentheses)
5.28 40 (5.23)
1.81 10-yard split (1.77)
26” vertical jump (25.5”)
8'2" broad jump (8'5")
8.09 3-cone drill (Would have tied for slowest at Combine. Guards averaged 7.80)
4.82 20-yard shuttle (4.83)
26 bench press (29) 

Positives: Started 40 consecutive games, all at left guard, so he can compete there right away without having to re-learn technique and footwork. Shows high awareness and ability to block on the move in a motion offense. Shows some road-grader ability. Seems to get off the ball and out of his stance well. Looks good on the pull and changes direction well. Played in the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl, where Todd McShay called him one of the best players in the game during practice week. Played in the open, quick-passing kind of offense the Rams appear to be moving toward. Should be comfortable in no-huddle. 

Negatives: I have no idea why his Youtube highlights include a play where he drags a guy to the ground by his jersey and gives up a tackle for loss anyway. He also got smoked for a sack in the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl on a play where he barely got out of his stance; my guess is he had the snap count wrong. Louisiana Tech's passing offense didn't require linemen to sustain their blocks for any amount of time. Questionable agility. 

Compares to: Shelley Smith

Fun Facts: Louisiana Tech went 9-3 in 2012 and had one of the nation's most exciting offenses, but didn't go to a bowl. They turned down the Independence Bowl in Shreveport to wait for a better offer, didn't get one, Ohio University took their spot, and the Bulldogs stayed home for the postseason.

RamView: The Rams list Saia as a guard/center; he'll have to be more than a guard to have even a shot at the practice squad, but I have no record of him playing anywhere in college but left guard. Tech's offensive system and his three years' experience at LG could give him advantages, but the only Ram I see he can even compete with is Tim Barnes, who has a huge experience edge at center. Saia's an interesting prospect but I expect his NFL future is with another team.

Chance of making team: 20%.

Sources: NFLDraftScout, ESPN.com, Louisiana Tech athetics, Wikipedia, NFLDraftBible, YouTube

Photo: DraftNasty.com

Rookie free agent profile: Andre Martin, CB, North Dakota State

Andre Martin Jr. 5'10" 193
CB, North Dakota State
Twitter handle: @dremartinjr

Rankings: NFLDraftScout: 59th-ranked cornerback, #554 player overall, free agent grade with 6th-7th round upside.

Scouts Inc: 96th-ranked cornerback, rated as a free agent. Grade: 30, borderline draft prospect.



Biography/honors:
2012: (North Dakota State) Started 13 of 15 games at cornerback. 51 tackles, 6 pass break-ups and one interception, which came in the Division 1-AA championship game.
2011: (Northern Iowa) Played in 13 games in a backup role, with 17 tackles. 
2010: (Northern Iowa) Started all 12 games at free safety. 77 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, 5 interceptions (one returned for TD), 5 pass break-ups and a forced fumble. Honorable mention academic all-Missouri Valley Conference.
2009: (Northern Iowa) Started all 11 games at cornerback. 44 tackles, 2 interceptions, 3 pass break-ups.
2008: (Northern Iowa) Redshirted.

Major: has a bachelor's in gerontology and transferred to NDSU to go for his master's.

Injuries:
2011: missed most of fall training camp due to a lower back injury.

Pro day results: (NFL Combine CB averages in parentheses)
4.46 40 (4.49)
1.65 10-yard split
35.5” vertical jump (35.5”)
9'10" broad jump (10'3")
6.94 3-cone drill (6.88)
4.28 20-yard shuttle (would have been bottom-5 time at Combine; CBs averaged 4.16)
17 bench press (would have tied for 3rd at Combine; CB average was 13)

Positives: Student of the game. Very intelligent, reads offenses well. Good closing speed. Aggressive, good against the run, isn't afraid to hit. Plays physically and shows he can get off WR blocks. Tackles well in open field. Plays hard all the time. One of the scouts at his pro day timed him at 4.39. Had at least four teams interested in him.

Negatives: Build-up speed, lacks get-off. Lacks quickness and explosion. Doesn't show great change of direction. Only two teams attended NDSU's pro day and he was the only player working out. Not sure if he projects in the pros as an undersized safety or a corner without very quick twitch. Almost nothing available on him for an amateur scout to review.

Compares to: Jerome Murphy

Fun Facts: Andre's a St. Louis native who graduated from McCluer High School, and, no offense, but his family is probably smarter than yours. His wife Nadia also has a master's degree, in public policy. Andre ran 100m and 200m for NDSU's track team but skipped the conference meet, where he was a favorite to win, to attend Rams rookie tryouts. And I shouldn't have to remind you of the importance of undrafted free agents from Northern Iowa in Rams history.

RamView: The Rams appeared to get good draft value athletically when they signed Martin; he seems about average compared to the Combine performances of most of the drafted defensive backs. He just seems to have been set back by his junior-year injury. He's already survived the first round of rookie tryouts, and his smarts and work ethic could make him one of those players who are enjoyable to coach and stick around because of it. He appears to have the bonus of safety/cornerback versatility that improves his roster opportunity, but he's still got a lot of competition in front of him, limiting his upside to practice squad for the time being.

Chance of making team: 30%.

Sources: NFLDraftScout, ESPN.com, The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead (N.D.), WDAY-TV and WDAY-AM (Fargo), The Dickinson (N.D.) Press, NFL.com, North Dakota State University athletics, University of Northern Iowa athletics, Waterloo-Cedar Falls (Ia.) Courier, Bisonville.com

Photo: The Dickinson Press

Rams sign Giordano

National Football Post

As mentioned briefly in the ongoing rookie free agent post, the Rams signed veteran safety Matt Giordano on the 16th. (UDFA Don Unamba was cut to make room for Giordano.) He's a 5'11", 210-lb 30-year-old entering his ninth NFL season. His first four seasons were in Indianapolis, the past two with Oakland, where he played free safety last year and started 13 games. He missed some time due to a concussion.

Pro Football Focus ranks Giordano barely as an upgrade over Craig Dahl. Giordano was PFF's 69th-ranked safety in 2012. Dahl, though, was 78th. Similar to Dahl, though, scouting reports on Giordano say he was "victimized on a regular basis." He had 51 tackles and 2 INTs for the Raiders last year but had a career-high 5 INTs in 2011. A scouting report at National Football Post calls him one of the fastest safeties in the league (he ran a 4.54 at his pro day in 2005) and a proven run defender. It also mentions he forced a key fumble that helped the Colts win Super Bowl XLI. Giordano was also one of the Colts' top special teams players. He's known as a big hitter and his great-grandfather was once the world welterweight boxing champion.

Giordano's signing appears to put an end to any idea of the Rams bringing Quintin Mikell back, though Giordano doesn't initially look any improvement over Mikell besides age (30 vs. 32). He does add size and experience to a safety corps that can use both.

-$-

Rams training camp schedule

The Rams announced the 2013 training camp schedule last week. There are 17 practices open to the public this year, up from 15 last year. The schedule, hopefully in a proportionate font:





Thursday, July 25    3:30 p.m.
Friday, July 26      3:30 p.m.
Saturday, July 27    5:30 p.m.
Monday, July 29      3:30 p.m.
Wednesday, July 31   3:30 p.m.
Thursday, August 1   5:30 p.m.
Friday, August 2     3:30 p.m.
Saturday, August 3   12:30 p.m. at Edward Jones Dome
Monday, August 5     3:30 p.m.
Tuesday, August 6    3:30 p.m.
Saturday, August 10  3:30 p.m.
Monday, August 12    3:30 p.m.
Thursday, August 15  3:30 p.m.
Friday, August 16    11:15 a.m.
Monday, August 19    3:30 p.m.
Tuesday, August 20   4:00 p.m.
Wednesday, August 21 3:30 p.m.

Rookies report July 21st and the rest of the team reports on the 23rd. RamView's goal will be to cover the three Saturday practices.

Rams sign draft class (updated)

Well, that was quick. So much for the Rams being the last team in the NFL to sign any of their draft picks - the team announced yesterday they had signed all seven of their 2013 picks, all to four-year contracts. First-rounders Tavon Austin and Alec Ogletree have options for a fifth year.




Total contract amounts for each pick, from Howard Balzer at Lockerdome:
1a - Tavon Austin - $12.75 million
1b - Alec Ogletree - $7 million
3a - T.J. McDonald - $2.9 million
3b - Stedman Bailey - $2.7 million
4 - Barrett Jones - $2.6 million
5a - Brandon McGee - $2.3 million
5b - Zac Stacy - $2.3 million


The Rams obviously had some of these guys signed, or at least negotiations wrapped up, before now, and just chose to announce them all at once. That's fine, I guess, though maybe unnecessarily secretive. Congratulations to the front office for getting everyone in well ahead of time.

And, no, I most certainly do not miss the old days of rookie holdouts. Good riddance to all that.

-$-

Rams' rookie free agent signings

(Update for 9/3) Updated the final status for each of the rookie free agents. Five undrafted free agents made the Rams' final roster out of training camp, three of them linebackers. Another six made the practice squad. Two of those, Justin Veltung and Darren Woodard, did not get profiles yet, so I will do those and then I will be done. Sorry to the others I didn't get to while you were here.

 




Rams rookie free agents:

C.J. Akins, WR, Angelo State placed on injured reserve, reported June 10
Ray Ray Armstrong, S, Miami (Fla.) made final roster
Brett Baer, K, Louisiana-Lafayette released in cutdown to 75
Daren Bates, LB, Auburn  made final roster 
Emory Blake, WR, Auburn signed to practice squad 
Braden Brown, OT, BYU placed on injured reserve, July 31
Terrell Brown, Mississippi waived July 17
Benny Cunningham, RB, MTSU made final roster
Cody Davis, S, Texas Tech signed to practice squad
Demetrius Fields, WR, Northwestern released in cutdown to 75
Garrett Goebel, DT, Ohio State released in final cutdown
Rashard Hall, S, Clemson released in final cutdown
Andrew Helmick, WR, Lindenwood released in cutdown to 75 
Sean Hooey, OL, Cincinnati signed to practice squad 
Jorgen Hus, LS, Regina released in cutdown to 75
Tim Jenkins, QB, Fort Lewis released in cutdown to 75
Al Lapuaho, DT, Utah State released in cutdown to 75
Joseph LeBeau, LB, Jackson State released in cutdown to 75
Philip Lutzenkirchen, TE, Auburn released in final cutdown
Andre Martin, CB, North Dakota State released in final cutdown
Scott Pillar, WR, Albright released June 12
Graham Pocic, C, Illinois released in cutdown to 75
Colby Prince, TE, Oregon State released in cutdown to 75
Gerald Rivers, DE, Mississippi made final roster
Kevin Saia, G, Louisiana Tech placed on injured reserve, July 31
Cannon Smith, S, Memphis  released 7/23
Robert Steeples, CB, Memphis released in cutdown to 75
Eric Stevens, FB, California signed to practice squad
Phillip Steward, LB, Houston placed on injured reserve July 19
Jonathan Stewart, LB, Texas A&M made final roster
Drew Thomas, CB, UTEP released in final cutdown
Don Unamba, S, Southern Arkansas released 6/14
Justin Veltung, WR, Idaho signed to practice squad
R.J. Washington, DE, Oklahoma released in final cutdown
Darren Woodard, CB, UTEP signed to practice squad

-$-

Rookie free agent profile: Garrett Goebel, DT, Ohio State

Garrett Goebel 6'4" 292
DT, Ohio State

Rankings: NFLDraftScout: 42nd-ranked defensive tackle, #552 player overall, free agent grade.

Scouts Inc: 36th-ranked DT, rated as a free agent. Grade: 30, borderline draft prospect.

NFLDraftCountdown: 38th-ranked DT, late-round to free-agent grade.

Biography/honors:
2012: Team co-captain. Started all 12 games. 42 tackles, 4 tackles for loss, one sack and a blocked PAT. 
2011: Started all 13 games. 33 tackles, 4 tackles for loss, 1 sack, 2 pass break-ups.
2010: Academic all-Big Ten. 9 tackles in 13 games.
2009: Academic all-Big Ten. 2 tackles in 13 games.
2008: Redshirted.

Major: construction systems management.

Injuries: none reported.

Pro day results: (NFL Combine DT averages in parentheses)
5.32 40 (5.18)
1.76 10-yard split
26” vertical jump (27.5”)
8'0" broad jump (would have tied for last at Combine. DTs averaged 8'8.5")
7.41 3-cone drill (7.67)
4.55 20-yard shuttle (4.73)
22 bench press (would have tied for last at Combine. DTs averaged 28)

Positives: Consistent, hard-working player with a relentless motor. Strong and productive. Former wrestling champion. Long-armed and quick-handed. Plays bigger than his size because he uses his hands and leverage well. Anchors consistently against the run. Good quickness and change of direction. Pro day 3-cone and shuttle times were very respectable for his position. Gives it his all on every down and will chase plays down for you from the backside. Could be developed into a solid backup by a team that can keep him on the practice squad and get his weight up over 300. Lunchbucket, no-nonsense kind of player. Lets his play do the talking.

Negatives: Tweener. Undersized nose tackle, needs to add bulk. Lacks size to play the 2-gap role he played in college. Built like a 1-gap lineman but lacks the explosion to penetrate the backfield. Is done if an offensive lineman gets his hands on him first, which will pose a big problem at the NFL level. Doesn't show much as a bull-rusher. Performance of only 22 bench presses at pro day is a little puzzling.

Compares to: Jermelle Cudjo, who showed a lot of hustle as a UDFA in 2010 and made the roster despite being regarded as undersized.

Fun Facts: One of the best wrestlers in Illinois high school history, Garrett won back-to-back state championships in 2007 and 2008. He set state records for victories and falls and was the #2 wrestler in the country his senior year, going 57-1. He was 55-1 as a junior.  

RamView: I expect Mike Waufle will enjoy coaching Garrett Goebel, but it'll have to be a whole lot for him to last through training camp. The Rams look very set at DT, four-deep if you include Matt Conrath, who was pushing for significant snaps as a UDFA last summer before going down with a knee injury. The hill gets steeper because the Rams tended to short-shift the position last season, going with just 3 DTs active many weeks. They didn't keep a DT on the practice squad, either. UDFAs like Conrath and Cudjo have been able to hustle their way onto the roster in recent seasons, but they're much stiffer competition for Goebel to beat than they had themselves.

Chance of making team: 10%.

Sources: NFLDraftScout, The Ohio State University athletics, NFLDraftCountdown, ESPN.com, National Football Post, Cleveland Plain-Dealer, Toledo Blade, CBS Sports, Chicago Tribune

Photo: CBS Sports