The St. Louis Rams football off-season has been very busy.
There has been hirings, firings and near hires; and I haven’t even mentioned the talk about a possible site for a new football stadium. The Rams signed free agent wide receiver Titus Young and before I could even press send on my cell phone, after texting the new Rams wideout, he was cut.
And the question continues to mount towards general manager Les Snead and head coach Jeff Fisher about bringing in some talent to help the offense along. I liked that the Rams brought Titus Young in and I’m glad they cut him. It wasn’t a secret about Young and his baggage, so they felt him out and it didn’t work. Better now than in September.
Speaking about now, Jeff Fisher finally got his man in Tim Walton to be the defensive coordinator. And I know some people will wonder who is Tim Walton and what does he bring to the table. And how will he do in his first job as a defensive coordinator? That question obviously will get answered once the season starts, but once you look at some of the achievements accomplished by the Rams defense with an inexperienced defensive coordinator; one can only fathom how much better this team can play. Or to take it a step further, does this hiring of Tim Walton affect who the Rams draft or possibly target in free agency?
There will be a number of quality safeties and cornerbacks available in free agency. The list in this group includes names Charles Woodson, Laron Landry, and William Moore. The draft offers up guys like Kenny Vaccaro (Texas), TJ McDonald (USC), and Tyrann Mathieu aka The Honey Badger (LSU) plus several other notables.
Look, I’m not insisting that the Rams will just go nuts and just pick up every cornerback or safety. It’s just a thought since the new defensive coordinator has such a strong background working in the secondary. But, he’s the coordinator so you have to think of the whole defense.
What about at outside linebacker? Alec Olgetree (Georgia) jumped up from a couple of recent mock drafts to as high as the possible seventh pick in the draft. However, that may not happen since he’s been recently arrested for a DUI.
The offensive line for the Rams had some rough times, but for the most part battled hard and shown a lot of toughness. The Rams were shorthanded most of the time, but managed to put some great games together. Scott Wells was hurt, Rodger Saffold was injured, and rookie Rokevious Watkins missed the entire season, but guys like Wayne Hunter, Barry Richardson, and Rob Turner, played with pride, passion, and commitment.
If the Rams do draft a player in either the first or second round it could be Jonathan Cooper, Menelik Watson, or Barrett Jones.
Don’t be surprised if the list change after the NFL Combine this week.
