The NFL season normally ends after the crowing of a new Super Bowl champion, but that’s changed thanks to constant coverage by media outlets like the NFL Network and ESPN.
Hey, I like it. It does make the NFL off-season go by a lot faster than it used to. The scouting combine will be in two weeks. It will be followed up by several pro day workouts leading up to the much anticipated draft in April. It will be three whole days of excitement and action for us NFL fans who just can’t get enough.
In St. Louis, there is a lot of excitement concerning football. One is who’s going to be the St. Louis Rams’ defensive coordinator? This is the second straight year we’ve wondered about this.
Last year, it was Gregg Williams before he was suspended for the bounty-gate scandal. His son Blake stepped into his father’s role and was adequate in calling plays, but didn’t get along with staff so his contract wasn’t renewed.
Then, the Rams appeared to have hired Rob Ryan on two different occasions and that never came to pass. Ryan had his own vision, and so his five minutes being unemployed went about a week longer than he planned.
Next, the Rams interviewed Dick Jauron and recently Mike Singletary for the defensive coordinator position.
In my opinion, whoever Jeff Fisher hires will pretty much fall in line to what has already been established. His staff is already intact, and he’s not going to hire someone that’s going to make changes to his staff. Whoever gets that job is coming into a good situation with the Rams.
And while most people are concerned about who’s in and who’s out on the staff, the rest of us are anxiously awaiting the draft in April. That’s where the Rams will have the best chance to improve the team since they’ve already signed Chris Long and James Laurinitas to multi-year deals.
The Rams have three of the top 50 picks in the draft and I’ve checked out a couple of mock drafts and looked at a couple players that could help the Rams out.
At wide receiver, the two that stood out were Keenan Allen (Cal) and Tavon Austin (WV). Both are big playmakers that can help you in return game. Keenan Allen looks like former Rams wideout Danario Alexander without 5 plus knee surgeries.
Tavon Austin is electric. Some compare him to Percy Harvin of the Minnesota Vikings, but he looks more like a mix of Eric Metcalf and Dante Hall. Sam Bradford is going to need all the weapons he can find.
The Rams signed recently-cut Titus Young from the Detroit Lions, and hopefully he can take advantage of the opportunity he’ll get here and become a dependable player for the Rams.
Wide receiver is only one of many places the Rams are in need of help. Offensive line is a very close second, followed by outside linebacker, secondary, and a return specialist. Next time I will discuss some of the top lineman that could help the Rams in the draft.
