By Dennis Dillon - SportingNews 11 hours, 11 minutes ago
SportingNews.com
The St. Louis Rams are on the clock.
With Tuesday’s confirmation that the Miami Dolphins will select Michigan offensive tackle Jake Long with the No. 1-overall pick in the NFL draft, the temperature rose rapidly in St. Louis’ war room. The Rams, with the No. 2 pick, are up.
Last week, I suggested that the Rams should go Long with their first pick. In other words: Take Jake Long if available or Virginia defensive end Chris Long if Jake is gone.
So now that the best offensive tackle is off the board, the Rams will draft Chris Long, right? Ha! You think they’re really going to listen to me?
Rams officials like Chris Long a lot, and they have him near the top of their board. But they might like LSU defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey even more. Assuming the Rams don’t trade out of the No. 2 spot, don’t be surprised if Dorsey is their choice.
But he would not be the right choice.
The Rams desperately need a pass-rushing end. Of their 31 sacks last season, only 3 1/2 were recorded by their starting ends. James Hall, a trade acquisition last offseason, had 2 1/2. Leonard Little, who played in only seven games before going on the injured reserve with a toe problem, had one.
Able to stand in the pocket unhurried, opposing quarterbacks tore holes in St. Louis’ secondary. They completed 60.8 percent of their passes, averaged almost 226 passing yards per game and threw for 25 touchdowns.
Chris Long could do something about those numbers. He had 14 sacks as a senior while playing end in Virginia’s 3-4 defense, and there should be no doubt that he could make the transition to a 4-3 end in the NFL. He is athletic enough to beat offensive tackles off the edge, and he is big enough to stand in against the run.
And Long has great football bloodlines. After all, he is the son of Hall of Fame defensive lineman Howie Long.
This isn’t intended to disparage the abilities of Dorsey who, by all accounts, should have a long and prosperous NFL career. But he is a defensive tackle—and the Rams don’t need another tackle as much as they need an end.
Tackles Adam Carriker and Clifton Ryan showed promise as rookies last year. La’Roi Glover is aging, but he can still play for another year or two if he can be part of a tackle rotation. The Rams also hope Claude Wroten, a third-round pick in 2006, will turn into a solid tackle. But so far he has been a disappointing player, and he was suspended for four games last season for violating the league’s substance abuse policy.
If the Rams draft Dorsey, they probably would move Carriker to end (he was a 3-4 end at Nebraska). But that would affect two positions—and it could slow Carriker’s development.
The Rams also must consider their woeful recent history of picking defensive tackles in Round 1. Carriker was the fourth defensive tackle selected by the team in the first round this decade; Damione Lewis and Jimmy Kennedy were abject failures in St. Louis, and Ryan Pickett left as a free agent just when he was evolving into a solid player.
Even if the Rams rate Dorsey as slightly better than Long, the need at end should trump the difference.
So again, I say: Go Long, Rams. Is anybody listening?
SportingNews.com
The St. Louis Rams are on the clock.
With Tuesday’s confirmation that the Miami Dolphins will select Michigan offensive tackle Jake Long with the No. 1-overall pick in the NFL draft, the temperature rose rapidly in St. Louis’ war room. The Rams, with the No. 2 pick, are up.
Last week, I suggested that the Rams should go Long with their first pick. In other words: Take Jake Long if available or Virginia defensive end Chris Long if Jake is gone.
So now that the best offensive tackle is off the board, the Rams will draft Chris Long, right? Ha! You think they’re really going to listen to me?
Rams officials like Chris Long a lot, and they have him near the top of their board. But they might like LSU defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey even more. Assuming the Rams don’t trade out of the No. 2 spot, don’t be surprised if Dorsey is their choice.
But he would not be the right choice.
The Rams desperately need a pass-rushing end. Of their 31 sacks last season, only 3 1/2 were recorded by their starting ends. James Hall, a trade acquisition last offseason, had 2 1/2. Leonard Little, who played in only seven games before going on the injured reserve with a toe problem, had one.
Able to stand in the pocket unhurried, opposing quarterbacks tore holes in St. Louis’ secondary. They completed 60.8 percent of their passes, averaged almost 226 passing yards per game and threw for 25 touchdowns.
Chris Long could do something about those numbers. He had 14 sacks as a senior while playing end in Virginia’s 3-4 defense, and there should be no doubt that he could make the transition to a 4-3 end in the NFL. He is athletic enough to beat offensive tackles off the edge, and he is big enough to stand in against the run.
And Long has great football bloodlines. After all, he is the son of Hall of Fame defensive lineman Howie Long.
This isn’t intended to disparage the abilities of Dorsey who, by all accounts, should have a long and prosperous NFL career. But he is a defensive tackle—and the Rams don’t need another tackle as much as they need an end.
Tackles Adam Carriker and Clifton Ryan showed promise as rookies last year. La’Roi Glover is aging, but he can still play for another year or two if he can be part of a tackle rotation. The Rams also hope Claude Wroten, a third-round pick in 2006, will turn into a solid tackle. But so far he has been a disappointing player, and he was suspended for four games last season for violating the league’s substance abuse policy.
If the Rams draft Dorsey, they probably would move Carriker to end (he was a 3-4 end at Nebraska). But that would affect two positions—and it could slow Carriker’s development.
The Rams also must consider their woeful recent history of picking defensive tackles in Round 1. Carriker was the fourth defensive tackle selected by the team in the first round this decade; Damione Lewis and Jimmy Kennedy were abject failures in St. Louis, and Ryan Pickett left as a free agent just when he was evolving into a solid player.
Even if the Rams rate Dorsey as slightly better than Long, the need at end should trump the difference.
So again, I say: Go Long, Rams. Is anybody listening?