Who Should Rams Go With?
Filed in archive NFL Draft by Kyle Smith on April 24, 2008
Then again, it's possible that Dorsey is the guy for the Rams. If they do not make a trade, the pick is likely going to come down to Dorsey or Virginia DE Chris Long. Long fills a bigger need for them at DE, but he is considered the safer pick of the two, with the least amount of upside. And according to Nolan Nawrocki of Pro Football Weekly, some rather loud discussions have been taking place at Rams Park over just this scenario:
Newly appointed executive V.P. of player personnel Billy Devaney, in his first decision-making role, is leaning toward the safest selection, Chris Long.Either way, the team is going to get a solid player. But with the second overall pick, a solid player isn't good enough. The point of picking that high is to get a game-changer, a franchise type of guy. The opinion of many on Long seems to be that he will be an otherwise good contributor who might go out and get you 7-10 sacks per year with "effort."
However, the coaching staff, especially on defense, is not on board with the selection, according to multiple team sources. The way we hear it, the coaches think Dorsey is the best defensive player in the draft and have made their feelings well known in the draft room. In recent meetings, discussions have become so heated that a prominent member of the coaching staff was asked to leave the room after Pipingin with his opinion of the less desirable (in his opinion) Long.
And then there is Dorsey, who possesses Warren Sapp-esque potential. Of course, the most concerning thing about the former LSU lineman is his health. Nobody is really sure whether his legs are 100% or not, and when you have to pay a guy upwards of $25 million or so, you had better be sure he is healthy. Such is the quandary the Rams find themselves in.
If this were a perfect world, St. Louis would be able to trade back a few spots, maybe with the Chiefs, and be able to pick up a Vernon Gholston or Sedrick Ellis along with a few extra picks. But this isn't a perfect world, and getting a high draft pick is something that, because of the money, is not easy to trade out of. So the guess here is that the Rams take the safe pick in Chris Long, if for no other reason than it's easier to justify giving that type of money to a high-effort player who is the son of a Hall of Famer and plays a position of need.
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