St. Louis Rams: News, Nuggets and Notes at Noon (Friday Edition)

Thanks for joining me for Friday's St. Louis Rams "News, Nuggets and Notes at Noon", the place for daily rundowns of the top headlines in "Rams Nation".

Progress is being made in the search for a new general manager after the ousting of Billy Devaney in January.  The Rams have reportedly cut their candidate list to "two or three" from ten (according to Steve Wyche of the NFL Network) and will meet with Rams owner Stan Kroenke over the next few days.

The same article linked to above reports that the Rams hope to have a new general manager in place by next week. 

Bernie Miklasz of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch shared his thoughts on the lengthy general manager search yesterday, and his takes were interesting. 

Speaking of interesting, the Rams have already placed free agent addition Jovan Olafioye on waivers after he failed a physical, according to Howard Balzer of 101sports.com.  St. Louis had just signed him this week.

Olafioye was a Canadian Football League All-Star last season after not giving up a single sack. The 6'6, 325 pound, 24-year-old played right tackle for the BC Lions last season and placed second in voting for the CFL's top offensive lineman award.  

It would seem that the Rams pinpointed a significant medical concern with Olafioye to have cut him so soon.  Olafioye, by the way, has already decided to return to the BC Lions.  

As for the rapidly approaching 2012 NFL Free Agency period (starting in March), Michael Lombardi of the NFL Network hears that the San Diego Chargers will attempt to retain highly-coveted wide receiver Vincent Jackson, who could potentially be a target of the Rams. 

Most of us know all too well that St. Louis has struggled to put up points in recent years, particularly in 2011, when the Rams averaged a meager 12 points per game.  

The 6'5", 230 pound Jackson could certainly help in that regard after scoring 37 touchdowns in his last 84 regular season games.  He is also a big play receiver, averaging over 17 yards a reception during his career.  

However, the 29 year old Jackson has averaged just 52 catches per year in five full seasons, and his price tag will likely be very steep in relation to his overall level of production.  That is one reason why I like several other potential free agent wide receiver targets for the St. Louis Rams more than Jackson, as detailed here.

Finally, I am beginning a weekly question and answer session starting tomorrow!  Each Saturday, I will collect several of the best questions that you have asked me throughout the week and share my answers with the world in the aforementioned new, weekly column.  

Feel free to ask away regarding any and all things St. Louis Rams, the NFL at large, the upcoming 2012 NFL Draft and free agency period, or other related topics. 

I encourage you to follow me on twitter at the link below and message me your questions directly.  If you do not have a twitter account, feel free to post your questions in the comments section below.

It should be lots of fun. 

Have a great day and a great weekend, Rams Nation.  

Shane Gray covers the St. Louis Rams year-round. You are encouraged to check out the rest of his work here and to follow him on Twitter.