St. Louis Rams: Thursday's Rams News and Notes at Noon

Welcome to Thursday's St. Louis Rams "News and Notes at Noon" the one-stop spot for major updates and related information regarding the Rams for all of Rams Nation.  

Post "Bountygate"

As most of you know, the Rams have lost defensive coordinator Gregg Williams for the 2012 season and perhaps permanently as he has been suspended "indefinitely".

St. Louis will not name a defensive coordinator, according to head coach Jeff Fisher, but will work as a unit to implement and run the defense in the coming campaign.

Fisher stated that he has "never met one and probably never will meet one" player who would risk facing a major fine for a bounty-type hit for a bounty-type payment, according to this from Ron Clements of cbssports.com.

Jeff Gordon of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch offers his take on the matter  with insight and commentary. In his column, Gordon suggests that even if Williams were to return to the NFL at some point, he would always carry a stigma with him.

Gordon's colleague Bernie Miklasz of the aforementioned publication writes that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell displayed no fear in doling out the "bountygate" punishments for Gregg Williams and others involved, like New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton. 

Miklasz also analyzes the Rams and how they will go forward following the Williams suspension in the above-linked article. 

Finally, Randy Karraker of 101sports.com shares an interesting perspective on "bountygate" and suggests that the NFL is not what it used to be.  Karraker reminisces and also offers insight on the current state of the league relevant to the bounty rulings in his terrific piece. 

Mike Sando of ESPN shares a ranking and discussion of the top NFL scandals of all-time here. Guess which scandal ranked at the top for Sando?  It was not "bountygate."

Free Agency Updates

According to the following tweets from Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the Rams will be hosting two free agent visitors who would fill positions of need for St. Louis, outside linebacker and left guard:

"Jim Thomas ‏ @jthom1

New Orleans linebacker Jo-Lonn Dunbar is paying free-agent visit to Rams. Started 14 games for Saints in 2011, finished 3rd in tackles.

 

Jim Thomas ‏ @jthom1

San Francisco free-agent offensive guard Chilo Rachal visiting Rams. He has 38 starts in 4 seasons with 49ers. Rams need starting left guard.

"

2012 NFL Draft

Former NFL executive and current contributor to 101sports.com Tony Softli ranks the top 10 running back prospects in his piece.  Softli shares his views on those prospects, how he rated them with a multitude of criteria detailed there.

In addition, Softli offers a vast amount of information on his top five backs in the above linked piece. 

Free Agent Acquisition Scott Wells Excited to be in St. Louis

As you are probably aware, St. Louis signed former Green Bay Packers center Scott Wells early in the 2012 NFL Free Agency period. 

The 31-year-old Wells is excited to be in St. Louis, as reported in a piece from Nick Wagoner of stlouisrams.com.

Wells is said to be a cerebral player who is adept at making line adjustments and rated as the Packers top offensive lineman the past two seasons. 

Tebow to Jets 

Those wanting quarterback Tim Tebow in St. Louis or those who desperately wished that he would not land in the "Gateway City" need not contemplate the move any further. 

Tebow has officially landed with the New York Jets, according to a plethora of reports including this one from the Chicago Sun-Times. 

According to a report from Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the Rams assert that "way too much has been made" of any potential interest that St. Louis supposedly had in acquiring Tebow. 

The aforementioned column shared that St. Louis was trying to get a feel for what teams might be interested in trading for Tebow.  

That makes sense if the Rams are interested in potentially dealing a draft pick to a team that may be searching for a QB in the 2012 NFL Draft.

Tebow and the Jets will play at the Edward Jones Dome this season.  It will be interesting to see who lines up under center when Rex Ryan leads his squad into St. Louis for a showdown this Fall.

Have a great day, STL 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.