St. Louis Rams' Post-Draft Wish List
St. Louis Rams general manager Les Snead got a head start on his plan for undrafted free agents.
The Rams watched the last 94 picks be made in the 2013 NFL draft; their final pick was at No. 160 overall. They need more bodies before getting everyone reported to training camp, though, as the current roster stands at just 59 (from Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch):
"Rams have only 59 players on their offseason roster following the draft, so they need to get busy signing undrafted rookies tonight.
— Jim Thomas (@jthom1) April 27, 2013
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Undrafted free agents are already getting signed by the bunch. St. Louis still can use a wide receiver or two, a linebacker and a couple of DBs after Mr. Irrelevant was selected. Of course, you can never have too many linemen on either side of the ball.
Below is a list of with whom they have agreed, as reported by Thomas:
Defensive Backs
1 of 5Even if the St. Louis Rams consider themselves set with starters, they still need depth in the defensive backfield.
We learned in the 2013 NFL draft that Jeff Fisher isn’t afraid to bring in DBs from his alma mater when the Rams took hard-hitter T.J. McDonald—one of only seven USC draft entrants—in the early third round.
The other two defensive backs who played ball with McDonald went undrafted, Nickell Robey (CB, 5’7”, 169, 4.53-second 40-yard dash) and Jawanza Starling (S, 6’1”, 202, 4.64 40). Robey joined McDonald on the all-conference second team.
UCLA cornerback Sheldon Price has the height/weight/speed combo (6’2”, 190 pounds, 4.46 40-yard dash, per NFLDraftScout.com) to intrigue someone. They’re similar to Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie.
As far as veterans go, Charles Woodson and Kerry Rhodes are still unsigned.
Defensive Tackle Depth
2 of 5The St. Louis Rams had four defensive tackles on the roster prior to the draft: Michael Brockers, Jermelle Cudjo, Matt Conrath and Kendall Langford. Rookie free agent Garrett Goebel from Ohio State makes five.
Depth was an issue here in the preseason last year. For a time, Cudjo and Langford were the only two healthy guys.
Younger Quarterback?
3 of 5Eleven quarterbacks were drafted in 2013, but a number of arms went unclaimed. The St. Louis Rams just signed Kellen Clemens for a year.
The soon-to-be 30-year-old isn’t St. Louis’ future at the position. He played well at times when called upon in 2011, but do the Rams want to find another young passer as Sam Bradford insurance? Is Austin Davis still that guy?
If so, why did they sign Clemens?
Right Tackle
4 of 5There are still some very good veteran right tackles out there if the St. Louis Rams wish to build their depth from the top with potential starters.
Eric Winston and Tyson Clabo—an Atlanta Falcons starter while Les Snead was still with the team—are looking for work.
St. Louis has found it incredibly difficult to keep its offensive linemen healthy over the course of a year. The Rams have overhauled the unit in the offseason, and maybe they feel their work there is done. If not, one of these veteran right tackles should be an easy plug-and-play.
Wide Receivers
5 of 5The St. Louis Rams missed out on Da’Rick Rogers (Buffalo Bills) and T.J. Moe (New England Patriots). Brandon Lloyd is a veteran who’s still looking for work and has familiarity with quarterback Sam Bradford: He caught 51 of 117 targets for 683 yards and five touchdowns from him.
That’s not a great conversion percentage (43.6 percent), but there are a number of reasons to believe that Lloyd can be a positive addition to the Rams. The offense around him would be better as a whole this time, and he was brought over in a midseason trade two seasons ago.
Bradford and Lloyd were learning each other’s tendencies on the fly.
With 5,695 yards under his belt, Lloyd brings experience that would be valuable to the young Rams receiving corps. If St. Louis instead wants to develop its guys by throwing them into game situations right away, this signing won’t happen.
Jamal Collier is the St. Louis Rams draft correspondent for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter @StatManJ.
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