The 2012 National Football League draft will soon be upon us, but already the Rams have been active in that regard. Recently they traded their first-round draft pick, #2 in the overall NFL draft, to the Washington Redskins for four future selections.
Right from scrimmage, that sounds like a terrific deal, right? Four for the price of one. Now comes the hard part: The Rams must execute carefully their selections in order to make this swap work for them.
Since the departure of Charley Armey several years ago, the Rams have been downright awful in the draft. Consider the fact that Steven Jackson is the only Rams draft choice to make it to the Pro Bowl as a member of the St. Louis franchise since 2000. That’s pretty darned amazing when you think about it. It seems that a team would get more Pro Bowlers by random chance than that, much less after a team of scouts, executives and other observers put their collective heads together to assemble a variety of ‘can’t-miss’ candidates.
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After that period of abysmal failure, however, it’s a new day at Rams Park. New general manager Les Snead, new head coach Jeff Fisher, vice president of player personnel Mike Williams and many others in the front office and on the scouting staff are busy combing the roster of potential draft candidates to find those with the right stuff to turn this forlorn franchise around and return it to its glory days of Martz, Warner, Faulk, Bruce, Pace and Holt et al.
For sending the overall #2 player in the 2012 draft to the Redskins, the Rams in return received the Redskins’ #1 draft choice and an additional second-round selection this year, as well as a #1 pick in 2013 and another top pick in 2014. Combine those players with the ones already guaranteed to the Rams with their own lottery numbers and you have the makings of some significant drafts for the next few years.
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None of that will matter, however, if the new generation of Rams executives fares no better in talent appraisal than its predecessors. For a team that is woefully short on accomplished stars in most areas on both offense and defense, it’s vital that the new front-office personnel choose and choose wisely.
Sam Bradford should remain the Rams’ quarterback now and in the future. He’s shown enough ability and resiliency in his first two seasons to earn the pivotal QB slot and the respect of his teammates as they rally around him. Players such as Chris Long and James Laurinaitis offer additional building blocks for the franchise. The draft, though, could shore up slots on the offensive line, the defensive secondary, the special teams and other key areas.
General manager Les Snead came blazing out of the blocks with the daring trade of the overall #2 pick to garner four selections from the Redskins. Now, it’s time to capitalize on that personnel investment and bring the fans a winning team.
Evan Makovsky
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