FanHouse AdamCarriker

In the weeks leading up to the Biggest Weekend of the NFL Offseason, I've wondered why the Rams haven't shown more interest in quarterbacks Matthew Stafford or Mark Sanchez. St. Louis has the second overall pick, managed just five wins in two seasons, and Marc Bulger looks like he's had enough.

Bulger's perceived disposition is a familiar one; quarterbacks who play behind an offensive line in name only often exhibit some combination of apprehension and apathy after years of physical abuse (Jon Kitna, David Carr, and Joey Harrington also come to mind). Of course, that's a solid argument for why the Rams should take Jason Smith or Eugene Monroe -- offensive tackles who could start immediately.

The Rams can be a playoff team next year.

That seems ridiculous now, but every year there are teams that we think require multi-year rebuilding efforts, and each year at least one of those teams shocks us all. The Rams have a lot of holes, but they've also got some valuable pieces a smart coach and front office can build around quickly.

Rumor has it that the team thought that Jason Garrett was the best coach to do this, that Steve Spagnuolo was only the top option who fit into their budget, but it doesn't matter whether or not they lucked into the right hire. They made it. While Garrett may succeed with another team, the Rams need to win right away, and Spagnuolo is better equipped to make a bigger immediate impact with the Rams' roster.

For all intents and purposes, the Rams were going to use their second overall pick on Glenn Dorsey last weekend. All of the pre-draft hype indicated an interest and, though all of the zany behavior every April has me doubting everything everyone says, it was apparently genuine. All of the teams' scouts and coaches wanted Dorsey.

But team president John Shaw wanted Chris Long. So when he arrived at headquarters the Thursday before the draft, he decreed it so -- Long would be the pick. Even if Shaw was stepping down from his ivory tower to get involved in football matters that are better left to, you know, football people, I agree with him.

The best teams find a way to merge the two divergent draft philosophies -- need vs. best player available. Even if Dorsey was the Rams' top-rated player, they already have a good, young pair of tackles in Adam Carriker and Clifton Ryan. On the outside? The ancient, brittle Leonard Little and the ancient, um, average (to be kind) James Hall. I know a push up the middle helps your ends, but the only thing that would help these ends at this point is the Career Kevorkian.

So it makes sense to draft Long. If the team wants to win now (ie, if Scott Linehan wants to provide his family hot food every night), they need to spread talent across as many positions as possible. What good is clogging the middle if teams can just attack the outside? Right?

With two blue chip prospects, both with great personality and character, I'd have to guess that the Rams' decision between Glenn Dorsey and Chris Long came down to Adam Carriker.

Last year's first-round selection came out of college with the option of playing end or tackle, and the Rams chose to play him inside last year. It was assumed whoever the pick was this year would determine whether Carriker stayed inside or moved out to end. With Long being the guy, Carriker will remain the nose tackle.

But not strictly. Long's ability to play a traditional end role or stand up as a pass rusher gives Rams' defensive coordinator Jim Haslett many more options for his rush schemes. The versatility of Long and Carriker will let the Rams shift their linemen and move both players around to disguise their blitzes, a problem for their vanilla rush, which only produced 31 sacks last year.

And yet again, the NFL has its thunder stolen.

With the suspense already removed from the first overall pick after the Dolphins agreed to terms with Jake Long, the cat is out of the bag on the second overall pick, as well. Pretty much every football insider on the planet is reporting that the Rams have decided on defensive end Chris Long.

In an interview on ESPN earlier this morning, Rams VP of personnel Billy Devaney admitted that the team had decided on their player last night, but that player has long been assumed to be Glenn Dorsey.

Long is the smart pick -- he fills the team's most substandard position and brings a multi-dimensionality to it. The pick also means that last year's first rounder, Adam Carriker, will remain at nose tackle instead of being moved outside to end.

As for the aftermath, this throws a wrench in the top 10. Atlanta is supposedly going to take Matt Ryan no matter what (at least that's the word right now), and after that the next team with a true need at tackle will be the Bengals at nine. Dorsey (and by proxy Sedrick Ellis) won't fall that far, but it'll be interesting to see how many teams try to trade up for the tackles seeing as how the drop makes their price more palatable.

As we get ready for Super Bowl XLII, FanHouse is looking back at each team's 2007 first-round pick. Here's a look at the 13th pick, defensive tackle Adam Carriker.


Who They Took: Adam Carriker, DT, Nebraska

Who Else They Were Rumored To Consider: Lawrence Timmons, LB, Florida St.; Darrelle Revis, CB, Pittsburgh

What We Said At The Time: "Although most people thought he'd play for a 3-4 team, I like the fit of Carriker in St. Louis. He won't get double-teamed much there, and I see him having a big rookie year."

What Carriker Did: A little. The Rams told Carriker to put on 10-15 lbs. of weight and moved him inside to tackle. He struggled at the beginning of the year but showed progress after the team's bye week. His personal statistics -- 30 tackles, two sacks -- are disappointing; nose tackles on defenses that are often run on should pick up more stops than that. Football Outsiders ranks the Rams at 23rd at stopping the run up the middle, and that starts with the tackles. To be fair, though, he had no help from his ends, and little help from La'Roi Glover.

As we get ready for Super Bowl XLII, FanHouse is looking back at each team's 2007 first-round pick. Here's a look at the 11th and 28th picks in the draft, linebacker Patrick Willis and offensive tackle Joe Staley.


Who They Took: Patrick Willis, LB, Ole Miss; Joe Staley, OT, Central Michigan

Who Else They Were Rumored To Consider: 11th - Adam Carriker, DE, Nebraska.

What We Said at the Time: Willis - "Willis is a good athlete, a powerful hitter and very quick at covering 5-10 yards. He won the Butkus Award as the best linebacker in college football and the SEC defensive player of the year award. San Francisco fans will be glad to have him."

Staley - "Staley doesn't seem like a very likely prospect to be ready to start right away, though. Last year Staley played against opponents like Eastern Kentucky and Western Michigan, and the adjustment to blocking NFL defensive ends will take some time. Is it really a good idea to trade your 2008 first-round pick to take a guy who's probably going to need some time to develop? I'm skeptical."

The Rams have a lot of needs -- receiver, linebacker, safety, and corner, but the team's two most glaring needs come in the trenches. With the second selection and three various lineman expected to go within the first five, they'll get someone to immediately help on either line. Assuming they don't trade down.

Let's guess that Glenn Dorsey is the top selection, though a lot can certainly change. That leaves the Rams to choose between defensive end Chris Long and offensive tackle Jake Long. And though Rams fans are pining for Chris, it's the "boring" pick in Jake that the Rams need to make.

Yeah, the team's defensive ends are hurting. The team finished 21st in sacks with 31, and starting ends Leonard Little and James Hall combined for just three. With their ages next year, 33 and 31, iends are a genuine need. However, you can find quality at that position later or in free agency and in a pinch they could move Adam Carriker out.

Now consider Orlando Pace. At 32 and having played just one in the last 24, Pace's long-term availability is in question, and his absence has been way more than noticeable. The Rams will soon lose a franchise tackle; it's not like those guys grow on trees practice squads. Jake isn't quite the prospect Joe Thomas was a year ago, but he's not far behind either. He can step in immediately for Pace should something happen and anchor the line for years.

And if Pace stays healthy, Long can battle it out with right tackle Alex Barron for that job. If nothing else, they'll have much better depth on the line, the lack of which pretty much ended their season before it began. As an offensive team after this year's mess of injuries, the Rams would be crazy not to pick the tackle.

Ahhhh how apros po. The Rams weren't able to escape injury at all this year, and by the time the season finale against the Cardinals rolled around, the team just wanted to forget this disastrous year ever happened and get home healthy. Yeah, about that ...

Rookie defensive tackle Adam Carriker couldn't finish the game. He suffered a torn labrum muscle in his shoulder and will need surgery.

"It's a significant injury; you're looking at sixth months," coach Scott Linehan said.

Though six months means that he'll be ready well in advance of the season opener, Carriker won't be participating in minicamps or any of the organized offseason activities. By the time he's cleared for contact it'll be training camp. Besides, while torn labrums are only considerably worrisome if you're a quarterback, you never want the new anchor of your defense to suffer a serious injury this early in his career.

Just goes to show -- insult and injury really have made a comfortable little nest in the Edward Jones Dome.

What has to sting the most is the fact that the Rams could have beaten the Seahawks. I wouldn't go so far as to say that they deserved to win, because they did all they could (eventually successfully) to ruin a feel-good first half, but, against a division-leading team who's given them fits, the Rams did enough to be in a position to win. And then Gus Frerotte happened.

"I'd like to smash his head into the wall for him," a dejected fan behind me at the sports bar said, referring to Frerotte's penchant for self-inflicted concussions, as Frerotte lost a fourth-and-goal snap on the Seattle one with :27 left that could have won the game. All he had to do was capably turn around and hand the ball to Steven Jackson. That, apparently, was too much responsibility.

After losing Marc Bulger to a concussion in the first quarter, Frerotte found himself in relief duty (Relief Duty being the title of the 2007 Rams' team video). Between the two of them, the Rams found themselves successfully moving the ball (dopey interceptions aside). The run and pass were operating in harmony. Frerotte was spreading the ball efficiently.