FanHouse AlexBarron

With each pick of the FanHouse mock draft, we get into the head of an NFL general manager and let you know who he'll pick and why.

A lot of people feel like Glenn Dorsey has to be the guy the Rams take in this spot, especially after a good workout that eased concerns about his knees. Others recognize the Rams' woes at pass rush -- no matter how hard Leonard Little tries to convince all his career isn't in the tank -- and think they should look at Vernon Gholston.

In this instance, the Rams are taking Jake Long.

Gholston is an absolute freak, and he'd do very good things for the Rams defense. But the Rams have contracts of $65 million and $42 million tied into Marc Bulger and Torry Holt, respectively, and will be making Steven Jackson probably the highest-paid running back of all-time in the near future. With that much money and talent on offense, we saw how little of a return they got without Orlando Pace in the lineup last year.

NFL Offseason Roadmap is a series focused on the needs of NFL teams as they begin the offseason.

1. Offensive Tackle. The Rams have been lucky to have an incredible franchise left tackle for the last 11 seasons, and his play did as much for The Greatest Show on Turf as anyone else. But Orlando Pace has been ludicrously brittle the last two years and, at 32, can't really be depended on anymore. The drop-off in production without Pace has been glaring. On the other side, Alex Barron has been disappointing as a first-round pick; there's so much yellow cloth at Barron's feet on gameday that you'd think he stuffed his jersey with Terrible Towels. In the last four years, Barron ranks behind just Robert Gallery in penalties. On top of the starters, after all of the injuries the Rams endured on the line last year, depth should be considered critical. The easy and obvious answer is Jake Long, who should be available when the Rams pick second. Long can play both sides, which certainly helps, and he can immediately take over for Pace should something happen. If the team needs further depth, Kwame Harris or Damien Woody could be affordable options, and Woody triples as a possible guard and center.

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.

It's a very, very, very distant second to actually winning a game, but there's a bit of good news in St. Louis: at least they're getting healthier, at least in certain areas.

Linebacker Pisa Tinoisamoa and guard Richie Incognito returned to practice on Wednesday. Tinoisamoa will return to the lineup Sunday, while Incognito is questionable. The Rams are being guarded with information Incognito's progress, lending validity to that awesome, awesome birthname (my first born shall be dubbed Incognito Mantzouranis), but it looks as if he'll sit one more game before returning in Week 5.

Getting both players back will be important, but Incognito's injury is certainly more detrimental. Actually, the Rams' run defense has been better without Tinoisamoa in the lineup. Chris Draft was signed in the offseason to help in that role, and Tinoisamoa's absence has led to more playing time for the former Panther.

Meanwhile, the Rams' offensive line currently consists of former first-round pick Alex Barron, Brett Romberg, and three guys that played offensive linemen in The Replacements. And things haven't been good. The litany of injuries on the offensive line have led to a couple of broken ribs for Marc Bulger and a torn groin for Steven Jackson, the two most important players on the team. It's also been a large part of the team's winless start, so, yeah, probably good to get all these guys back on the field.

Back in July, I noted that continuity on the offensive line was going to be crucial to the Rams this season. We've managed to make it through one week of the season, and any hope of that has been shot straight to hell.

Thanks to injuries to Orlando Pace and Richie Incognito, the Rams will most likely play the 49ers this Sunday with only two starters on the line in the same spot they were to open the season against Carolina. Alex Barron was moved to left tackle to replace Pace, Milford Brown slid over from right guard to take Barron's vacated tackle spot, and Claude Terrell is stepping in at right guard. Though Scott Linehan noted that he will test more line combinations before Sunday.

To give an idea of how important stability on the line is to the Rams -- since 2002, Marc Bulger has played with what will be his 20th offensive line combination. The only time he's spent an extensive period with the same group -- in 2003, when all five starters lasted the entire season -- the Rams won the division.

Fixing the line might not remain an in-house matter, either. This Sunday, their (sort of) solution might be on the other sideline in street clothes. It's been a long fall for 49er tackle Kwame Harris, who went from potential starter to deactivated. And with Harris expecting a trade sometime soon, St. Louis (who, with Washington, has lost its starting tackle for the season) seems like a pretty natural landing spot. Teams typically don't like trading in their own division, but apparently the 49ers don't view Harris as much of a threat, and probably aren't concerned about him going to a foe. As for the Rams, they should just hope that whoever they put on the line stays on the line for the rest of the season.