Posts tagged ChrisLong at FanHouse

Training camps are underway, the NFL season is right around the corner, and to get you ready for 2008, FanHouse previews all 32 teams, "heat index" style. We'll rate each club in 10 categories on a scale of 1 to 10, high score wins.

Quarterbacks: Marc Bulger is coming off an injury-riddled, subpar at best, season. For the first time in his career he threw more picks than touchdowns, and his yards per attempt were nearly a yard lower than his previous career-low. Much of this can be attributed to the brutal offensive line play in front of him, but that may not change if Orlando Pace isn't completely healthy. Overall, though, Bulger will have a much better season and Trent Green is a fine backup. Heat Index: 6

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?

St. Louis Rams 2008 Draft Picks:

Round 1 (2): Chris Long, DE, Virginia
Round 2 (33): Donnie Avery, WR, Houston
Round 3 (65): John Greco, OT, Toledo
Round 4 (101): Justin King, CB, Penn State
Round 4 (128): Keenan Burton, WR, Kentucky
Round 5 (157): Roy Schuening, OG, Oregon St.
Round 7 (228): Chris Chamberlain, DB, Tulsa
Round 7 (252): David Vobora, OLB, Idaho

The Good: Long is as close to a sure thing as you get and the Rams addressed their greatest need instead of taking Glenn Dorsey. The team got a steal in King, who went about two rounds too late. Likewise, Greco and Schuening are both good values, and both are talented players. Not only did the Rams address their biggest problem, they found good players without spending first-day picks on them.

The Bad: Of course, that doesn't mean anything if the Rams waste those picks anyway. Taking Avery absolutely baffles me. He's fast, and will help in returns, but he's not Devin Hester. You can find a return man later, especially when you need every-down starting receivers and Devin Thomas and James Hardy are available. Even DeSean Jackson was there, and he's the same type of receiver as Avery except better in every way. This is even with the Titans taking Chris Johnson as the worst pick of the draft in my mind. Burton, who has potential, will outperform him.

The Grade: B. The team really improved their two weakest areas from last season -- pass rush and offensive line -- and added a very talented corner who at one point was considered a borderline first-rounder. Still, with the 33rd pick they could have fixed their third biggest need, and blew that opportunity considerably. That's a huge blemish if Torry Holt can't stay healthy this year.

Click here to read other Draft Grades.

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.

Virginia defensive end Chris Long is such a versatile athlete that some draft analysts have said he could line up at all seven positions on a defensive front. That's probably overkill (could he really play nose tackle in a 3-4 defense?), but it's true that he's going to be easy to fit into a spot in the starting lineup as a rookie in St. Louis after the Rams took him with the second pick in the NFL draft today.

Long, who won a high school slam dunk contest in 2003, is a much better athlete than he gets credit for; although he wasn't a workout wonder at the combine like Ohio State's Vernon Gholston, he's fast and explosive. He had 14 sacks as a senior.

Trivia: Long was born with a sixth finger on his left hand, which was amputated. Maybe if it hadn't been he'd play offense; that seems like an advantage in catching the ball.

Previously on FanHouse:
The NFL Will Soon Decide Whether or Not to Screw the Rams
It'll Take More Than a Broken Leg to Keep the Rams from Drafting Glenn Dorsey
Darren McFadden Sits Atop the Rams' Draft Board -- Uh, So What?
FanHouse Mock Draft: St. Louis Rams Select OT Jake Long No. 2

Just when we thought the St. Louis Rams were prepared to pick Virginia defensive end Chris Long second overall, and that the Atlanta Falcons would then take Boston College quarterback Matt Ryan third, and that the Baltimore Ravens were so desperate to get a quarterback that they could take Michigan's Chad Henne as high as 10th, something wacky happened.

Adam Schefter reported on NFL Network that the Ravens are now trying to trade up and take the Rams' pick, second overall, so that they can get Ryan. That would then create a chain reaction that would have the Falcons taking Glenn Dorsey third, and Long on the board far longer than anyone expected.

The trade might not happen because the Rams won't trade down unless the Ravens blow them away with an offer. But the mere possibility of it happening must have a whole lot of teams at the top of the draft scrambling, just when the draft boards appeared to be falling into place.

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.

The Bleacher Report has brought out their NFL Draft drinking game. If you are looking for an excuse to get wasted quickly, check it out and play so you can deal with the (over)hype and drink your arse off (like the guy pictured).

But how can we help ourselves? We're fans. And as fans, we need to know every detail about every player our team is considering drafting. And when our team finally picks an unknown linebacker from Middle Southern Tennessee State, we're going to need one of ESPN's 23 draft analysts to breakdown his 40 time and discuss his upside.

So, here are just some of the "rules" to follow to make your NFL Draft a jolly one:

• Every time Chris Berman unveils a ridiculous nickname...drink!
• Every time a Chris Berman nickname references a song that's over 20 years old...drink twice!
• Every time an ESPN analyst confuses Jake and Chris Long...drink!
• Every time Emmitt Smith uses a word that isn't actually a word...drink!
• Every time you hear the word "spygate"...drink!
• Every time Chris Mortensen "breaks" a story...drink!
• If an analyst talks about the potential of Bengals WR Chad Johnson getting traded...drink!
• Every time someone mentions that Tom Brady was drafted in the sixth round...drink!

I think the Rams are bummed. I don't care what anyone says about Glenn Dorsey or Chris Long or Vernon Gholston. Jake Long was the guy the Rams wanted, and with him heading to South Beach they'll have to look in another direction.

Not that they don't have options -- there's the aforementioned three top prospects and trade possibilities to be had. So what'll they do?

First, they're not doing anything until Saturday, even though they're now free to negotiate with players, as the Dolphins did. They'll feel out all the possibilities and hand in their card when their time's up. But I'm thinking they ultimately want to trade down now.

They should still have their eye on a tackle, as this draft goes basically five deep and their other needs are deeper. Whether it's with New Orleans jumping up to take Dorsey, Baltimore trying to jump over Atlanta for Matt Ryan, or others -- trading down while remaining in the top half of the round will net the Rams a tackle and additional picks to fill their many needs.

If they have to stay where they're at, it'll certainly be for one of those above three. I think Long would make the best selection, but defensive coordinator Jim Haslett has that itch for workout warriors like Al Davis, and though he's purported to love Dorsey, I think Haslett opts for the freakish Gholston. Thankfully, time for speculation is almost over.

With the Giants for Jeremy Shockey. With the Eagles for Lito Sheppard. With the Rams, Chiefs, Patriots, and Ravens for the rights to draft Glenn Dorsey, Sedrick Ellis, Vernon Gholston, or some mystery guy. All trades the Saints have been heavily linked to this Saturday. If none of them happen, a lot of pundits, experts, and "insiders" will look silly.

The latest is Peter King, who claims that the Saints are "serious" about trading into the top four -- not just for Dorsey, but a Mr. Duplicitous whom the Saints supposedly love, but whose identity is unknown to King. I don't think that's Gholston, since Adam Schefter outed that connection already, or Ellis, which is obvious. I'm guessing it's Chris Long -- he's got the personality and style Sean Payton loves.

I've pondered the possibilities and their likelihoods given what I know about the current regime and roster (at the expense of work productivity), and here's what I think -- the team is trying the hardest to get Dorsey, but eventually will realize that it will cost too much without giving up Will Smith and will "settle" on moving up to the Patriots' or Ravens' spot for Ellis. I see a trade for Ellis being most likely and, in fact, very very likely.
If an Ellis deal doesn't work, however, the next plan would be to attempt to trade down with the Eagles for Sheppard. As for Shockey, that trade would be impossible if the Saints acquire Dorsey, as they'd be out of trade pick ammo. Otherwise, it's entirely possible, but I think more probable if they can recoup picks in a Sheppard deal.

I've got a headache. I'll be happy when this is all over.