FanHouse ChrisLong

Last month, NFL Network's Jamie Dukes argued that it was "hypocritical to say [Brett Favre] should stop playing because you think it's time for him to stop." Never mind that no one has ever argued that. Instead, most fans -- even those with just a casual interest in the sport -- would prefer Favre not fake retire every offseason. I don't think that's asking for a lot.

Dukes is back. The just-concluded NFL Rookie Symposium prompted Dukes to writes that, "... there is an expectation among the populous that NFL players are supposed to be perfect because they were given the right to play football. THAT NOTION IS LUDICROUS!"

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.

Was it tough to see Virginia strike out on Kyle Long the first time around when he was being recruited in 2007? Had to -- this was when Chris Long had possibly the most high-profile season for any Cavalier in history while his famous father looked on.

It would only make sense if Kyle followed in his brother's path, but instead, he chose to play baseball at Florida State. For Virginia fans, it was the equivalent of finding out the girl you were pining for turned out to be a lesbian. Sure, it sucks to a certain extent, but there's a comfort knowing it's not really a reflection on you.

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.

Every Play Counts is Michael David Smith's weekly look at one specific player or one aspect of a team on every single play of the previous game.

The Miami Dolphins selected offensive tackle Jake Long with the first pick in this year's NFL draft. The St. Louis Rams selected defensive end Chris Long with the second pick. On Sunday, they did battle at the Edward Jones Dome.

The Dolphins won the game, but who won the individual battle? I explore in this week's edition of Every Play Counts.

The Rams were a significantly better team on Sunday than they had been the past three games. That team was easily worse than the Detroit Lions, but it seemed like Steven Jackson being back changed the complexion of everything, including the defense and special teams. Well, everything except the man taking snaps.

Jackson ran the ball 21 times and gained 94 yards. Josh Brown and Donnie Jones were excellent kicking and punting, and the defense held the Miami Dolphins to only 16 points. Alas, it still wasn't enough for a Rams victory. Marc Bulger -- despite good run support from Jackson and Antonio Pittman -- was simply dreadful. He connected on less than half his pass attempts and was intercepted three times -- including a game-ender on their last-gasp attempt, when he badly overthrew Derek Stanley.

A head-to-head battle between the top two draft picks was also of interest. Jake Long was squaring off against Chris Long. Considering Chris didn't record a single stat, it would appear Jake got the best of Howie's kid. It was a close matchup, though, as Chris wasn't severely abused by any means. Both have worlds of potential in this league moving forward.

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.