FanHouse GregOlson

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers spent a whole lot of time in the 2007 off-season trying to figure out who their starting quarterback would be, with Jake Plummer, Chris Simms, Luke McCown and Bruce Gradkowski all at least having a shot.

For 2008, however, the Bucs are clearly set at quarterback: Jeff Garcia had a good first year as the starter in Tampa, head coach Jon Gruden clearly likes him, and new quarterbacks coach Greg Olson has a good relationship with him. Garcia will be the man for the Bucs this year.

But that doesn't mean we won't hear more about the quarterback position in Tampa Bay this off-season. As Roy Cummings of the Tampa Tribune writes, the Buccaneers will give serious thought to selecting a quarterback on the first day of this year's NFL draft, either with their first-round pick (20th overall) or their second-round pick (52nd overall).

Who could it be? Boston College's Matt Ryan will be off the board before the Bucs pick, and Louisville's Brian Brohm likely will be as well. That leaves Delaware's Joe Flacco, Michigan's Chad Henne, USC's John David Booty and Kentucky's Andre Woodson among the guys Tampa Bay might consider. Whoever it is, a quarterback drafted by Tampa Bay would be in a good position, with some time backing up Garcia before becoming a starter. As long as it's a quarterback who can tolerate Gruden getting in his face, he'd be in good shape.

Though Cam Cameron's Dolphins got most of the heat this season (and rightfully so), let's not forget that through eight games they were equaled in terribleness by the Rams -- each team was 0-8. Though I don't think St. Louis is the second-worst team in the league, as their draft status suggests, extenuating circumstances don't change the fact that there are fatal flaws on offense that need to be corrected.

Cameron thought he could resurrect a fledgling Dolphins team, and we know how that turned out, but he might be better suited fixing the Rams offense, as both ESPN's Chris Mortensen and Fox's Jay Glazer are reporting on their networks' respective pre-game shows that he is probably poised to be the Rams' new offensive coordinator.

You might be asking, "Don't the Rams have a coordinator in Greg Olson?" They did; it hasn't been announced but it appears as if Olson has long packed his belongings. You can only call a five-yard slant on third-and-15 so many times before it costs you your job.

To get you ready for week 5, FanHouse is previewing all this week's games. Here is the Arizona Cardinals - St. Louis Rams preview.

2007 Records:
Arizona Cardinals: 2-2 (t-2nd, NFC West)
St. Louis Rams: 0-4 (4th, NFC West)

Last Game:
Cards 21 - Steelers 14
Cowboys 35 - Rams 7

When the Cardinals have the ball:
Are the Cardinals going to actually get the ball, or is Matt Leinart going to take it home in a huff? In all fairness, if Leinart starts this game I don't think he's taking a seat. The Rams' defense is horrid. Not that Leinart will be putting up gaudy numbers like Tony Romo did last week -- the Cards should ride Edgerrin James to an easy victory -- but he'll find Bryant Johnson, I think more than Larry Fitzgerald, for the occasional explosive play. The Rams are getting corner Fahkir Brown back from a four-game suspension, but that shouldn't slow down a Cards team that is beginning to look confident (Leinart aside).

When the Rams have the ball:
They're without their top running back, quarterback, and a few key linemen. They're only averaging 9.8 points a game. Gus Frerotte has thrown just nine passes in two years. The Cardinals are averaging three sacks a game, the Rams are giving up a hair under three. The Cardinals are giving up just 95.5 yards per game rushing and 209.2 through the air, good enough for the 12th-best defense. The Rams have the 29th-ranked offense. You know, sometimes the numbers do tell the whole story.

When the Rams take the field against Arizona this weekend, they'll have a new starting quarterback and a new offensive play-caller.

At the start of practice Wednesday, coach Scott Linehan walked over to reporters and confirmed that he will take over play-calling duties starting with Sunday's game against Arizona and that offensive coordinator Greg Olson will be moving up to the coach's booth during games.

It was another 180-degree change of heart by Linehan, who on Monday issued a strong defense of Olson as the team's play caller.

Ahh yes, the dreaded vote of confidence. To be fair, Olson has mastered the short slant ... on third-and-15.

Linehan started the season calling plays last year, and lasted 10 games before passing the duties onto Olson. The Rams averaged 20 a game under Linehan and 28 with Olson. But something obviously needed to be done. The team's got 39 points in four games. A lot of that has to do with injuries, but Olson wasn't very effective in adjusting.

Between an anonymous Ram worrying out loud about the possibility of an 0-16, the switch from Marc Bulger to Gus Frerotte, and the move at play-caller, it seems the Rams' locker room has already got a losing atmosphere. If that's the case, the 2007 season is over. No move can fix that.

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.

I won't lie to you, folks. Only in a mock draft run by bloggers will this guy slip to the end of the first round.

The Colts don't have a real need at tight end, what with solid guys like Dallas Clark and Ben Utecht on the roster. They need more help at linebacker, where Cato June's departure leaves a big hole, and more depth at running back behind Joseph Addai.

Still, Olsen is clearly the best player available at this point. I considered him at No. 14 while picking for the Panthers, a team that could use some help at tight end but needed more immediate help at safety. I didn't consider him for the Jaguars at No. 17, because they took Mercedes Lewis last year and signed Jermaine Wiggins.

Olsen has great hands and runs a 4.45 40, which is generally unheard of for a tight end. I'm taking him here because he's the best player available, and if I were Bill Polian in this situation, I would start shopping him to teams that need a tight end and might be willing to sacrifice picks in next year's draft. In the real draft, Olsen won't be available here. A more likely pick for the Colts is Jon Beason or Lawrence Timmons. Make no mistake, though -- Roger Goodell will call this kid's name in the first round. No question.

The Skinny:
Team Needs: CB, LB, Backup RB
Also Considered: Lawrence Timmons, OLB, FSU; Antonio Pittman, RB, OSU

Previous Picks:
No. 1 Raiders: JaMarcus Russell, QB, LSU
No. 2 Lions: Calvin Johnson, WR, Georgia Tech
No. 3 Browns: Joe Thomas, OT, Wisconsin
No. 4 Buccaneers: Gaines Adams, DE, Clemson
No. 5 Cardinals: Adrian Peterson, RB, Oklahoma

See all mock draft picks for the first round.