Miklasz: Rams still too short of talent

Bernie: Rams still too short of talent

By Bernie Miklasz

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/columns/bernie-miklasz/bernie-rams-still-too-short-of-talent/article_d454fcb6-faf7-5f05-854b-439ff55e85cd.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

Greetings. One of my favorite and essential football sites, Pro Football Focus, is out with its annual review of the Rams’ personnel.

Not that anyone should be surprised — after all the team went 6-10 last season — but according to PFF the Rams are loaded with “average” starters and key backups.

Moreover, the Rams have more starters and key backups in the “below-average” or “poor” starters categories (combined) than they do at the “elite,” “very good” and “good” categories combined.

Of course, this is only PFF’s assessment. (Click here to see the chart.) The Rams internally may have different (and better) grades on their players. The same could be said of other independent evaluators — as is always the instance in subjective analyses.

As much as I respect the crew at Pro Football Focus for their excellent and diligent work, I don’t agree with all of their opinions. Two quickie examples: I think defensive end Robert Quinn is an elite player — not a “very good” player. I don’t see how QB Sam Bradford can receive an “average” grade when he’s missed the last 25 regular-season games. Bradford hasn’t played in a real game since Oct. 20 of the 2013 season. So how do we know?

Let’s take a look at the Pro Football Focus breakdown of Rams’ personnel in each category. And I won’t relay the names of individual players — and there are 21 of them — on PFF’s “unknown” list. They haven’t played enough to warrant a legit grade from PFF. Also, PFF did not put grades on players that are eligible for unrestricted free agency such as offensive tackle Joe Barksdale. (And I wish they would have, with the notation by each player that is up for UFA.)

Anyway…

Elite: Defensive tackle Aaron Donald, Punter Johnny Hekker.

Very Good: Defensive end Robert Quinn, long snapper Jake McQuade.

Good: Defensive end Chris Long, DE William Hayes, offensive tackle Jake Long.

Average (Offense): quarterback Sam Bradford, running back Tre Mason, tight end Cory Harkey, tight end Jared Cook, wide receiver Stedman Bailey, WR Brian Quick, offensive lineman Rodger Saffold, running back Benny Cunningham, running back Zac Stacy, center Tim Barnes. Also, kicker Greg Zuerlein.

Average (Defense): Defensive tackle Michael Brockers, middle linebacker James Laurinaitis, cornerback E.J. Gaines, cornerback Janoris Jenkins, cornerback Trumaine Johnson, safety T.J. McDonald, safety Rodney McLeod.

Below Average (Offense): wide receiver Tavon Austin, wide receiver Chris Givens.

Below Average (Defense): outside linebacker Alec Ogletree, outside linebacker Jo-Lonn Dunbar, safety Mark Barron, defensive end Eugene Sims.

Poor: Offensive tackle Greg Robinson, center Scott Wells.

According to PFF the Rams have seven players listed as elite, very good, or good. But they have many more, 28, listed as average, below average or poor. And that’s disappointing.

OK, some comments from me:

• What stings about this from a Rams/STL standpoint is the shortage of above-average to elite players considering the abundance of premium draft picks possessed by GM Les Snead and head coach Jeff Fisher in their three drafts in charge. Between 2012 and 2014 the Rams made five first-round picks, four second-round picks, and four third-round picks.

• In the NFL, only Minnesota had more first-rounders (7) over the past three drafts. But among NFL teams the Rams drafted the most players in the first two rounds (9) and first three rounds (13.)

• Nearly half of the Rams’ 28 selections — 13 — over the past three drafts were made in the first three rounds.

• The five first-rounders were Brockers, Ogletree, Austin, Robinson and Donald. Of the five, only Donald is rated above average. And three — Ogletree, Austin and Robinson — are rated below average or worse. That could change for the better as the players gain experience, but for now that’s really, really bad.

• Of the 13 Rams chosen in the first three rounds, all are classified as no better than average except for Donald.

• Not that anyone should wonder why the Rams labor to score points, but just in case … there’s only one “good” category player (Jake Long) on the Rams offense. And even that’s debatable. The others are average or lower.

• PFF noted that Greg Robinson — the No. 2 overall draft pick in 2014 — was “solid” at left guard but struggled after he was shifted to left tackle. And I think we’d all agree that Robinson will improve. That said, it’s never encouraging to see the No. 2 overall pick in the “poor” category, even as a rookie.

• So why is Alec Ogletree rated “below average” here? Let’s go to PFF’s explanation: “We had Ogletree as below average last year and plenty of people disagreed and I suspect that might be the case again this year. He struggles too much in coverage, though, and for as much as he makes plenty of tackles, he missed 20 this year, the second year in a row he has been in the bottom three for missed tackle amongst 4-3 outside linebackers.”

You can quibble over these PFF rankings _ or throw them out completely. It doesn’t matter to me. But if you put much stock in these independent Pro Football Focus evaluations, then you’d have to conclude that Snead-Fisher have missed a chance to fully exploit the bonanza of draft picks they had at their disposal over the past three years. There’s no doubt that Snead-Fisher have upgraded the Rams roster. They just didn’t improve it as much as they should have.

Thanks for reading …