Wagoner, mailbag 4/16-17 … parts 1 & 2

Rams trade is risky, understandable

Nick Wagoner

http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-rams/post/_/id/28525/rams-trade-is-risky-but-understandable

The NFL draft is almost here and the Los Angeles Rams are already making a splash after moving up to the No. 1 overall pick. We’re less than two weeks away from the draft, which means you have plenty of questions on the topic.

As always, you can find me on Twitter @nwagoner and fire away with any Rams-related questions you might have. Please use hashtag #RamsMail so I can see them.

On to your questions.

James Armstrong ‎@jamessarmstrong
Q: what do you think of the big trade? Who will it be? Will they be patient & not start him?

@nwagoner: My initial reaction was like something out of an old bit that Chris Rock used to do. I’m paraphrasing, but something to the effect of “I don’t think I would have done it … but I understand.” I spoke with our draft analyst Todd McShay on Thursday evening, and he had a similar sentiment. Look, the Rams need a quarterback and have needed one for a few years now. They probably should have addressed it sooner, especially when they still had extra picks from the Washington trade. In fairness, they still believed in Sam Bradford at that time and injury issues were out of their control. Still, I’ve been critical of them in the past for not more strongly addressing their need at the position, so I’m not going to be a hypocrite about it and say that this was a dumb trade or they gave up too much or whatever. Did they give up a lot to make it happen? Unquestionably. Are Carson Wentz and Jared Goff elite prospects like an Andrew Luck or Jameis Winston? Probably not. But we don’t know how they will fare when they get to the league, and people I trust in the scouting community have really good things to say about both of them, especially Wentz. So as is always the case with deals like this, let’s wait and see how it pans out. If the Rams end up with a true franchise quarterback from the trade, it’s absolutely worth the price. If they don’t, it wasn’t. This isn’t rocket science. As for who it will be, they’re doing a good job of putting out conflicting information to keep everyone guessing — almost as good a job as they did of keeping this trade plan a secret. I tend to think Wentz is the better fit and the more likely choice, but others say the same thing about Goff. Perhaps we’ll get some more clarity as the draft gets closer. On the patience front, it wouldn’t shock me if Case Keenum entered training camp as the starter, but we could see something similar to what happened with Matt Ryan in Atlanta. The Falcons intended to use Chris Redman as a bridge to Ryan and he was the starter until the third preseason game when Ryan took the job. I could see something similar playing out here. (By the way, Rams GM Les Snead was with the Falcons when this happened).

Victor Aldaco ‎@VAS039
Q: Do u see the Rams packaging Foles to move up or recoup picks? Which teams might be interested? Or do they release him?

@nwagoner: As I’ve written multiple times this offseason, I think Nick Foles is the most likely to go if the Rams add a quarterback. Obviously, they are now going to add a quarterback, which means Foles’ future with the team is uncertain. The Rams still have Keenum and Sean Mannion, and it seems they probably won’t want to give up on Mannion while Keenum would be a better (and cheaper) option as a backup and/or possible bridge quarterback to the rookie. The issue here is the Rams probably would have liked to trade Foles already by now, but there simply isn’t much of a market for him. Perhaps that could change as we get to the draft, but if the Rams do manage to get something for him, I wouldn’t expect it to be much.