I’m even more excited than before.

The harmonics on this draft are crazy.

And when you think about how the College game just isn’t feeding QBs to the Pros, the direction we’re heading, which seems counter now, is actually very forward thinking.

If the pendulum swings back and forth, then we’re just ahead of the pendulum swinging back… And the last two SB winners won in the playoffs with the kind of ball that we’re looking to take to the next level.

I could be more excited, but I need to be able to sleep and I can only take so much melatonin…

he will also be able to pick his team, thus find the best situation to maximize his chances to start and potentially play for a decent team.

There aren’t many better situations for Collins than the Rams. They’re going all in on a rushing attack and have weapons and a young, veteran QB with a soph RB and an elite rookie RB coming in that will transform this team.

He’d be getting in on the ground floor.

He was caught from behind as a Sophomore, but he was battling an ankle.

As a Freshman? No.

Now? Not likely.

Actually, AP is a very good description for when he’s right. Strong enough to truck people and fast enough to run right by people…IN TRAFFIC.

It’s just amazing to me to watch a DB or LB set up the angle and think they’ve got him and because of his speed, the defender just ends up chasing him.

Just. Like. AP.

Plus, he’s very good at catching the ball and I LOVE that he understands that the FIRST ORDER OF BUSINESS is learning Pass Pro.

This guy is going to be a super star in this league…

I know I’m banging the table hard for this guy, but I can’t help it…

He’s almost like Suh in this regard. The more tape I watch… the more I like about this kid…which if anyone knows me is unusual. It’s normally the other way around.

And don’t get me started about this kid’s stiff arm…

Well, we have an opening and his agent HAS to know that.

Plus, we have an owner who isn’t afraid to spend money on UDFAs.

Not sure what the UDFA situation is because all of the bonus money may be gone (I think teams are limited to $50K total in the bonus pool) for just about every team, but they could structure incentives that would allow him to earn significantly more money based on starting a certain number of games, etc.

Not sure what the CBA allows for rookies. If anything, it may just be that the Rams have a starting job opening and with getting Gurley and being an ascending team with Nick Foles and maybe being in LA next year, it might be the way to go.

I know I’d sell the potential starting job. Lots of teams will only sell “the competition”. We can sell that, but with his talent it would make it awful hard to want or need to sign Barks and that opens up other FA opportunities…

Teams still won’t sign him until they know his situation and have an idea when they’ll be able to get him into the building.

They’ll have to evaluate the logistics. And, of course, if there’s a chance he did it.

But yeah, if he’s clear and even if he might miss a bit of time, I’d jump on it…early.

He’s a 1st round talent who does what we want to do. Show some faith in the kid and watch him pay it back.

With so many teams set up to defend the pass, teams often struggle to deal with a beefy run game.

Look at how teams struggle to defend Seattle’s O.

Well, if we essentially look to do it better by having a better OL, a back with the potential to be better than Lynch and a better passing QB than Wilson with better weapons than Seattle has, then we have the potential to be ridiculously scary as a team. Just flat out horrific to other teams because we’re going to be a 4th quarter nightmare to defend.

It’s not just Gurley, but also Foles.

If Foles is Faulk, then Gurley is Holt.

I just got a feeling that some alchemy is brewing this year… and having Mason with his ability to make people miss… man, we’re going to give teams fits.

I think I like Wichmann best of all the OL picked.

I really like Havenstein, but he tends to “follow the crowd” at times. Wichmann looked like a Pro among amateurs when I watched him. Good set, good punch, GREAT wall off and he handled Leonard Williams well, a guy who went top 5.

Wouldn’t surprise me AT ALL if Wichmann beat out Jamon Brown for the RG spot and started. Guy’s got 50 starts under his belt and his pass pro is good, plus he gets to the second level quickly.

I think they want Barks back. I do.

Presuming they do get Barks back, I think they will have tremendous youth and depth in case of injury, but should have an OL ready to go and wreck the league come the first game.

Robinson // Saffold // Jones* // Wichmann // Barksdale * could be Jones, Barnes or Rhaney depending on a number of factors.

Now, THAT OL looks good to me. With the depth we’ll have based on who we drafted, I really feel good about our OL. Wouldn’t surprise me if Barks isn’t getting push that Havenstein steps in. Plus, LG is the easier of the two Guard spots (forget which guard was saying that, but one long time pro OG was saying that RG was significantly harder to play than LG and it’s not a matter of side and technique, but responsibilities), so I could see Jamon Brown stepping in and spelling Saffold if he gets dinged as he tends to do and us shifting to running a bit more to the left side behind the big slice of ham…lol.

Still… Wichmann looks like our steal of the draft. Damn. I mean, his set…his wall off… Gurley behind this guy will break huge runs because he seals like no guy we’ve had since Timmerman.

I’m saying, I think he’s gotta be a favorite for our RG spot. Coach Boo has got to LOVE this kid!

This is the guy who could spell Hayes after this year. Very nice.

Arizona Cards: A

The cards filled areas of need while acquiring more picks in a trade down. The problem is they didn’t address their biggest area of need and that was their defensive line. I know Darnell Dockett was injured last season and it showed. So, not replacing him isn’t about having confidence in who replaced him. That crew didn’t get it done when it counted. And as the NFC West reloads, that DL will be woefully undermanned for the pounding that’s coming.

St. Louis Rams: A+

Drafting the kind of talent that they are doing is getting to be a Rams tradition. Quinn, Donald…Gurley. These guys are transformative and it won’t be long before it hits a tipping point. We’ve already beaten Conference champs with backup QBs and that’s before adding Gurley. Remember, the Vikes had a 1000yd runner in Taylor when they drafted AP and were lampooned for it. No, Gurley is transformative and it will show. Soon. The OL the Rams drafted do a number of things. They maul. They do NOT hold. They do NOT make stupid penalties. All of these things hurt the Rams before. Couple that with an accurate QB who works best in a run oriented offense and the Rams have the makings of dynamite.

San Francisco 49ers: B+

Arik Armstead is very raw. So, while he played all over on Oregon’s DL, he only flashed big plays. Is he a potentially big talent at the 5 technique like guys like Richard Seymour and JJ Watt? Yes. Is he that guy in the next 2 years? No. The 49ers will need to be patient as he develops (they will be) and their fans will need to be patient (maybe not so much). With all the defensive turnover, it will be a culture shock when teams run on this D. And it’s coming. Tartt is a box safety with range. They’ve drafted those before with mixed results, so I dunno. Eli Harold is going to a good system for him and if Aldon Smith finally has his head on straight (not something to take for granted as the young man has had issues), then he could help them reform that formidable LB core. That might help their pass rush, but that interior still needs work.

Seattle Seahawks: D-

What the hell? A team that runs the ball 52% of the time ships out their Pro Bowl Center for a TE/WR who doesn’t block all that well? And who the Rams have a history of totally shutting down? So, Jimmy Graham with their 1st pick, and Frank Clark with their 2nd? Frank Clark? Are they looking to make a defense or a line up? Frank Clark isn’t just a reach here, he’s a head scratcher. He’d be a reach if he were squeaky clean, so with all the character stuff, spending all that draft capital on this guy makes no sense. There’s NO WAY any other team had him higher than a fourth. Just no way. So this was just Clark and his agent getting really lucky. And the rest of the NFC because the Seahawks aren’t restocking well. At all. Tyler Lockett isn’t a bad pick. He’ll be a really nice punt/kick returner and gadget guy, but they really needed a Georgia Tech type WR, meaning a WR who loves to block. Frankly, they miss Golden Tate more than they realize and they’ve never replaced him and Lockett isn’t an attempt to. Seattle actually had needs and they did nothing to restock. That’s the sort of hubris that has a team that’s been to 2 straight Super Bowls fall way back to the pack in a hurry.

So, did the Rams Close the Gap on the NFC West? I absolutely think they did.

1) They have a healthy starting QB who fits what they want to do and can do it.
2) They drafted the best RB to come out since AP and still have Tre Mason and Bennie Cunningham and Trey Watts to fill the role until Gurley is ready to step in.
3) They drafted the RIGHT type of OL for what they want to do now that Cigs is running the offense Fisher really wants to run. I think Cigs and Fisher are SO MUCH MORE on the same page than Schotty and Fish ever were. While I think Schotty and Fish agreed in principle, I think based on smaller clues here and there from things players and what Fish has said that Fisher and Cigs are sympatico. And that’s huge going forward. It’s already made a huge difference in the draft.
4) They got a developmental QB that if developed properly has all the tools to be someone special. Aaron Rodgers sat for awhile and I know comparing new guys to the best is dangerous, but I have a gut feeling that Mannion is “special” in that really good way. And Fisher is committed to developing him.
5) They hired Chris Weinke. They are committed to not only developing Mannion, whom they drafted, but also improving Foles and Keenum which is important. I think they saw that it is important to continue to develop the starting QB to be successful and that requires getting a guy to do just that.

Now, closing the gap and PASSING teams are very different things. We can close the gap by a ton and still end up with a very similar record.

I mean we’ve got the 6th toughest schedule in the NFL based on last year’s winning percentage. We could improve everywhere and still be 7-9 or even improve to 8-8 which would be nice, but not what we’re all looking for.

Things still have to break in our favor a bit for us to actually get to 10-6 and beyond.

1) OL has to be healthy.
2) Entire team has to start fast. We can’t start that first 5 game stretch 1-4. It’s a tough stretch, but we really need to go 3-2
3) D needs to start out on fire. And I mean on fire…

If just those 3 things happen and we are 3-2 or better, then this season looks really good to me going forward. And, frankly, I think we have a shot at that.

no doubt.

And I like all of them.

That’s got to be a first…

I REALLY like the skill position picks and I like the OL picks. I think Coach Boo knows what he’s looking for and if those are the guys he wants then get them and lets go win the division…

Well, you can scratch Collins since he said he’d sit out the season rather than play his rookie contract on a 4th round or lower contract.

Considering if he went top 10, versus 4th round or below, we’re talking $10M dollars over the length of the contract, I can see the financial sense of getting this legal issues out of the way and working out hard and then re-entering the draft.

Okay. zn asked if he could have his delivery sped up.

I can explain one way that’s pretty easy. In the vid above, it’s easy to see that Mannion holds the ball a bit loose and low for his carriage. That leads to a throw that has a longer, looping windup.

What he needs to do is tighten the ball to his body and raise the ball to effectively “cock” it. This will significantly shorten his release, improve his ball security and quicken his release.

Both Tom Brady and Peyton Manning are pretty tall QBs with extraordinarily quick releases and they are very much a function of excellent mechanics.

Mannion doesn’t require much adjustment to have significantly better results.

I think we’ll be closer to 52%… maybe a bit lower, depending on our success in the passing game on play action and the running game.

I KNOW if we are running and getting first downs and then scoring TDs (even if it’s with a pass), Fisher is going to stick with the Run. Keeps the D fresh, wears out their D and wins the battle with the clock.

But yeah, I think 53% would be our ceiling and that’s high considering our draft and emphasis.

I went back and looked at a sprinkling of film.

Looked for specific things. Like drive blocking for Jamon Brown. Kick step for Havenstein, release for Mannion…

This draft has the potential to be ridiculously good. And I don’t mean A+ good. I mean, better than that good.

This has the potential to be a connect the dots draft in a win the Super Bowl kind of way. Better yet, because of how they are building this team, they could be building a winner and potential contender for a long time.

There are home runs and there are home runs…

This draft looks to be a home run that has a potential to be that different kind of home run…

This was teams saying LOUD AND CLEAR that after Aaron Hernandez that they aren’t F’n around with murder.

You have to be CLEAR to be drafted. PERIOD.

So La’el Collins won’t be drafted.

Moving on.