Bernie Bytes: Extreme youth movement at Rams Park

[-X-]

Bernie Miklasz

Greetings on this Labor Day. I'll be combining two sports in this serving of the Bytes. Today I'll start with the Rams, and then move onto the Cardinals and major-league baseball...

By the time you read this Rams GM Les Snead and head coach Jeff Fisher may have adjusted the team's 53-man roster again. Since Friday's final cutdown the Rams have been busy making changes through waiver claims, a trade, and additional cuts.

I like it. Keep that roster churn going. When a new GM and coach move in and inherit the rot at the core of a grotesque five-season 15-65 record, there's no reason to hesitate. Slash away. Clear out the dead spots. Don't keep players around that don't fit your organization's future vision.

A couple of thoughts:

* This will be a very young team. I don't have the time to do the research required to supply a credible answer, but I'd have to think that this is the youngest NFL team we've had in St. Louis. That includes the Cardinals' 28 seasons here. The Rams almost certainly will field the NFL's youngest and least experienced squad in 2012.

As of Saturday morning, the Rams' did in fact have the youngest roster according to the accounting done by the gang at Blogging the Beast. (Hat tip to Turf Show Times.) But after the Rams made final roster touches over the holiday weekend, the average age of 25.32 years is probably lower.

* The Rams as of Monday morning had 16 rookies on their roster. They were joined by 14 players that are entering their second or third NFL seasons. And 8 other players are going into their fourth season. Of the 53 slots, 38 are assigned to players that have played three NFL seasons or fewer. Unless, of course, Snead and Fisher tweak the roster again. I don't think we've seen the last of the maneuvers, but the Rams do have to get ready to play Sunday's regular-season opener at Detroit.

* The new Rams regime is obviously committed [hil]to a full rebuild[/hil]. What we have seen here is no roster modification; around 60 percent of the players on the 2012 squad weren't with the Rams in 2011. Snead and Fisher are razing, then reconstructing. When you get down to the heart of the matter, this looks like an expansion team. That notion will anger and frustrate some, but that's how I see it. And it doesn't bug me, because I've avoided delusional behavior to take the long view since Fisher and Snead set up at Earth City. This disaster wasn't going to be cleaned up in a year, or after one offseason. I'd rather see the new bosses start fresh, start over, and cultivate a roster that can grow. That makes more sense than keeping older, marginal players employed.

* There's one caveat of course: Snead and Fisher still have to prove that they're more adept at finding talent than the failed regimes at Rams Park. And we won't know about that until all of these young players begin competing and developing ... or not developing.

* With Snead and Fisher sending more failed draft picks to the airport, it's time to take an updated look at the team's pathetic record in recent NFL drafts. I've parsed it in a couple of different ways.

-- From the 2006 through the 2010 drafts, the Rams chose 17 players in the first three rounds. Only five of the premium picks remain. Only four are starters (Sam Bradford, Rodger Saffold, Chris Long, James Laurinaitis.)

-- From the 2006 through the 2010 drafts, the Rams selected 44 players overall. Only eight are still here. Eight of 44 ... eight of 44 ... eight of 44. I repeated that only because I am astonished by the absolute futility. I don't know what the heck was going on in the Rams' draft "War Room" during those drafts, but the draft record of the three previous regimes make me long for the days when the highly evolved and enlightened George Boone was running the draft for Bill Bidwill's STL Cardinals. (For the kids reading this: the Boone reference was a gratuitous and sarcastic cheap shot. Boone oversaw some truly hideous drafts. If there was a defective, underachieving, physically limited, mentally challenged, lazy or grossly overrated draft "prospect" out there, Boone would find him. The annual missteps were so comically inept, that when the team chose QB Kelly Stouffer in the first round in 1987, The Old Sport Kevin Horrigan hollered out, "My goodness they've drafted a girl!" )

-- I didn't include the 2011 draft for this reason: it deserves a special category. The thinly talented 2011 Rams picked eight players. And before the 2011 Rams could complete the 16-game schedule, four of the eight players were already gone. That number reached five on Saturday when the Rams traded their 4th round pick from '11, WR Greg Salas, to New England. (I wonder about that one; I hope veteran WR Steve Smith is as good as the coaches think he is. But I digress.) My brain hurts just thinking about this. This was last year's draft! Not 2006, or 2007. But 2011. Given the long list of roster deficiencies, how is it even possible to swing and miss on five of your eight draft picks, and to have them wash out so quickly? The only three left from the Class of 2011 are DE Robert Quinn, TE Lance Kendricks and WR Austin Pettis. Quinn seems to have what it takes to turn into an elite pass rusher. Kendricks has skills, but he also has a lot to prove. Pettis will open the season on the suspended list for flunking an NFL test to check for banned performance-enhancing drugs or supplements. Pettis is no sure thing, either.

-- Finally, let us salute the fallen premium draft picks that left an indelible mark at Rams Park ... an indelible mark as in a 15-65 record that was the worst five-year run by a team in NFL history.

Roll call: Ty Hill, Jason Smith, Adam Carriker, Joe Klopfenstein, Donnie Avery, Brian Leonard, Jon Alston, Claude Wroten, Dominique Byrd, Jonathan Wade, Jerome Murphy, John Greco. And even though he was drafted in the fourth round, Mardy Gilyard will always occupy a special place in our hearts. I'm getting misty-eyed and sentimental .... I better change the subject.

Read more: http://www.stltoday.com/sports/columns/ ... f6878.html

 

[Memento]

This piece shows exactly why I hate Bernie's writing style. He can't get one article in without resorting to petty and childish insults toward someone. He constantly backtracks, contradicts himself, and fails to check other sources of references throughout the entire article.

If there was a defective, underachieving, physically limited, mentally challenged, lazy or grossly overrated draft "prospect" out there, Boone would find him.

Love how you used "mentally challenged". It's absolutely uncalled for, especially when you could have used another term that would have fit (lacking football intelligence). Saying "mentally challenged" specifically as an insult in a professional article makes you look really bad.

-- Finally, let us salute the fallen premium draft picks that left an indelible mark at Rams Park ... an indelible mark as in a 15-65 record that was the worst five-year run by a team in NFL history.

Roll call: Ty Hill, Jason Smith, Adam Carriker, Joe Klopfenstein, Donnie Avery, Brian Leonard, Jon Alston, Claude Wroten, Dominique Byrd, Jonathan Wade, Jerome Murphy, John Greco. And even though he was drafted in the fourth round, Mardy Gilyard will always occupy a special place in our hearts.

Was it honestly necessary to include Gilyard? Why? Was it because he was hyped up by the fanbase? So were Burton and King. You want to include them as well? You made your point. There was absolutely no need to throw in someone who doesn't fit the criteria just because you don't like them.

-- I didn't include the 2011 draft for this reason: it deserves a special category. The thinly talented 2011 Rams picked eight players. And before the 2011 Rams could complete the 16-game schedule, four of the eight players were already gone. That number reached five on Saturday when the Rams traded their 4th round pick from '11, WR Greg Salas, to New England. (I wonder about that one; I hope veteran WR Steve Smith is as good as the coaches think he is. But I digress.) My brain hurts just thinking about this. This was last year's draft! Not 2006, or 2007. But 2011. Given the long list of roster deficiencies, how is it even possible to swing and miss on five of your eight draft picks, and to have them wash out so quickly?

It's much easier than you think it is. Even the best NFL teams miss on the vast majority of their draft picks. I'm not trying to defend Billy D or Spags or Linehan or Zygmunt; they weren't good at drafting at all. But I urge you to look at the draft record of a certain team (who is very well known and acclaimed for their drafting) to get a semblance of just how easy it is to miss on draft picks:

In 2006, the team had ten draft picks. Their first round pick and second round pick were utter busts; neither of them have a job in the league anymore. Out of the rest, only four have a job in the league. Out of those, only two are starters. Out of them, only one is still with the team that drafted him, and he's their kicker.

In 2007, the team had nine draft picks. Their first round pick in this draft was a bust who is no longer on the team. In fact, none of them are on the team that drafted them. Out of all of them, only two players - including the bust - still have a job in the league.

In 2008, the team had seven draft picks. Only two remain in the league. Both are with the same team that drafted them, but only one is a starter, albeit a good one.

In 2009, the team had a staggering twelve draft picks. None were in the first round. Only five remain with the team. Only three are starters.

In 2010, the team had twelve more draft picks. Out of all of them, seven are on the team. Out of those seven, four are penciled in as starters. Out of those, one of them is the punter.

So, in a five year span, with fifty draft picks, only fifteen are with the team. Out of those, there are only nine starters. Out of those starters, two of them are the punter and kicker. So that leaves a miniscule seven position players as starters that are currently on the team.

The team? The New England Patriots.

I think I'll rest my case here.

 

[kurtfaulk]

Roll call: Ty Hill, Jason Smith, Adam Carriker, Joe Klopfenstein, Donnie Avery, Brian Leonard, Jon Alston, Claude Wroten, Dominique Byrd, Jonathan Wade, Jerome Murphy, John Greco. And even though he was drafted in the fourth round, Mardy Gilyard will always occupy a special place in our hearts. I'm getting misty-eyed and sentimental .... I better change the subject.

wow, that list is hideous. and it doesn't even include the martz drafts. linehan completely ruined the franchise. at least devaney, who wasn't much better, picked some players the rams could build around.

i sure hope fisher and snead know what they're doing. we'll have some idea by the end of this season.

.

 

[-X-]

Good job Mem. :ww: