Smith or Monroe? Baylor OT Jason Smith says St. Louis Rams don’t tip hand
Baylor offensive tackle Jason Smith knows the Rams like him a lot. But enough to draft him No. 2 overall instead of Virginia counterpart Eugene Monroe?
Who knows?
“I don’t know if they like me more than they like Monroe,” Smith told the Post-Dispatch. “I don’t know if they’re going to draft me or Monroe. I do know that they like me, and at the end of the day they need a tackle because they let Orlando Pace go. So who knows? They may draft Andre Smith.”
Don’t hold your breath on that one. But if the Rams do go offensive tackle at No. 2 overall, it currently looks like a dead heat between Monroe and Jason Smith.
Monroe, Jason Smith, and another first-round offensive tackle prospect _ Michael Oher of Mississippi _ all paid pre-draft visits to Rams Park last Tuesday and Wednesday.
“I met all the coaches, the GM, I met all the player personnel guys,” Smith said. “I met all the scouts. There were a lot of other players there.”
Smith said all the offensive line prospects got in front of the greaseboard to draw up plays during their visit. The Rams’ veteran offensive linemen _ players like Jacob Bell, Jason Brown, Alex Barron, etc. _ were in the meeting room at the same time. (Rams veterans are in town taking part in the team’s offseason conditioning program.)
“They came in and we all listened to them go over things they went over the day before,” Smith said. “We got to watch them work out. . .so it was a great opportunity to see them.”
During the evening, the draft prospects ate dinner with coaches and front office personnel in the swank, private suite of late owner Georgia Frontiere on the second floor of Rams Park.
“It was set up real nice,” Smith said. “The food was catered and it was great. I ate some prime rib, some sweet potato casserole, and some steamed veggies.”
Smith said he couldn’t detect any favoritism by the Rams towards him or Monroe.
“You can kind of sense what they’re thinking, but then again, they’ve also got me and him here at the same time,” Smith said.
In fact, Smith and Monroe sat next to each other at dinner.
“I can kick it with Monroe,” Smith said. “I like him as a person. We don’t say much about each other. We don’t compare ourselves to each other. But to me, I think Eugene is a great person. If Eugene Monroe gets drafted before me, they got a great guy.”
The worst thing for the Rams to do in the draft on Saturday is taking a left tackle with the 2nd overall pick. Alex Barron will be just as good, if not better, this season than any of the left tackle prospects in this draft. The Rams need a wide receiver, a linebacker, a big defensive tackle, and more pass rushers (Spags’ defensive schemes can never have too many pass rushers) more than they need another left tackle. If Barron doesn’t pan out this season at left tackle, the Rams will be able to grab a left tackle in next years draft. Sam Young, Adam Ulatoski, Russell Okung, and Ciron Black are all better than this year’s tackle class. Next year’s wide receiver class doesn’t look all that impressive, and the linebacker class doesn’t either. Defensive tackle looks good next year also with Terrence Cody and Ndanukong Suh topping that list. So, I think the ONLY players the Rams should look at for the 2nd overall pick are Michael Crabtree (perfect compliment to Donnie Avery and Laurent Robinson) and Aaron Curry, who would be much better next year than Pisa at the SAM, plus he does have the size and ability to move ahead of Chris Draft at the MIKE. In the 2nd round the Rams could grab a right tackle (I just don’t see Jacob Bell as a right tackle), and a middle linebacker (Jasper Brinkley would look great in a Rams uniform) in the 3rd round.
I think it’s going to be Mark Sanchez at the #2 first round pick… so Spags can build a future team around…. and it’s ok to pay “quarterback” money at the #2 spot to a “quarterback”!!! Go Rams!!!
Michael Oher is bigger,quicker, more athletic, and less injury prone yhan either Monroe or Smith. He is a better pass blocker than Smith and a better run blocker than Monroe. He has a chance to be in the Orlando Pace, Johnathan Ogden category unlike either Smith or Monroe, who will both be starters. A soon to be released movie, “The Blind Side”, about Oher ensures his popularity with Stl fans. Why aren’t we talking about him?
OK, Best Player available Rams ( the only way to go at # 2)! An immediate impact player regardless of the position (Careful Mr.Bulger). It could be WR,OT,QB,LB but please, regardless, it must be the “BEST PLAYER AVAILABLE” as judged by the Rams staff. Seems to me like the OT position in this years draft is deeper than usual… you make the call MR.Devaney
I agree with Wally. Take impact player Curry at #2, starting RIGHT offensive tackle at #35, and run-stuffing defensive tackle in third round to help Curry and Witherspoon. Defense becomes very good against the run, and offense line gets well-stocked.
I would love to see us trade with Denver for their first two round picks. They need Sanchez and we could get Oher and Maualuga with those two picks. If not pick Smith with the number 2 pick and get Laurinaitis with the second round pick.
Personally, I’m in the Curry camp. I understand best player available vs need argument, but to me Curry is head and shoulders over any of these tackes as a football player. I don’t think any of them grade out as high as Jake Long did last year. I believe a good Right Tackle can be found at the top of the 2nd (kid from Oklahoma for example) In any case, I really wanted to get a plug in for Lawrence Sidbury (DE Richmond) at the top of the 3rd. Watched him for a couple of years. Intelligent, HIGH character guy, who can flat out play. Will be a monster on Special Teams from day 1, and could groom him behind Little at LDE. Trust me when I say that you won’t find better value in the 3rd round.
I keep seeing that Jets 47 - Rams 3 on the 2008 Audio Slideshow, and I’m thinking we gotta go with Curry. I know the line was shambles last year, but I don’t think any of these tackles merit $50 million. Curry appears to be a game breaker. He’s the kind of player that makes the other around him better by drawing a lot of attention.
I don’t see Denver trading up to grab Sanchez. Josh McDaniels has done a great job in his coaching career with late round draft picks…why would they trade up to get a quarterback, 2nd overall? If the Broncos were to trade up, it would be for Aaron Curry or for B.J. Raji.
In my mind, the team that would be most likely to trade up would be the Buffalo Bills. I would be more than happy taking their first rounder (the 11th overall) and their 2nd round pick (42nd overall - 10th in the 2nd round). With the Bills trading away Jason Peters, I am sure they would want their pick of the offensive tackles, especially since there is no guarentee that any of the top tackles will fall to the 11th spot. If the Rams could pull that off, their should be a very good WR, or a very good DT, or a very good LB, or a very good QB, or a decent OT available, depending how the top 10 fell.
I agree with most of you guys. PLEASE BILLY D!!! DON”T TAKE A LEFT TACKLE! it would be a waste of money and a waste of a chance to get a franchise WR, QB, or LB