Brian Cushing has been the top rookie so far. Not Curry, not Harvin, and definitely not Sanchez. Regardless J Smith was a fine pick, he finally came to play vs. the Lions and I think he will be a solid LT in the near future.

So you’re actually trying to analyze a draft class after they’ve played a grand total of 9 games? Ridiculous.

J Smith will turn out to be the right pick. Pace didn’t step in and dominate, that position takes 2-3 years to master. I thing the key is to play him at LEFT tackle. Bulger might not like that idea so much, but that’s the best route for the future QB, whoever he might be.

Actually would love to see both Curry and Laurinaitis as starting linebackers for the Rams. I wouldn’t care who else they drafted. Of course they don’t care who else they drafted as no one else drafted from the 2009 class appears “ready” to play. Bernie’s comments about Null are exactly what killed the last regime, throwing away picks on players that have no ability to help the team.

I don’t see how Kathleen Nelson added nothing. The Rams sure could use a wide receiver and kick returner.

Smith will turn out to a fine pick. Not as glamorous as a QB pick, but a solid pick that will pay dividends long into the future. Curry would have been nice, but, Laurinitis was the next best thing and will be a long term fixture at MLB for the Rams for years to come.

You can’t get everything in one draft and it will take the Rams two or three more draft to be competitive again.

I think the first three picks are home run hitters! Jason Smith was a no brainer The Rams needed to frame the OL, and they are starting to gell! great pick! Second round pick was another first round pick James Laurinaitis has shown that he is the second best rookie LB behind Aaron Curry! Fantastic pick! And Bradly Fletcher was showing very good promise before his injury! what more can you ask for! GOOD JOB SPAGGS.

Percy Harvin? Just wait for the injuries to start rolling in. He is too fragile.

“Fragile?” Are you predicting injuries? I guess fragility can’t be measured by actual events (like what happened to our choice of Avery over DeSean Jackson.

The people that say you need a lot more time to evaluate players are usually the ones that are supporting players that are obviously underachieving. Would they say that James Laurenitis needs more time to see if he will start playing bad? probably not. Most of the time good players start to play well within their first year if they are healthy.
Orlando Pace played very well his rookie year. He made some mistakes but you could see right away that he was the real deal.

I like Jason Smith but Mark Sanchez would have been a smarter pick. Would we be any worse now? The rams need to re-evaluate the OC as well as which QB to pick in my opinion. Need a REALLY good draft next year to hope to turn things around.

How about a little respect jezamale…you can get your point across with out getting silly about Ms. Nelson’s opinion…She was asked to give it…so let her have her opinion and you can have yours. Opinions are neither right nor wrong…they are just opinions.

I would have taken Aaron Curry…but I don’t have any say in the matter. Not a problem for me.

Who would you have taken?

“Mark Sanchez and Matthew Stafford have promise at QB, but both would be losing game after game here — and perhaps developing bad habits.”

Because … Matthew Stafford … was … available? …

Kathleen Nelson has been working NFL locker rooms, as well as many other locker rooms, for more than a decade. She’s interviewed countless players, coaches and front office types. You may not like her opinions, or you may disagree with them, but that makes them no less valid to a discussion. And that is what this is supposed to be … a discussion. If you have nothing to add, it’s ok if you don’t comment — please don’t feel compelled. Thank you.

You need to build your offense-line first.Then you can pick a qb.Jason smith was a great pick you need to be patient.

Smith was the best choice, but is being wasted at RT. He should’ve been at LT from the start. Build your line, then bring in your QB, not the other way around (see what happened to Carr). This year, besides drafting a QB first, they could look at Dez Bryant - then look at 2nd round for their QB - but they do have to address QB 1st or 2nd - even if Bulger stays for another year.

What offensive tackle was taken in the second round that the Rams could have landed, Jeff?

Again, Butch McGee adds nothing to the discussion. Why is he on this? (Sorry, Butch, I couldn’t resist)

Lets play this game with EVERY draft since 2000. One awful draft after another.

Harvin is great, but not at #2. Calvin Johnson was great at #2. Fitz was great at #3. We would have been shooting ourselves in the foot to take Harvin #2 and ask him to be a #1-type receiver, especially with another shorter/faster receiver like Avery already in the fold. We could have traded down for Harvin, but as I understand trading down discussions didn’t go so well.

Maybe a few years back we should have traded up one spot and taken Patrick Willis. Instead we pick Adam Carriker… Bust city USA. Willis is clearly the best LB in the NFL. Carriker is probably back up in Nebraska Tucked…

Brian Cushing would have been an outstanding choice…drafting he and Laurinitis would have been a real coup and really solidified our line-backer corps. in time i think Smith will make us forget about Pace. and Jeff, Favre has a lot of bad habits but he still wins games…

Hey The experts are back.

Nelson had a good point about missing out on a wide receiver, would have been a stretch without QB protection though. However there were tackles taken in round 2, Beatty (Giants) was thought to be the “most natural left tackle”, also Loadholt (Vikings), and Britton (Jags). Pretty sure Beatty and Loadholt have been playing.

I agree dhaab… why is this question being asked after 9 games? And I also agree about Kathleen Nelson… With the second pick in the 2009 draft the rams take (drumroll) PERCY HARVIN!!!. We would have been crucified and yeah maybe… just maybe… it helps having Brett Favre instead of Bologna, I mean Bulger. Just give Jim Thomas two opinions and let Nelson do obits.

Hey there Mr Reason and Ms dhaab, the question is probably as valid now as all of the guess work done leading up to the draft. At least they’ve played some games.
The question was if you had a do-over, knowing what you know now, would you still go with J.Smith. Seems simple enough to me.

I think Mistro doesn’t like Ms. Nelson nor Devaney, any takers?

I really question Bernie’s choice of continuing to stick with picking Sanchez. What would Sanchez do in this offense? It amazes me that people don’t see why Ryan or Flacco thrived and others like Stafford flounders. The Falcons and Ravens were good teams that allowed the rookie to come in and just play. They were able to overcome the mistakes that would be made. Atlanta drafted a tackle the year before they drafted Ryan and traded for a WR and signed a RB. Then they drafted a QB that was able to come in and thrive. Sanchez started so quickly as well because of the talent around him. What talent would Sanchez have here? He would look as bad as Stafford has looked and then everyone would question the choice.

The Lions are the reason why when you are bad you don’t draft a skill position and then try to get the foundation around them. They have drafted how many people in the skill positions in the top 5 for how many years? They have won 1 game out of 24. The Pats, Steelers, Falcons, all avoid the skill position and seems that they turn out pretty good.

Am I missing something? The rams spent a boat load of money on the OL the last two years and it looks like it is gelling pretty well so if we had Sanchez here this year he could possibly be fairly successful. All this talk of waiting for this to be established and waiting for that to be set is not a real strategy at all. I would much rather have Stafford, Ryan or Sanchez now and worry about filling in the pieces via draft and trades than waiting for the perfect Offensive Line to develop with no QB to throw the ball. The bottom line is get the best players available that will help the team win and add depth to weak areas as you go. This slow, methodical buildup routine is a recipe for losing IMHO.

Idiotic column. Too many variables from team to team. Give it time.