THE WATERCOOLER

QUESTION: After weeks of talking about it, the NFL draft finally begins tomorrow. Rather than predicting who the St. Louis Rams will take, I’d like you to put your GM hat on. If you were running the Rams draft, who would you take with the No. 2 pick and why?

JIM THOMAS
All signs point to the Rams taking a tackle. But Aaron Curry is the best player in the draft. The Wake Forest linebacker would bring attitude, leadership and charisma to a defense lacking in all of those areas. He’d be my pick.

BERNIE MIKLASZ
I would take USC quarterback Mark Sanchez, because he’s ideal to run the West Coast offense and he displays outstanding leadership qualities. He’s an ideal fit and the Rams can’t be sure they’ll have such an attractive option at QB in the 2010 Draft. In the end, though, the Rams will decide to make one more attempt at reviving Marc Bulger. And they’ll make the safer, more pragmatic choice by grabbing Baylor offensive tackle Jason Smith.

BRYAN BURWELL
I would go offensive tackle, and I’d be happy with either Jason Smith or Eugene Monroe. I want to get massive up front to dominate games. I would probably go OT in second or third round, too. I want enormous folks whose entire families are big-boned too.

JEFF GORDON
Going against conventional wisdom, I would select Aaron Curry and stick him in the middle of that defense. The Rams have a woeful linebacker corps beyond Will Witherspoon. Steve Spagnuolo is a defensive-minded coach who knows how to maximize his talent on that side of the ball. Then I would take an offensive tackle with the second pick — and I would look to move up into the first round to get a little more quality there. There is risk in doing that, since the better tackles will leave the board. But it is a risk worth taking.

KATHLEEN NELSON
Eugene Monroe: I’ll confess that I haven’t watched film, but the scouts who have seem to give Monroe the edge as a pass blocker over Jason Smith. I’m sure either will develop into an anchor for the offensive line, but the recurring image of Marc Bulger on his back or side, writhing in pain, makes me think pass protection is a more urgent need. Just don’t expect either Monroe or Smith next year to be Orlando Pace in his prime.

GERRY FRALEY
USC quarterback Mark Sanchez, in a heartbeat. The Rams are not going to win with Marc Bulger. He has taken a horrific beating and is regressing. Bulger also lacks the aura of a big-time quarterback. No need to worry about that with Sanchez. He’s good and knows it, which is not all bad when it comes to a quarterback.

THE WATERCOOLER

QUESTION: Most have assumed the Rams would grab either an offensive tackle like Eugene Monroe or linebacker Aaron Curry with the No. 2 overall pick in the draft. However, with last week’s release of Orlando Pace and Torry Holt, the team is down to just three young WRs and face a draft class with a lot of talent at the top of the WR pool? Which direction do you believe this team needs to go in the draft: Offensive tackle, linebacker or wide receiver?

JIM THOMAS
Tackle. Tackle. Tackle. Alex Barron is the only player currently on the roster with substantial experience at the position. And his contract expires after this season. Assuming that he can make a seamless transition to left tackle and Jacob Bell can step right in at right tackle without a hitch goes a couple of steps beyond optimism.

BERNIE MIKLASZ
Good question. I am planning to write a column on this subject. More than anything the Rams can’t afford to be prisoners of need. They have a new GM and coaching staff in place. This is the beginning of an era. This is the start of something new, and hopefully it will be built to last. The Rams have to draft with the next 10 years in mind. They can’t worry about immediate needs. They have to go with the player who will best help them win over the long haul. So I don’t care who they draft in terms of position. They have to rely on their scouting and trust the grades they give each prospect. If the top grade conclusively belongs to Aaron Curry, then draft the LB. The same principle applies to OT, WR or even QB. Trust your scouting. Go with the best player and you won’t go wrong.

BRYAN BURWELL
If only we could see what the Rams draft board looked like, it would make this an easier task. But I think you build your team from the offensive line because the ability to run and protect the quarterback is the most important key to having a functional offense. Go with a tackle in the first round, and I’d be tempted to get a block-out-the-sun guard like Duke Robinson in the second round if he’s the best player available, too.

BILL COATS
If the Lions don’t take Curry with the No. 1 pick, he’d be my choice. Otherwise, I’d target the offensive line. It’s so important, and the Rams really need to beef things up there. I don’t want to say wide receivers are a dime a dozen, but the Rams will be able to fill out that position without much difficulty.

JEFF GORDON
It appears that Curry is a cornerstone defensive player. Since Steve Spagnuolo wants to rebuild the Rams around its ground game and defense, Curry would be a great get. Crabtree is an attractive option, too, since he appears head and shoulders above the other WR prospects. There are lots of good tackles in this draft, but its debatable whether any merit a No. 2 overall pick and the huge money that comes with it.

KEVIN WHEELER (Host of “Sports Open Line” on KMOX)
I like the “best player available” theory. If the Lions take anyone not named Aaron Curry, the Wake Forest linebacker would be my selection. I’ve heard far too many NFL scouting types refer to Curry as the “cleanest” player on the board to think about passing him by, plus linebacker is an area of significant need.

Also of note, the offensive line and wide receiver positions are deeper in this year’s draft. There are several receivers that could be available at the top of the second round who are attractive to teams looking for bigger receivers. I’m a particular fan of Brian Robiskie of Ohio State — he’s got size (6’3”), good hands and great football sense.

Offensive tackles Eugene Monroe and Jason Smith are excellent prospects but they’re not “the next big thing” at their position. Taking one of them at No. 2 would be fine with me as they seem to be solid players and people but neither is at the level Orlando Pace was coming out of college. Heck, a couple of months ago Andre Smith was viewed by many as the top tackle in this year’s draft class.

Ideally the team would add a little more free agent depth so they could follow the “best player available” strategy.

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MIDDAY NEWS AND NOTES

CUTLER DESERVED BETTER: Sure, QB Jay Cutler may be a little over-sensitive right now about his situation in Denver, but coming off a Pro Bowl year, who can blame the guy for being upset after finding out his new head coach was trying to make backroom deals to ship him off for another (and in my opinion, inferior) quarterback in Matt Cassell? Perhaps this is what happens when you hire a 32-year-old wunderkind offensive coordinator to be your head coach, as it appears Josh McDaniels poked a stick in a beehive he has no hope of containing at this point. Cutler has now requested a trade and the Broncos may be left to move on with Chris Simms at QB, an underachieving sort who hasn’t thrown an NFL pass in two years. If I were a Bronco fan, I’d be spitting mad at McDaniels and team owner Pat Bowlen, who sat back and allowed this all to happen.

While some Denver columnists are pointing out there is plenty of blame to go around in this mess, the Denver Post’s Mark Kiszla says “good riddance” to Cutler today. I think he’s delusional, but that’s essentially his stance. He offers up three QBs he somehow thinks the Broncos can get now that will outperform Cutler. Good luck with that. You can check out Kiszla’s column here.

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SOMETHING TO PONDER

BLUES FACE BIG WEEK: Heading to western Canada for a three-game road trip is never an easy task, but it’s one the Blues must face head-on this week. So far in recent weeks, this young Blues team has been up to the challenges it’s faced. Last week’s homestand featuring games against Dallas, San Jose, Detroit and Minnesota was vital before this team hit the road. The Blues came away with six of a possible eight points … very respectable. Canada can be a tough place to play for road teams given the raucous Canuck crowds, and the 9 p.m. starts can be tough on a team that is normally finishing up games by about 10 p.m. here in St. Louis. But the Blues must once again find a way to get two out of these three games — and it must start tonight in Edmonton. You just don’t want to start this road trip with a loss.

Coach Andy Murray has done a commendable job keeping the club focused solely on the game in front of them. If the team is able to do that tonight, and get out to a quick start, they should pocket the points this evening. And then it’s on to Vancouver …

Regardless, who among you would have believed near the end of December this team would be sitting just one point out of the playoffs on St. Patrick’s Day?

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ON THIS DATE

March 17, 2005 — Mark McGwire goes before a Congressinal committee and repeatedly tells them, “I’m not here to talk about the past.” They are words that will live in infamy in baseball lore, and have permanently damaged McGwire’s reputation among most of the sporting public. In fact, that performance is the likely catalyst for keeping McGwire out of the Hall of Fame.

Hard to believe it’s been four years already since that testimony. Time flies.

THE WATERCOOLER

QUESTION: Things may change depending on what the team does in free agency, but if you were drafting for the Rams today whom would you take with the No. 2 overall pick?

JIM THOMAS
Orlando Pace is nearing the end of his great career. Alex Barron has been an underachiever and is entering the last year of his contract. You’ve got to go tackle. Of the top three prospects, Eugene Monroe of Virginia is the safest pick.

BERNIE MIKLASZ
Wow, this is a tough one, and the circumstances will change many times between now and the draft. But as we sit here today, my thought would be to spend money on a good free-agent offensive tackle instead of drafting one. And with the 2nd pick, I would take Texas Tech wideout Michael Crabtree. Torry Holt has slowed down. And the kids, Donnie Avery and Keenan Burton, aren’t big, physical receivers. The Rams have a real need in that area, a receiver who can win the tough battles for the football down in the red zone. Crabtree has that ability. I reserve the right to change my mind, but right now I’d go with Crabtree.

BILL COATS
The Rams have plenty of needs, with the offensive line at the top of the list. So, my pick is Virginia tackle Eugene Monroe. He would give new coach Steve Spagnuolo some nice flexibility in a most vital area.

KATHLEEN NELSON
Eugene Monroe, OT, Virginia: OK, so he lost the Outland Trophy to Andre Smith. Scouts seem to think Monroe’s a bit more seasoned. Smith is skipping his senior year, so I wonder about his maturity, especially since he or his people had improper contact with an agent. The Rams need a lot of help on the offensive line, and they won’t want to wait for a tackle to grow up. Monroe seems likely to be ready sooner.

JEFF GORDON
Perhaps the best strategy is trading down to take a tackle later in the first round — perhaps Eugene Monroe of Virginia. Of course, many teams are looking to deal down in this draft. Other teams are looking to sacrifice quality for quantity of picks because the top of this draft looks iffy. If a trade-down is impossible, then Alabama tackle Andre Smith looks like a nice building block for a power running game.

GERRY FRALEY
In the NFL, the name of the game is get to the other guy’s quarterback. Of the top 12 teams for sacks during the regular season, nine reached the playoffs. The Super Bowl teams, Arizona and Pittsburgh, each have seven sacks in the post-season. Arizona did it in three games, one more than Pittsburgh.

New Rams coach Steve Spagnuolo learned that approach when he worked with Philadelphia defensive coordinator Jim Johnson and took it with him to the New York Giants. In the last two seasons, with Spagnuolo as defensive coordinator, the Giants had the second-highest sacks total in the NFL with 95. Dallas led with 105. The Giants’ sacks total does not reflect the mind-sapping beating Spagnoalo’s defense put on quarterbacks. (The Rams had 61 sacks in that span and rarely made life difficult on an opposing quarterback.)

There are several defensive front-seven players with strong pass-rushing skills: Florida State’s Everette Brown, Georgia Tech’s Michael Johnson and Texas’ Brian Orakpo. The Rams will be tempted to go with an offensive lineman such as Alabama tackle Andre Smith, but they would be better served with a pass rusher.

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MIDDAY NEWS AND THOUGHTS

THINKING OUT LOUD: Last season the St. Louis Cardinals were able to pick up starting pitcher Kyle Lohse on the cheap late in the spring, and the gamble paid off as Lohse went on to post career bests in wins (15) and ERA (3.78), while also logging 200 innings pitched (second-highest innings in his career.) Lohse now is cited as a prime example for why the Cardinals should wait on this year’s free agent market, with the assumption being the team can find a similar arm later.

What hasn’t been discussed is this: With so many teams this year (teams not named Yankees, Red Sox or Angels) saying they are going to wait a while for the free agent market to establish itself, doesn’t that mean there is likely going to be more competition to gobble up free agent pitchers come springtime? And if you’ve got the vast majority of teams sitting and waiting, isn’t that going to push the prices up for these pitchers once the feedy frenzy starts? Who’s going to be caught without a chair when the music stops? Just seems like a gamble.

Perhaps now is the ideal time to strike … the eye of the storm so to speak. Big dollars have been ponied-up for the top-tier guys and a couple of quality arms like Brad Penny and John Smoltz have been claimed on the cheap. It seems the first wave has passed. Why wait until there’s blood in the water in March as team’s scramble to fill out rotations … move now while prices for guys like Penny and Smoltz have been suppressed … don’t wait until the dollars start jumping again.

That’s my two cents.

TROUBLE IN PARADISE: Say it ain’t so, Joe? Apparently it is. According to the New York Daily News, former Yankees manager Joe Torre takes a number of his former colleagues and players with the Yankees to task in a new book to be released next month. This from the Daily News: “Torre describes general manager Brian Cashman as a less than supportive ally who betrayed him on several fronts, and says that his star player, Alex Rodriguez, was often referred to by his teammates as “A-Fraud” and was obsessed with his perceived rival, shortstop Derek Jeter.”

Ouch. I guess Torre is still irked about the “incentives-laden” deal the Yanks offered him to return as manager last year. I can’t wait until Torre’s tenure as Dodgers manager comes to an end so we can hear what he has to say about Manny Ramirez.

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THINGS TO PONDER

GETTING THE WARNER TREATMENT: Prior to this season, Chargers’ RB LaDainian Tomlinson had been the best RB in the game the last three or four years, hands down. This season, at age 29, Tomlinson battled injuries and put up the lowest numbers since his rookie season — rushing for 1,135 yards and 12 TDs (he tacked on another 426 yards receiving with 1 TD).

I know that LT will turn 30 in June and that’s a flashpoint for many RBs, but we’re talking about a guy that just put up 1,500 total yards and 13 TDs … while playing through injuries. And now there is a major rift between Tomlinson and Chargers’ GM A.J. Smith concerning Tomlinson’s future in San Diego. According to the San Diego Union-Tribune, players have expressed consternation over comments made by Smith in which he was interpreted as mocking the star running back.

Sound familiar St. Louis? Let’s see if the Chargers end up running LT out of town … and how much they regret it later if they do.

IS IT SAFE ANYWHERE? It was tragic news Friday night when a 17-year-old boy was shot and killed outside a girls’ basketball game at Cahokia High School. “I think it should be a wake-up call for people in the area who have children in high school that this is not a game,” Maj. John Lakin of the Madison County Sheriff’s Department told the Post-Dispatch. “Kids are losing their lives over senseless things, and we need to warn our children.”

The city of Chicago is dealing with such dangers in a drastic way. New rules will keep the doors to the gyms shut for many in an effort to reduce violence within the Chicago Public League. Rick Morrissey of the Chicago Tribune writes, “It’s hard to be hopeful about the future when fights break out in the stands or a player gets shot after a game. … But emptying the gyms is not the answer, unless we’d prefer to teach kids that the only way to deal with problems is by running from them.”

Senseless violence leaves us all scratching our heads. If you are fortunate enough to live in an area where high school sports are still all popcorn and pom-poms, consider yourself lucky. Imagine having to worrry about your child competing in, or attending, a high school sporting event where by merely showing up they are put in harm’s way.

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STAT OF THE DAY

551 — Most consecutive games played by an NHL goalie (including playoffs). The feat was accomplished by Blachawks netminder Glenn Hall from the 1955-56 season through the 1962-63 season. More astounding, Hall accomplished the feat in an era when goalies did not wear masks. Many consider this to be hockey’s most unbreakable record. (SOURCE: Hockey’s Top 100: The game’s greatest records)

* Hall was left unprotected for the 1967 NHL expansion draft, despite the fact he had won the Vezina Trophy earlier that season. He was snatched up by the St. Louis Blues and led them to the Stanley Cup finals in their expansion season, where they were swept 4-0 by the Montreal Canadiens. Despite being swept, Hall’s play still led to him being selected as the Stanley Cup MVP for the series. (The Blues returned to the Finals the following two seasons, losing 4-0 to Montreal in 1969 and 4-0 to Boston in 1970.)