YES

Like everyone else I was surprised by the Avery pick. On the bright side no NFL team really thought any of these receivers were 1st round caliber. Most of the big names slipped to late 2nd round with other no-names being picked ahead of them. So witth this receiver class it seems that it is in the eye of the beholder. The Rams wanted speed and Avery fits that bill. Seems like a nice slot kind of receiver. The real question is will he develop into a top 2 WR?

If the Avery pick isn’t stupid enough, how about Henne getting a call from the Rams that said they were picking him? That is really making me wonder, did terrorists take over the Rams war room? Did they leave Linehan a list while they all went home for the evening? Maybe he accidentally picked up the list of guys they were going to try sign as free agents after the draft. If there was a single sports writer in St. Louis with any guts, they would be all over this. Lets call for some heads tonight.

I think that some of us Rams fans have become cynical through some of the insanity of the Martz years, and rightfully so, but I think that it is ridiculous to judge this player before any of us know much about him. Let’s see him on the field first. Obviously they could have taken any WR at this spot and there was something that they saw in him or didn’t see in the other WR’s availiable that they wanted. They chose to take Avery for some tangible reason. I don’t think that it was because they want to loose or are trying to look foolish. Obviously none of the WR’s available this year were incredibly impressive because it’s the first time in history that none were taken in the first round. Many of the draft know-it-alls said that there is very little separation in ability of the top 15 WR’s available. So it’s not like we just passed up Calvin Johnson to take some slapnuts. I also think it is utterly ridiculous to say that in a best case scenario, if he turns into the next coming of Torry Holt, that the Rams wasted this pick. So you wouldn’t spend a second round pick on a player if you know that he was going to be as good as Torry? That’s just a ridiculous statement. Odds are that this probably doesn’t happen, but stop the insanity with statements like that. What if the Rams scouted Donnie Avery perfectly and he does outperform the other WR’s chosen behind him. If the Rams traded down and missed Avery, the guy they really wanted, then took another WR with a lower pick and he stunk, would that be successful drafting? No. Apparently Avery’s agent had him projected high in the second round and the Rams were not the only team interested. There is a lot that goes on behind the scenes that we are not privy to. The bottom line is, you cannot truly judge these drafts until at least when the season starts and many times a year or two or three down the line. I remember the Ram’s last A-rated draft when they had three 1st round picks and everyone was so excited about it. These three 1st rounders: Damione Lewis, Adam Archuleta, and Ryan Pickett… Not so impressive now. Just becuase the “experts” have these “magic” draft boards doesn’t really mean jack diddle. We see every single year in the draft more busts than not past the first half of the first round throughout the NFL, so you can take your “expert” draft boards and throw them out the window as far as I’m concerned because they are about as accurate as the weatherman. Looking at the other side of the coin, it encourages me that the Rams saw something in this kid to force their hand an make them choose him. Do you really think that they were’nt aware of other team’s draft boards? They knew that they would have to explain this pick and they were willing to do it because they perceive that Avery has value. I’m intrigued to watch this kid play and see what we have. Are any of the other WR’s slam dunks? Definitely not! Odds are that MOST of them will fail or be marginal players. That’s the reality of the NFL Draft. It’s way, way to early to say Avery is a bad pick. He’s from a smaller school so we don’t know much about him, but I do know that guys who run 4.2 40-times and can jump 37 1/2 inches straight up in the air don’t grow on trees. Give the kid a chance. What if he’s actually good? There is also the character issue which I haven’t even touched on and we know nothing about. This may have been an important factor as well. Can anyone say Lawrence Phillips? One more parting shot… Where are all the draft “geniuses” that were bashing the Texans relentlessly for taking Mario Williams instead of Reggie Bush? Not so vocal now, are they? The bottom line is that hype does not make success in the NFL. The Rams chose Donnie Avery in spite of the “hype” of the other players. This shows me some commitment to their scouting, which I admire. If you ran a pro football team doing every suggestion of the average fan, you would quickly become the worst team in the history of the league. I’m going to suspend my judgment on this pick until I see him on the field and I would humbly suggest that other Rams fans do the same.

Don’t believe the hype!

I didn’t read the book Ed, but come on man. Nobody is slighting the player. He just had no business being picked at 33 overall. If you wanted the 11th best receiver in the draft, you probably could have signed him on Monday or Tuesday this week. You didn’t need to pass on linemen, linebackers, corners, safeties and even a project quarterback . There was no reason to reach this early man. We have way too many needs for that. Our defense has more holes than a slice of swiss and do we even need to talk about the offensive line from a year ago? just duuuuuuhhhhh

I’m about to have a seizure man. I have to walk away from this team for good. I just can’t sit back and watch this kind of stupidity anymore. I can’t continue to sink my hard earned dollar in this joke of an organization. I’m sorry guys, but this was the last straw. I’m joining Ron, this team can move back to California if they want. They won’t have another penny from me though.
Good Luck Ram fans.

Maybe you should read the book. You might learn something.

Back in April 2000 the Rams picked Trung Canidate with the 31st selection of the NFL Draft. The Rams chose him because of his superior speed. Here we are 8 years later and the Rams have chosen Donnie Avery with the 33rd selection of the NFL Draft because of his superior speed. We all know how well Trung Canidate worked out. Avery is Linehan’s Trung Canidate. This is a horrible pick.

Two years from now Isaac Bruce will still be catching TD’s even at his advanced age. Two years from now Avery will be lucky if he still has a job returning kicks. I wouldn’t be surprised if he is working at the car wash 5 years from how. When you have the 33rd pick in the draft you need to select somoen who will make a major contribution to your team.

Ed, I feel sorry for you man. You poor, brain dead, Ram clone you. I can’t believe you just compared this pick to Mario Williams over Reggie Bush. Mario was a top three pick on every draft board in the league, this kid would have been on the board Sunday at 2:00. I guarantee you, Avery would have lasted at least six rounds and most likely been a free agent after the draft. Martz was a genius compared to this turd.

Terry,
your guarantee that Avery would not of been drafted means nothing. How can you gaurantee that a player won’t be drafted when you have no clue who is going to draft who. Unless your mock draft is exactly on …. every player to every team and even trades. then shut the hell up and stop making stupid guarantees.

I have never been so embarassed to be Rams fan in 28 yrs and its not cause of the team. It is because of all of the whiny ass fans. I hope other teams fans don’t read this crap