Devaney Breaks Down Late Picks
Here was his take on the bottom-of-the-draft guys:
Overall: “They were needs, they were good players that were on the board at the time. As you get down in the draft, everybody’s board kind of falls apart. You probably start reaching a little bit to fill a need. You try to stay close within a grade. These guys all have a chance. They will come in and compete.”
Brooks Foster, WR: “To be the third receiver on a team with two first-round (quality) picks is nothing to be ashamed of.”
Keith Null, QB: “This guy has size, he has arm strength. He moves around pretty good. He’s not a great athlete, but he has slide ability. He is a smart guy, all of those things.”
(Devaney isn’t a big Ryan Leaf fan, for obvious reasons, but he didn’t mind that Leaf was Null’s position coach. “We certainly didn’t hold it against him that Ryan was there,” Devaney said.)
Chris Ogbonnaya, RB: “He is a physical, slashing runner. He’ll fit what we’re trying to do. He is a downhill, power kind of guy.”
Steve Spagnuolo was pleased with the Foster addition. “He is a big wideout for us,” he said. “We feel fortunate to get him.”
No, no, the Rams aren’t on the prowl for a veteran WR.
“I don’t think anybody feels a strong neeed to go out and get a veteran guy,” Spagnuolo said.
Uhhh, matthew… the reason the rams have so many draft picks playing is cuz they don’t have any other good players.
They’ve picked second two years in a row. Yes, quite an accomplishment in a league of parity. But they managed to pull it off.
If more than 3 of this years draftees play significant time this coming season, the Rams might get to pick first in the 2010 draft.
Won’t that be fun?
I tried to spin this in my mind that it was a good draft. I read and reread the opinions of smart people who saw these kids play and work out. Each and every pick of the second day was a massive reach. I really don’t have a problem with Fletcher or the D-lineman from Clemson, but I do have a problem with when we selected them. Both would’ve been there in the fifth or sixth round. It made more sense to get a receiver or two in the third and fourth round. Johnny Knox, Juaquin Iglesias and Ramses Barden would’ve made more sense than reaching for two guys who have some red flags. Even worse, Devaney takes a quarterback with arm strength issues and very likely would still be waiting for a phone call now if Devaney didn’t take him.
I can live with the Foster pick, although I would’ve preferred a receiver with some return ability and the final pick could be the third down back we don’t have on our roster. Still, by reading Devaney’s comments, it is pretty obvious to me that he was way out of his league with this draft. Statements like our draft board fell apart and you try to stay close to a grade do not fill me with confidence that he can turn it around.
We draft Smith to protect Biulger, then don;t draft anyone for him to throw too? We had Barden sitting there in the third round and later on the Giants traded up for the guy, a 6′6 wideout from Cal-Poly who would have been a gem for us..Guys, don’t try and make this anything other than what it was in day 2..it was totally brutal..
What, They are not looking for a WR? They actually expect Fosters to play. Devaney is dumber than I thought. Listening to Devaney’s explanation about his picks, he doesn’t sound like he even likes them. Did they not know that they had better options at each round and did not have to reach so badly. Once again frustrated with the rams.
KMac - are you really kevin slaten? anything to gripe about. Mizzou, LaRussa, now Devaneys first draft. Most drafts cannot really be graded for a couple of years, so chill a little.
Buzz, old larry, Deere Joh, Ram-a-lot, matthew, Ram-o-rama, Ram-a-lamma-ding-dong and all of you other blind followers, please get a clue. Devaney appears to be a nice man but that and $4.75 will get you a tall coffee at Starbucks.
As So cal, Montauk and Cleveland have added, this draft is daft. some of thes guys will play. But players that cold have been picked at these same spots will likely be better players than the ones Billy D selected. other than confusion in the draft room, i can’t think of good reasons to take these guys where we did. And Null… don’t even go there.
KMac, thamnosma, Clevelandram, So cal rams fan…spot on. Does anyone think for a second that real winners are ever satisfied? And I don’t want to hear about Avery, Greco, and Burton, because face it, would they START on more than 1/2 the teams in this league? Totally concur Devaney seemed completely outclassed, outmatched, unprepared… Look at the Cowboys. They had admiteddly 3 players they wanted that were picked before they got them…what did they do? They turned it into 12 picks. Face it, Spagnuolo will try and RUN, RUN, RUN the ball…keep his defense off the field…play posession football, field position control. That’s what you do when you don’t have depth or talent.
I had high hoppes for Devaney and this draft. Oh, well.
this dude brook foster is hella strong he did 27 reps of 225 and runs a 4.41…
Why is everyone one so sure WR isn’t covered. Both Avery and Burton did as well as could be expected for the kind of passes they wer getting. With Stanley, Robinson, and maybe still Looker, not to mention the tightends, and Bulger protected making decent throws we can make catches. They always pick up players in the late rounds to cover their bases and that’s when the “sleepers” get discovered to make up for the sure-bet flops some of you seem to feel would have come with a guarantee. If the scouts, GM’s and coaches can all be wrong so can self appointed authorities.