War Room Grading System -
What Scouts are looking for -
How to Read the War Room Charts
St. Louis Rams
Posted: Sun April 19, 1998 at 9:51 p.m.
* compensatory pick
QB - Tony Banks is coming off a really rocky season. He struggled early, and only played well in flashes the rest of the season. In his defense, with a coaching change, he learned his 2nd offensive system in 2 years... he was also without WR Issac Bruce for the 1st half of the season. This will be a telling year for Banks... a make or break season. Backup Mark Rypien has lost most of his skills, and is a ? as a number 2. #3 Will Furrer is a veteran journeyman type. Rypien and Furrer are FA's that have yet to be re-signed. Could add a QB in the draft.
RB - Huge problem area heading into the draft. The waiving of RB Lawrence Phillips hurt this team's progress, but it was a move that had to be made. His midseason departure forced them to use converted FB Jerald Moore at the RB spot. If they don't sign one of the remaining FA RB's, look for them to take a RB in one of the first 2 rds. A good possibility is that they would draft RB Curtis Enis with their 6th overall selection in the 1st. rd.
WR - What was supposed to be a strength wasn't last season. Star WR Issac Bruce missed the 1st half of the season with a hamstring injury, and Eddie Kennison suffered through a horrible sophomore slump. Kennison must get more physical... he really struggled to get off the LOS vs. tight B&R coverage. The addition of FA WR Ricky Proehl should help open up Bruce and Kennison on the outside. Even with Proehl, the depth is marginal... look for them to add a WR in the upcoming draft.
TE - Ernie Conwell has a chance to be one of the better TE's in the NFL. However, he needs to start holding on to the football. He has a knack for making tough catches look easy, but then dropping a lot of catcheable balls. He has good size and AA, and finds ways to get open. Aaron Laing and Mitch Jacoby are non- descript backup types.... they need to upgrade this unit behind Conwell. They could still add a veteran type through FA, and grab another in the upcoming draft.
OL - Got off to a rocky start because of the holdout of rookie LT Orlando Pace. Pace's holdout hurt the changes they wanted to make early on along the OL. They had hoped they could move LT Wayne Gandy to RT, and Zach Wiegert from RT to RG. Pace's holdout didn't allow that to happen. With a season under his belt though, expect this OL to be much improved. The biggest battle will be at OC where Ryan Tucker will battle 1997 starter Mark Gruttadauria for the starting spot. Need to fill the hole at LG... 1997 GA OG John Gerak wasn't the answer. Could draft an OG and OT somewhere in the draft.
DL - A decent unit, but they have some work to do before they can field a solid front 4. RDE Leslie O'Neal was released, leaving a big hole... they courted some FA's, but couldn't get anything done. This isn't a strong DE draft, so they might be hard pressed to find a player ready to make an immediate impact. They lost DT Bill Johnson to the Eagles, but upgraded the spot by signing FA DT Ray Agnew away from the N.Y. Giants. If Kevin Carter plays up to his potential, and they find a player opposite of him, this unit has a chance to be fairly solid.
LB - Played decent last season, but there isn't much young blood in this group. MLB Robert Jones has been somewhat of a bust since coming over as a FA from Dallas, and will be pushed for the starting spot by FA MLB Eric Hill. OLB's Michael Jones and Roman Phifer need to make more plays. This was not a big play group last season, and some youth could be instilled into it in the upcoming draft.
DB - The heart and soul of this team the past few years. They are a ball hawking group that excells at turning opposing teams' offense over. RDC Ryan McNeil led the NFL in INT's last season, and has been designated as the teams franchise player while they try to work out a long term deal. McNeil played on a 1 year deal last season, and may do so again if they can't reach a long term deal. Backup SS Billy Jenkins should push Toby Wright for the starting spot. Jenkins played very well last season when Wright was out with injuries. They drafted DC's Dexter McLeon and Taje Allen last season, so the secondary does not need to be addressed in the draft.
ST - A lot of problems... PK Jeff Wilkins is coming off an awful season that really saw him struggle during the 2nd half of the season. They signed FA PT Rick Tuten from Seattle, but he had a lot of problems with his pelvic muscle last season, and missed a lot of games late in the year. The return units really suffered from the sophomore slump of WR/RS Eddie Kennsion. They have people in place to get the job done, but they must play up to their potential
From the War Room
| 
