I've heard over and over again that Notre Dame quarterback Jimmy Clausen and Cincinnati quarterback Tony Pike are two of the are most 'NFL ready' QBs that will be in next years NFL draft class. Yet when you go to some of the popular sports sites like Scout.com, or Scott Wright's Draft Countdown they are rated after Colt McCoy, Tim Tebow and in some cases even Sam Bradford. I'm thinking that's probably because at the time these sports pundits rated college QBs that are entering the draft next year were not aware of the fact that Clausen and Pike were both going to commit to leaving college as juniors for NFL eligability.

My point being that the Rams should take the 'best player available' in the draft when it's their turn to pick. There should be several good quarterbacks in round 2 and they won't cost us round 1 pay.

So with that here's Mel Kiper Jr's 2010 Big Board as of last week...

Next season, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish will have a new coach -- and they might need someone new under center as well. I just moved Jimmy Clausen to No. 4 on my Big Board (he was No. 6 last week), and among junior QBs, I finally jumped him over Sam Bradford of the Oklahoma Sooners.

The other big news this week on the Big Board is the fall of Carlos Dunlap of the Florida Gators, who went from No. 3 (last week) to No. 17 (this week). He had off-field issues and will miss the SEC championship game as a result. I also dropped him to No. 4 among junior defensive ends.

Mel's top 5 after the fold

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In the article 'Yankee Stadium to Host Annual Bowl Game Featuring Big 12 Conference Team' on the Big12Sports.com website they made the statement:

Should the Big 12 representative not qualify for bowl eligibility under NCAA guidelines, Notre Dame has agreed to take part in the Yankee Stadium bowl game against a Big East opponent, barring Notre Dame's availability to participate.

Pardon my ignorance but just what does that mean? 'Should the Big 12 ...not qualify for bowl eligibility.' What are the requirements? How would they not qualify?

Full Story here:  http://www.big12sports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=106181&SPID=13139&DB_OEM_ID=10410&ATCLID=204804262

Please and Thanks!

This Sunday we FINALLY get the show (regular seaon) on the road. Having said that, after the fold you will see the current and up-to-date Offense, Defense, Special Teams,Practice Squad and Injured Reserve lists you can Cut n' Paste into you favorite Word Processor (or what have you) and print out a nice large font listing to have in front of you for all the games.

The roster is provided in jersey number sequence for obvious reasons - ;)

Enjoy!

Go Rams!

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Okay, the preseason has begun. Just thought I'd publish some important dates you might want to keep track of:

Aug. 13-17: First preseason weekend (started this weekend).

Sept. 1: Roster cutdown to maximum of 75 players.

Sept. 5: Roster cutdown to maximum of 53 players.

Sept. 10: Regular season kicks off on Thursday (Tennessee at Pittsburgh, 8:30 ET).

Jan. 31, 2010: Pro Bowl, Miami.

Feb. 7, 2010: Super Bowl XLIV, Miami.

You can also find the complete NFL Regular season (also the preseason) schedule here and which TV Network will be airing each game:

http://www.nfl.com/schedules?seasonType=REG&season=2009#Week

Go Rams!

I don't know abot you but the size font the P-D used in today's paper to publish the Ram's roster was so small that not only did I need to use my reading glasses but I had to also use a magnifying glass and that's not something I want to do while watching the game.

I'm a staunch Ram's fan but even so I can't remember all the numbers on the back's of the rookie players and let's face it when you're watch the game tonight things will be moving fast and you'll want to know who number 18 is or who number 99 is.

To this end I made up a Ram's roster (in jersey number sequence) for tonight's game so after or during a play I can quickly check to see who did this or that.

If you would like a copy then jump on over and do a cut-copy and then place in your favorite word processor or even Notepad or Wordpad and increase the font size to your desired level. Enjoy!

Go Rams!

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Here we are entering the 3rd and final week of training camp before the preseason games and as of 8 PM last night (Saturday, Aug. 8th) NFL.com reported that there are still five remaining draftee hold outs.

Notice OT Eugene Monroe is one of them ... there was a lot of chatter proior to the draft that it was a 50-50 chance the Rams would pick Monroe over Smith. It appears they made the right decision in selectiong Jason Smith so far.

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You probably all know by now that that's the new Rams slogan and I think it's appropriate for the rebuilding of the Rams young team (the Rams are the 3rd youngest team in the NFL). it was the theme of Nick Wagoner's article yesterday. I personally think it's a great article about attitude and team first, an attitude that will win games.

Spag has it right, football games are won by teams not by individuals. So if you have some time jump on over to the Rams official site and read 'Team Building Takes Time'.

Go Rams!

As of this morning, 1 Aug 2009 - 8:00am, seventeen rookies and thier teams have not come to terms.

If you'll nNotice the rest of our division, Arizona, San Francisco and Seattle, are amoung these.

Here are the team who  have yet to sign their 1st round draft choice:

(Listed in Draft Order Sequence)

3. Kansas City - DE, Tyson Jackson, LSU
4. Seattle - LB, Aaron Curry, Wake Forest
6. Cincinnati - OT, Andre Smith, Alabama
8. Jacksonville - OT, Eugene Monroe, Virginia
9. Green Bay - DT, B.J. Raji, Boston College
10. San Francisco - WR, Michael Crabtree, Texas Tech
11. Buffalo - DE, Aaron Maybin, Penn State
12. Denver - RB, Knowshon Moreno, Georgia
14. New Orleans - CB, Malcolm Jenkins, Ohio State
15. Houston - LB, Brian Cushing, USC
18. Denver (fr. CHI) - DE, Robert Ayers, Tennessee
19. Philadelphia (fr. CLE/TB) - WR, Jeremy Maclin, Missouri
22. Minnesota - WR, Percy Harvin, Florida
27. Indianapolis - RB, Donald Brown, UCONN
29. NY Giants - WR, Hakeem Nicks, North Carolina
30. Tennessee - WR, Kenny Britt, Rutgers
31. Arizona - RB, Chris Wells, Ohio State

Also as of this morning here are the teams that have signed their 1st round draft choice:

(Listed in Draft Order Sequence)

1. Detroit - QB, Matthew Stafford, Georgia - Signed (6-years, $72 million; $41.7 million guaranteed)
2. St. Louis - OT, Jason Smith, Baylor - Signed (5-years, $62M max; $33M guaranteed)
5. NY Jets (fr. CLE) - QB, Mark Sanchez, USC - Signed (5-years; $50.5M real/$60M max; $28M guaranteed)
7. Oakland - WR, Darrius Heyward-Bey, Maryland - Signed (5-years, $38.25M real/$54M max; $23.5M guaranteed)
13. Washington - DE, Brian Orakpo, Texas - Signed (5-years, $20M; $12.1M guaranteed)
16. San Diego - LB, Larry English, Northern Illinois - Signed (5-years, terms undisclosed)
17. Tampa Bay (fr. CLE/NYJ) - QB, Josh Freeman, Kansas State - Signed (5-years, $36M; $10.245M guaranteed)
20. Detroit (fr. DAL) - TE, Brandon Pettigrew, Oklahoma State - Signed (5-years, $14.6M max; $9.4M guaranteed)
21. Cleveland (fr. PHI) - OC, Alex Mack, California - Signed (5-years, $11.3M; $8.9M guaranteed)
23. Baltimore (fr. NE) - OT, Michael Oher, Mississippi - Signed (5-years, $13.795M max.; $7.8M guaranteed)
24. Atlanta - DT, Peria Jerry, Mississippi - Signed (5-years, terms undisclosed)
25. Miami - CB, Vontae Davis, Illinois - Agreed to terms (5-years, terms undisclosed)
26. Green Bay (fr. NE/BAL) - LB, Clay Matthews, USC - Signed (5-years, $13.25M max)
28. Buffalo (fr. PHI/CAR) - OC, Eric Wood, Louisville - Agreed to terms (5-years, $13M max.)
32. Pittsburgh - DE, Ziggy Hood, Missouri - Signed (5-years, $11.3M max.; $6.1M guaranteed)

Go Rams!

I first saw the story at The Seattle Post-Intelligencer:

Rams sign second overall pick Smith

St. Louis, MO (Sports Network) - The St. Louis Rams signed offensive tackle Jason Smith, the second overall selection in the first round of the 2009 NFL Draft, on Thursday.

Terms of the deal were not announced.

The 6-5, 306-pound Smith allowed only 4 1/2 sacks in 2007-08, covering 1,147 plays, while starring at Baylor. He started 31 career games with the Bears, including 24 at the left tackle position.

Smith was a unanimous All-Big 12 Conference selection in 2008, after helping Baylor rank 21st in the nation in rushing.

Now we can get on with business... Go Rams!

Here's a nice article by Nick Wagoner of stlouisrams.com titled 'Devaney, Demoff Meet St. Louis'.

Rams GM Billy Devaney and VP of Football Operations Kevin Demoff spoke to more than 300 St. Louisans about the future of the Rams this past Friday morning at the Botanical Gardens.

To me it was refreshing to hear about their vision and a look to the future for both the Rams as a team and their commitment to the community.

Go Rams!