I have been going through all these posts about recievers and there is a majority of people here who think MSW is destined to become WR1 for the Rams. I got blasted for disagreeing with this but no one gave me a reason for where this support for Sims-Walker is coming from. Compare our very own Brandon Gibson's stats with MSW's from last year.

Gibson

Sims-Walker

These stats look very similar to me, Gibson with more receptions and yards but MSW with lots more TDs. The year before MSW had 869 yards and 7 TDs which is considerably better. The stats never tell the whole story so I jumped over to Big Cat Country, the SBNation blog for the Jags to see what they have to say and I found this courtesy of Brian Levenson . 

In 2009, Sims-Walker finally got a full season under his belt and he played well. 63 catches for 869 yards. Of course, for the record, he had seven games in his best season where his stat line was less than 2 catches for 28 yards. In 2010, he was playing through an ankle injury. Ok, that's all fine and good, but he still only had two great games. 10 for 105 mostly in garbage time against the Chargers and 8 for 153 against Dallas who were just an absolutely terrible team at that point in the season. Remove those two games and Sims-Walker made 25 catches for 304 yards over 12 games. ... [In summary] he has the tendency to disappear in games, [and] he struggles at times holding on to the ball, [his future team] will just see a receiver with good physical talent and want him.

In the one Jags game I saw last year, he did not seem like a number one WR or significantly better then what we had at the time (Clayton was still healthy). I still see this as a good pick up because of the one year deal he got with no guarenteed money allowing us to cut him easily but I am not overy optimistic for his future as our WR1. I think he was picked up to be an insurance policy for DX and compete with him if DX cannot build on his rookie preformances. I think that Avery will come back playing better then everyone seems to expect and that Gibson will calm down and be able to become a solid possesion reciever. Hopefully making MSW's signing a luxury, meaning he won't have to become a stud for us to pass all over the NFC West but it would be great if he does.

I'd love to hear more about what you guys think / know about MSW, and for the record I am not retarded or a drug addict.

I am making this post as a response to all those upset with the Rams relatively conservative approach to free agency. I think Devaney has earned some trust and respect. I have faith in his ability to give the Rams the players required for the Rams to continue to grow. Free agency is not the way to build a team, money should be spent on retaining good players grown into the system not buying players who have already had success in other systems. Free agency is all about the players getting huge paydays as a reward for their success. Its about the player's success not the teams, see Redskins.

I love it when Devaney picks up young players I have never heard of or solid veteran role players. We don't need a Reggie Bush or Sidney Rice,  we have an all-pro RB and a bucketful of receiving options. I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that at least one of our current WRs will be more successful than Rice next season. I'm sure when players start getting cut in bunches Devaney will be right there to pick up some gems. We are getting close to becoming a good team again in the league. Solid back-up RBs, OLBs, and guards are not as expensive or hard to find as many of the positions we have already locked down.

Until now I have no reason to doubt our FOs judgement so I plan on just relaxing, enjoying the show and waiting for another great season.

I think all these years of supporting the Rams and picking high has got many of us a little too preoccupied with the draft, even while our team is finally making a push towards the playoffs. But even so this years draft has got me really excited. We've our really high value positions locked down with good up and coming rookies in Bradford, Long, Saffold and Jason Smith. IMO that gives our FO a lot of leeway in making our big money early picks because some of our biggest needs OLB and Guards, maybe a backup RB, are positions that are more easily filled with later picks.

After all this preaching about taking the BPA, we finally have the chance to really follow that philosophy and with our FO's improving draft record this could be a really great opportunity to cement the Rams position in the top of the NFC West. Our need for WR has been discussed extensively here already, but I'm with the crowd that would be satisfied with resigning Clayton and sitting with what we had. So that leaves the need for another solid corner. I think we really got something good in Bradley Fletcher and Bartell has shown himself to be a dependable corner when healthy. This is still a team weakness but I think our safeties can help compensate for this and it could be also be helped with picking a pass rushing D-Lineman early as well.

I would be happy with whatever the FO decides to do this upcoming draft early, OLB, WR, CB, DE, DT, basically anything but punter is an option and that's what really has got  me optimistic about next season. The way the FO has managed to improve the team so much so quickly having very little leeway in the draft because our high value positions were so barebones. Finally the light at the end of the tunnel, sneak into the playoffs this year, get a new CBA in place, unleash Devaney on the draft then cruise to the front of the NFC West for year's to come. For starters the Chiefs are stumbling and are just asking to be put out of their misery, let's hope its the Rams to do it.

Alright, I'll start by saying that Steven Jackson is a great running back and leader for this young football team, but IMO he's falling out of the elite group of running backs that he's getting paid like. This is probably one of the best OL he's run behind in years and we at least have a semblance of a passing game this year so he should be tearing the league up like we're used to. It's hard to argue that he's not on the downswing of his career, with all the wear on his body from carrying this team through the dark ages. I don't think he'll dominate games anymore next year. Serviceable to great running backs can be found in the 2-3 round and if we can get a first rounder and a mid round pick along with a young prospect for him from another team I think we should go for it at the end of this season.

The decline comes for running backs very quickly and I think we are seeing the first warnings of SJ's fall coming. I'd hate to see him go but I think getting a healthy return for him through a trade is the best way he can help the team move forward. I watch very little college ball so I don't know how deep this year's running back class is but I definitely trust our FO to get value out of any 1-3 round picks. Also I think his talent level is overkill for what we need out of the RB position for our team and I'd be willing to take a drop of talent there in return for spreading some of that across the rest of the team. Running him straight up the gut is frustrating to watch but I'm not sure if he has the speed to break runs outside. I think we could get similar results out of an above average back coming out of college for much cheaper.

After all this, I'm not really expecting the FO to trade him but I just thought I'd throw out this post as a change of pace to see how everyone else's point of view b/c I'm sure I'm in the minority here. I think making a trade like this could result in a big step forward for the Rams but it obviously comes at a risk if we can't get value out of the picks. But even with thinking like that, Bradford and the passing game is our future and with SJ's history he could very likely spend a lot of next year injured without compensation for us. The only thing is, at this point I'm not sure we can get a first rounder plus etc. in return for him. Does anyone see where I'm coming from / what am I missing? Also I'd like to know if there are any worthwhile backs projected in the 2-3 round that aren't way undersized.

This wait for the first game against the Cardinals is killing me. This preseason has got me really excited that finally the Rams will pull it together and start climbing back to respectability. This FO looks like its making all the right moves cutting the dead weight but there are so many unknowns starting for us in crucial positions. I can't stop thinking about last year's 3-1 preseason finish. Most of these players we're getting excited over and pinning our hopes on really haven't done anything in the regular season. There is nothing I want more than to crush the Cards this weekend and show the league that the Rams are back but other than our favorite punter/kicker duo only Jackson, Atogwe and Jason Brown have really ever performed at high level when it counts.

Bradford, our recievers, D-line and corners are really all just maybes at this point, even our tight ends that hopefully will end up a team strength have had no real regular season success. Bajema is a great role player but wouldn't be my first choice as number 1 TE. Even with all that, IMO our season's success will come down to the O-lines play. Smith and Saffold hold this team's future in their hands, cue CoachConners with some reassuring comment about Jason Smith. I haven't forgot the Vikings game, we could easily drop back to that once the real games start and the other teams are coming for blood. Any major injuries to the O-line and we are in big trouble. Also, since RamChops gone soft, people gotta calm down on the Danario hype, this guys got one knee and might not ever play in the NFL.

Not trying to burst anyone's bubble but we've got just as many potential problems going into the season as the Cards and Seahawks. Hopefully the preseason play this year isn't as deceiving as last years. On a more hopeful note I think only the Saints game last year got me as excited for the Rams as beating the Patriots this preseason, dirty Patriot sleazebags. 21-17 Rams this Sunday and all my doubts are erased.

I don't understand why everyone has written off Clausen as a pick. If we really are going to pass on Suh, I still praying we won't, then why is Bradford the only option. Even as everyone is talking about Bradford's character it was Clausen that played through a year injured and still put up ridiculous numbers. Bradford's from a spread offense that is built to make quaterbacks look incredible while Clausen worked from a Pro-style West Coast offense behind a bad offensive line and struggling running game. Clausen has already been forced to play through adversity and succeeded while Bradford was babied and injured twice already. The only knock against Clausen is that he sometimes floats deep balls in. He only threw 4 interceptions compared to 28 touchdowns from a pro-style offense as a junior who played injured. That blows my mind, I think everyone has to read this article from WalterFootball, http://walterfootball.com/mattblog091229.php. After all this I'm still 100% behind Suh, that man's a ferocious man beast just waiting to be let loose on Alex Smith, Matt Hasselbeck and Matt Leinart or whatever other QB has the bad luck of lining up against him.

Just to mix things up is anyone behind picking Andre Smith 2nd overall? Even with the mistakes he's made with the combine, agent and his apparent lack of work ethic he still dominated at his positition and started three years. Before the combine no one was talking about Jason Smith and we got to be cautious about getting caught up in workout numbers. Andre Smith definately has the potential to be a pro bowler. I keep gettin the feeling that the 49ers will pick him up and we'll be regretting not picking him for years. Monroe is the safest pick but with the right coaching Andre Smith could be great. He fits perfectly with the plan to get bigger in the trenches and runing the ball through jackson. Imagine jackson running behind Karney, Jason Brown, Incognito and Andre Smith.