Happy Friday Rams Fans! Hopefully today finds you well. Hooray it's June 1st! June 1st people! It means we are only two months and 5 days away from the Arizona Cardinals and the New Orleans Saints kicking off the preseason. The season is slowly creeping up on us, but with uncanny slowness for some. I liken this time of the year to watching grass grow, sooner or later you're going to get bored and turn to something else, perhaps hockey. Believe it or not, there are other sports out there and the NHL is in full Stanley Cup mode. You can check out more here and here.

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The lump in my throat wouldn't go away. I twisted off the cap to my canteen and drank down a big gulp of water, hoping it would help. Nothing. It sat there like a frog on a lily pad waiting on a fly. The butterflies in my stomach wouldn't disappear either. Why would it? As the sweat dripped down my back I sat up in my turret, thinking perhaps if I looked around and focused on something external I would feel better. Looking off to my left, as far as I could see were my brothers, lined up in tanks, armored personnel carriers, bradley fighting vehicles, 5 ton trucks, and humvees. All of us feeling pretty much the same, a sense of dread mixed with the excitement you only get when doing something completely insane and dangerous. But we are all young men, and young men crave that element of danger.

I looked toward the North West at nothing. The Iraqi desert lay ahead of us, with miles of dry hot wasteland between us and the nearest opposition. For the last 24 hours, the Air Force had been laying waste to hard targets along the border, and special operations forces had been calling in air strikes on ground forces who would threaten the initial border crossing of the main element. I was on lane 8A, paving the way with our engineer element, the 11th engineers and the 3rd Infantry Division.

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Professional football has become almost unrecognizable to our NFL forefathers. Gone are the days of run first, pass second game play. In today's NFL, teams go to the pass more often than not, and a trend in this pass heavy philosophy is to utilize the tight end position more and more...

In the past, great tight ends were the exception, not the rule. Very few teams featured great tight ends. Names like Jay Novacek, Dave Casper, and Kellen Winslow Sr. are easily recognizable to fans of the NFL. How they played their positions can't be compared to the way tight ends are used today. The modern day tight end often finds themselves running routes coming off of motion, running routes as slick as a wide receiver. Oh, they block for a run play or two, but they now specialize in running pass patterns against smaller defensive backs in routes more traditionally given to wide receivers.

The Rams under Jeff Fisher promise to deliver a more run heavy offense, but there will be a time and place for the passing game. With few elite weapons on the offensive side of the ball, Brian Schottenheimer will elect to spread the ball around the field, and the tight end position will be called upon to move the chains more often than past offensive schemes. The Rams have a few options at the tight end position.

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Every draft ends with disappointment for many athletes. Many college players work their entire collegiate career knowing they probably do not have a legitimate shot of having their name called on draft day. For those players who go without a phone call in April, there is the slim possibility of being brought in as an Undrafted Free Agent.

Hard work, determination, and a little luck could land one of these guys on an NFL roster as a practice squad player, a backup, or maybe even as a starter. Only time will tell for those no-name players, but time, just like the earth, keeps spinning, and before you know it their numbers will be called for termination or promotion. Read on for a look at Alex Hoffman-Ellis.

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The Rams started out the new year with many needs, among them, the offensive line. Perhaps no other facet of the game needed to be addressed more than the big men protecting the Rams $50 million quaterback, Sam Bradford. Many fans, myself included, wanted to see a new direction; specifically the release of Jason Smith and the drafting of a blue chip left tackle.

In the months leading up to the draft, the fog cleared and Rams Nation realized that the team was not going to be able to draft our dream in Matt Kalil. Instead, the team was going to stick with who they had in the trenches, along with a few free agent acquisitions. It would be left up to the new coaching staff to turn the ship in a new direction. And boy let me tell you, have we got a few guys that might just be up to the task.

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The St. Louis Rams organization went through a major overhaul this off season. Seizing the opportunity to bring in new talent, Rams owner Stan Kroenke went after the top coaching name available in Jeff Fisher. The big benefit of bringing in someone with Coach Fisher’s pedigree and experience is that you draw instant interest from professional coaches across the league, and you have coach Fisher’s circle of friends and long-time associates chomping at the bit to work with him. Read on to learn a little about our new Special Teams coaches.

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The St. Louis Rams addressed one of the glaring holes on their roster with the 14th pick in the 2012 NFL draft by selecting Michael Brockers, Defensive Tackle (DT), LSU. The team solidified the position further by picking up former Miami Dolphin DT Kendall Langford in free agency.

Coupled with outside edge rushers in Chris Long and Robert Quinn, both previous 1st round draft choices, the Rams are poised to have one of the best defensive lines in professional football. Away we go with a look at who will be coaching up the new look defensive line.

Last year, the St. Louis Rams were abysmal on defense; specifically the running game. While an anomalous secondary gobbled up opposing offenses statistically with 12 interceptions to their credit, and just 166 first downs via the pass, watching the game tape told a different story. With teams able to run at will against the Rams front seven, quarterbacks were able to sit back, for the most part, and pick apart the intermediate and long route coverage provided by the often injured Rams defensive backs. The defensive line is retooled for the 2012 season, and should be complemented by a revamped secondary. Teams entering into grid iron combat with the Rams defense may not have the success they had last year.

In the 2011 regular season, the Rams run defense gave up a horrific average of 152 yards per game. While Long and the rotation on the other end of the line were successful at getting to the quarterback, sometimes busting the edge seal on run plays, the middle of the line lent almost nothing to the equation of stopping the run. So who did the Rams front office bring in to coach up the new look defense?

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As I sit here trying to focus on work, I can't help but think about the draft tonight. For Rams fans, the draft is our Stanley Cup, our Super Bowl, our World Series all rolled into one. We eagerly await the little card being handed to Roger to announce the pick. Some of us even have draft parties, where we eat 7 layer dip and guzzle brew while following the draft's every move via twitter, Facebook, and NFL Network.

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"Defense wins championships" is a phrase which has echoed throughout the annals of football history. Consider for a moment that 38 of the 46 Super Bowl winners have had a defense ranked in the top 10 in the National Football League. Going further, 22 of those championship teams have ranked in the top three. The 1985 Bears, the 2000 Baltimore Ravens, the 2002 Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the list goes on and on. Yes, in today’s NFL, teams must be able to dominate in the passing game.

Nothing demonstrates this philosophy more than teams drafting the skill players, wide receivers, running backs, and quarterbacks more often in the first few rounds of the draft over the last ten years. Conversely, just as many defensive players have had their names called come draft day. Over the last decade of drafts, 84 of the 160 players chosen within the top 16 picks have been defensive players. In that crowd of players, we have names like DeAngelo Hall, Von Miller, Dwight Freeney, Troy Polamalu, A.J. Hawk, Mario Williams and, Shawne Merriman to name only a few.

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With Manning turning 36 this weekend and the risk of further injury, could the Broncos make a move to get Ryan Tennehill. Just thinking this would be a smart move to secure the future of the franchise who could study behind one of the greats.

Oh yeah, that happens to be his fiance. Just thought you guys would like to know who I am talking about, the whole person concept if you will.

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I know. I know. Why in the world would we want David Carr on our sidelines? The depth of the quarter back position in the NFL is perhaps the shallowest of all positions. At any one time in the NFL, teams have between 2 and 3 quarterbacks on their roster. Since the rule change for the "emergency quarterback" for the 2011 season, most teams carry 3 quarterbacks on their active roster. So, by assuming that each team carries 3 active quarterbacks on the game day roster, we are looking at a total of 64 men playing backup QB. How many of these QBs are quality backups? About one third have played a full game in their NFL career, and the other two thirds are newly drafted or only good for holding the ball during a field goal try.

The backup quarterback isn’t supposed to be a star. The journeyman QB position has traditionally been used to slow the bleeding and allow the starting QB to heal. The backup should be able to come in and manage the team to an even .500 record while the starter is on the mend. With the new pass happy NFL, quarterbacks are out for shorter periods of time, making the backup quarterback seem less like a priority for the teams and their fans. Who are the Rams backups and what have they done in the NFL?

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A glaring need for the St. Louis Rams is outside linebacker. The Rams have addressed the position in consecutive seasons with free agency and hangers on from busted regimes; which to everyone’s dismay, hasn’t worked out as expected. Other free agent positions demand more money, namely the offensive line and wide receiver. The organization will look at the deep free agent linebacker pool for those who won’t demand as much cold hard cash.

The Carolina Panthers drafted Dan Connor in the 3rd round of the 2008 NFL draft. The Pennsylvania native attended Penn State, one of college football’s linebacker factories. A prototypical linebacker, Connor stands 6’2" and weighs in at 231 lbs. His college career was nothing less than astounding; having set the school’s career tackles record at 419, and winning the Chuck Bednarik Award. In 2008, he ranked number 23 on Sports Illustrated’s top 25 NFL Draft Candidates list. During the NFL Combine in 2008, he ran a 4.63 40 yard dash, and is strong, showing his strength by bench-pressing 225lbs - 22 times.

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The offensive line is the cornerstone of a good team. If a quarterback cannot stay upright long enough to progress through his reads and find the open man, the team will fail. If a running back doesn’t have an open gap to hit consistently, the team will fail.

There is no mystery surrounding the poor play of the Ram’s offense this past season. The offensive line simply could not pass or run block effectively. Enter Demetrius Bell from the Buffalo Bills. Bell is 6’5" and 311 lbs. The Louisiana native attended Northwestern State and was drafted in the 7th round of the 2008 draft. Having only played football in college, the Bills took the time to develop him, sitting him out of the entire 2008 season. Bell is one of those rare talents a team dug out of the late rounds who actually has made a good contribution to the team on something other than special teams.

Bell started at Left Tackle for the 2009 season, only to be on the sidelines after week 10 with a knee injury. Bell went on to recover well from surgery and started all 16 games in 2010. Bell was on and off the field for the 2011 season. He suffered another knee injury and a shoulder injury, only starting 6 games and playing in 7. Bell was part of an offensive line this year that was credited for helping the Bills start off very hot and allowing Ryan Fitzpatrick to pick apart defenses like he can pick apart a SAT test. Not surprisingly, the Bills started their decline soon after he left the field for the season.

While Bell may not be the sexy pickup in free agency, he could come in and play a role on a retooled offensive line.

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Reggie Wayne is probably one of the most recognizable names in free agency, but hasn’t been mentioned much here at Turf Show Times. Besides being a pass catcher for the seeming guided missiles of Peyton Manning for the past decade plus, Reggie Wayne has been the measure of consistency for the Indianapolis Colts.

The 33 year old New Orleans Louisiana native is 6’ 0" and 198 lbs of pigskin snagging flesh and bone. Reggie Wayne is not the biggest receiver you will ever see, but he runs good routes and has those ever desired soft hands. (Insert joke of choice here.) So what has he done besides be the envy of every undersized receiver in the league?

During his 11 years in the league he has:

173 games played (If you are playing at home that is only 3 games missed due to injury) 862 receptions, 11, 708 yards, a 13.6 yard per catch average, 67.7 yards per game caught, 73 touchdowns, 156 catches of 20 or more yards, 30 catches of 40 or more yards, 618 catches that resulted in a 1st down, and only 8 fumbles. Like I said before, he is the measure of consistency. Even in a year where the Colts had two of the worst quarterbacks under center, Reggie Wayne had 76 catches for 960 yards.

As much as the Colts organization would love to have him back next year, he most likely will end up somewhere else before draft day. Why St. Louis? There is much chatter of Blackmon being the Rams number one pick, and if that is the case, why not bring in one of the most experienced and technically sound wide receivers in the NFL to mentor and counsel him? Even if the Rams go another direction in the draft, Sam Bradford needs a go to receiver opposite the hopefully re-signed Brandon Lloyd.

At the age of 33, Wayne will not command as much in the way of salary as Vincent Jackson. Granted Jackson has more upside by being 3 years younger, but this team’s rebuilding is not all about youth movement, as free agents like Tulloch, Finnegan, and others are names being bounced around at Rams headquarters.

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Cliff Avril, a defensive end with the Detroit Lions is perhaps one of the most underrated Free Agents out there. As a standout for the Lions for the past four years, Cliff has recorded 30 sacks. His 6’3" 252 lbs frame is certainly stout enough to handle the role of a rushing or coverage linebacker. The Purdue product had a great college career, starting in 35 contests out of 49, 12 of those starts coming in at strong-side linebacker

One could make the case, and Avril has said himself, that he would be willing to play outside linebacker. He was the top performer at the combine in the 3-cone drill, which measures a player’s burst and ability to switch directions quickly. He also was a top performer in the vertical leap. Can anyone say batted passes? Cliff Avril entered the league the same year our own Chris Long came aboard, and he out performed him. In Cliff’s rookie year he tied for the rookie lead of 5 sacks, following on with 5.5, 8.5, and 11 sacks in 2009, 2010, and 2011 respectively. He has also been a solid tackler on a defense dominated by Suh, with 23, 41, 33, and 36 tackle from 2008-2011.

His health is another high point having only missed 6 games over 4 years. Avril comes from a team who plays indoors, and he excels there, with 26 of his 36 tackles coming under a dome in 2011. Another awesome stat is that Avril has managed to lock up offenses where it counts, on 3rd and 4th down. In 2011 Avril had 26 tackles on 3rd and 4th downs, 12 of them solo, along with 4 of his sacks on those downs.

The Rams have hired their newest and perhaps most important position coach in Dave McGinnis. Mr. McGinnis, or just plain Dave, steps into a very precarious position with the Rams. Not only will he have the title of Assistant Head Coach, but he will more importantly have the job of coaching the linebackers.

The team already has a solid starting middle linebacker in James Laurinitis, but beyond the mad man from Ohio State University, things are far from settled. Brady Poppinga will surely stick around along with David Nixon andChris Chamberlain. McGinnis has his work cut out for him, but if his past sheds any light into his future, the Rams could have one of the more formidable linebacking corps in the league come kick-off in the 2012 NFL season. Hit the jump for more about our new coach!

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I know most of the talk around here has consisted of either OL or WR with our 1st round pick in this years draft. I am a proponent of going WR either with a trade down or with #2 overall. What about RB? Trent Richardson has declared and I could really see him being the perfect back to spell Jackson and be his eventual replacement. As an SEC fan, I spent way too much time watching football this year; particularly from the boys in Crimson and White. This guy is ridiculous! I mean, wow, have you seen some of the stuff he has done?

Check out this write-up on the Bleacher Report:

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Well folks we are faced with what every fan of every team in every sport both dreads and embraces; the search for a new GM and HC. Words cannot express to you how excited I am for the change taking place in our organization. We have a few prospects out there for the recently vacant HC position, and today I would like to put out a little perspective about Jeff Fisher. Hit it!

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The answer is probably different for everyone. However, many of us will have some of the same reasons in common.

My father was a lifelong Dallas Cowboys fan. By default, this made me a Cowboys fan. I was a teenager when the Cowboys drafted Troy and Emmitt, and then built a dynasty around the once great franchise. Before that though, the Cowboys had been stinking up the NFL. As a small child, I remember my father yelling at the TV as the Boys would blow another lead or look at me in disbelief when they drafted another sure to be bust. Through it all, up until his death in 1996 He was a true Cowboys fan, getting to see his Boys win another Super Bowl. I remember the elation on his face when Troy hoisted that trophy during the Lombardi presentation ceremony. Hell, one of my first memories was of my Mom and I picking my father up at Cowboys Stadium after a win and him putting a child size cap on my head with the big blue star on it.

It was the winter of 1995 when I first started paying attention to the newly relocated Rams. My father and I were in that awkward teenage son vs father phase. I was looking for ways to rebel and looking to become my own man. The Rams were a way for me to stick it to the old man. From that moment forward I became a Rams fan. I watched as they struggled for their own identity, much as I was struggling for mine. As with all struggles, when coupled with hard work, determination, and a little lady luck, the Rams reached through to the other side of adversity and pulled victory from the jaws of a season ending injury to our star QB. Those hard times and the seeming ineptitude of management forged within me the blue and gold blood that pumps through my veins to this day.

Today our beloved franchise faces the same sort of adversity we faced back then when my Rams journey began. We have management who seems to have their head up their collective ass. We have a bunch of players who seem to either not have the skill set to succeed or are lacking the direction and motivation to do so. We also have a coaching staff who seems to be learning as they go, and who cannot grasp the concept of running the ball on first and goal!

Point being, we are invested in the Rams. All the time spent watching mock draft boards, all the hours spent at the venue or in front of the TV cheering on our team, the money spent on trips to see them play, jerseys bought and worn until they are virtually see-through, time spent ignoring our families while we eagerly scroll through TST looking for a glimmer of good news, faith invested in the team, faith that the kick will stay true and sail through the uprights, faith that on 4th and 1 SJax can punch through the line and get a 1st, faith that the coach will have the balls to call the right play instead of bootlegging with a one legged QB, faith that our team will start a new season each and every year and have a chance to go to the playoffs and be in the biggest of shows.

Loyalty to our team, faith in our team, and personal investments in the team. Those are the reasons that I will stay a Ram for life. Much like my father 's Cowboys, I know that if I give my team my full support, eventually they will come around to being champions again. And who knows, maybe I can pass that tradition onto my 4 month old son. One day he could wear the blue and gold as a fan or player(That would be awesome). But, like me, he will most likely go off and find his own team to root for, but you can bet your ass it will be til the day he dies!

Playoffs? Playoffs? You wanna talk about playoffs? Yeah, I guess I will be dragging up this topic again, but who doesn't see the total inept play calling tonight. My god, we never established the run, Sam was limited to short throws, and we never found a way to get Danny into the game. Worst called game in a decade, and I think thats being nice. This guy has no idea how to use the weapons we have. Our best player had next to no yards against one of the worst teams against the rush. Sorry job Pat, just sorry. Thoughts?

for the game is back in STL. Yeah we lost, and yeah there are lots of things the coaching staff needs to address this week, but the passion is back. I don't think I have seen that much intensity from our boys in years. Was it me or was Long talking a lot of smack and backing it up? Hell, even  SJax was pumped up! If the coaching staff and the player leaders can keep this level of intensity we may see a bunch of wins this year. I could care less about the dropped passes, the anemic running attack, or even the lack of run defense. I saw enough Sunday night to get me excited and passionate again about this team. No, intensity and passion alone will not win games. Couple them with good leadership, consistent play, and Pat finally taking the reins off the horses and slinging the ball down field, and we have the recipe for a solid and respectable season, something that has been sorely missing for years. That is all.

Is anyone else looking at San Fran's offensive weapons with a little more respect now? I mean, IMHO, I think they have the best set in the division now with the signing of Ginn. Wow! Let's hope Dez falls in the draft. At least they don't have a QB any better than us! BTW, I think this Browns trade in the draft sounds pretty good. I am nervous about Sam landing on that shoulder and the Ram's wasting a pick on a guy that ends up on IR, i.e. Adam Carriker.

I just got my membership activated here at El Birdos, wanted to relay a great weekend while traveling to watch the Cards.

I originally posted this over at TST.

My wife, daughter and I are displaced St. Louisians. I am stationed in northern IL with the Army as a recruiter.

Anyway, we stayed in Milwaukee over the Memorial Day weekend to catch the Cards-Brewers game on Monday. BTW a big shout out to the staff there that gave us a kick ass military discount of $99 a night!

We went down to the hotel restraunt, which we didn't know at the time but was exspensive as hell. My wife and I contemplated going somewhere else, but decided to stay and spoil ourselves. About halfway through the first course the waiter leads Rick Ankiel, Chris Duncan, Skip Schumacher, and Nick Stavinoha to the table right next to us.  Now we were sitting along a very long bench with tables lined up next to each other. They sat right next to us, just a few feet away.

My kid was right next to Skip and my wife was right next to Nick. I was in shock that they were there, leaned over to ask my wife in an excited but hushed breath, "Do you know who they are? OMG!" She was equally excited, but we both played it cool, deciding to instead of being the annoying fans rushing up for auto's, to be the cool guys and just get up at the end of dinner and wish them a good game.

Skip and my kid had a chat about spiderman, and wolverine, and anything else 7 year old girls love to talk about. Larue walks up later and sits his big butt on the corner of our table. Skip tells him to get up, Rick leans over and says, "he does that kind of stuff all the time, please forgive him." We all laughed and Larue left red faced.

Anyway, we wished them a good game and left, excited as all hell.

The next day at batting practice my kid caught a ball hit off the bat of Skip, and we had a quick chat with Tony. 

Yeah the Cards lost, and we had to deal with the Brewers fans on the way out to the car, but all in all, not a bad weekend.

Go Cards and Rams!  We have the best fans in the world!

I know this is TST and Viva el birdos is for Cardinals news and such, but my account won't be active with them for another 22 hours and I am dying to tell this story.

My wife, daughter and I are displaced St. Louisians. I am stationed in northern IL with the Army as a recruiter.

Anyway, we stayed in Milwaukee over the Memorial Day weekend to catch the Cards-Brewers game on Monday. BTW a big shout out to the staff there that gave us a kick ass military discount of $99 a night!

We went down to the hotel restraunt, which we didn't know at the time but was exspensive as hell. My wife and I contemplated going somewhere else, but decided to stay and spoil ourselves. About halfway through the first course the waiter leads Rick Ankiel, Chris Duncan, Skip Schumacher, and Nick Stavinoha to the table right next to us.  Now we were sitting along a very long bench with tables lined up next to each other. They sat right next to us, just a few feet away.

My kid was right next to Skip and my wife was right next to Nick. I was in shock that they were there, leaned over to ask my wife in an excited but hushed breath, "Do you know who they are? OMG!" She was equally excited, but we both played it cool, deciding to instead of being the annoying fans rushing up for auto's, to be the cool guys and just get up at the end of dinner and wish them a good game.

Skip and my kid had a chat about spiderman, and wolverine, and anything else 7 year old girls love to talk about. Larue walks up later and sits his big butt on the corner of our table. Skip tells him to get up, Rick leans over and says, "he does that kind of stuff all the time, please forgive him." We all laughed and Larue left red faced.

Anyway, we wished them a good game and left, excited as all hell.

The next day at batting practice my kid caught a ball hit off the bat of Skip, and we had a quick chat with Tony. 

Yeah the Cards lost, and we had to deal with the Brewers fans on the way out to the car, but all in all, not a bad weekend.

Go Cards and Rams!  We have the best fans in the world!