Monday, February 18, 2013
Another priority for St. Louis
By Tim Kavanagh
Based upon their situation at WR -- top targets Danny Amendola and Brandon Gibson are both impending free agents -- one might think that this is the position at which the St. Louis Rams are in the most trouble. But there are some other holes on the roster as well, as the club attempts to climb the rungs of the NFC West in 2013.
Danny Tuccitto of Football Outsiders went through the quarter of clubs in that division for the "Plugging the Holes" series on Monday, and for St. Louis, he identified right tackle and safety as the primary positions of need. There are a number of teams in the market for help at safety, and the relatively low franchise tag number for that position will diminish the quantity of quality players available. As for the RT issue, here's what Tuccitto had to say:
Danny Tuccitto
Plugging the Holes: NFC West"The biggest offensive issue St. Louis needs to address is at right tackle, where Barry Richardson had another awful year in pass protection (18 blown-block sacks or hurries allowed), and backup Wayne Hunter struggled mightily as an injury replacement for left tackle Rodger Saffold (eight blown-block sacks or hurries allowed in one-third season's worth of snaps). It should also be noted that, in the running game, St. Louis' least productive run direction was behind right tackle. As of right now, premier right tackles Sebastian Vollmer and Andre Smith are available if the Rams want to throw money at the problem. Otherwise, it's likely that Oklahoma's Lane Johnson will be available at their No. 16 pick."
