The St. Louis Rams certainly are doing their due diligence on the quarterbacks in this draft, and they have a meeting scheduled with Jameis Winston.
NFL Media insider Ian Rapoport said Rams officials are putting Oregon State's Sean Mannionthrough a workout Friday. Fellow NFL Media reporter Albert Breer notes that the Rams also have workouts/visits planned with Winston, UCLA's Brett Hundley, Colorado State's Garrett Grayson and Baylor's Bryce Petty. They already have met with Oregon's Marcus Mariota.
The Rams recently acquired Nick Foles from Philadelphia in a trade involving Sam Bradford. They also acquired Case Keenum from Houston in a trade involving a draft pick, and holdover Austin Davis remains on the roster. But none of those guys is a long-term answer at the position.
The issue for the Rams is whether they think one of the quarterbacks in this draft is a long-term answer. Winston and Mariota are the top-ranked quarterbacks, but there's no way the Rams have a shot at Winston unless they move up from their No. 10 spot in the draft. Mariota's stock isn't as high, but the Rams likely would have to move up to get him, as well. The other quarterbacks? None is considered a sure-fire NFL starter, and each seems likely to come off the board in the second, third or fourth round, with the order a "beauty-is-in-the-eye-of-the-beholder" thing.
St. Louis plays in arguably the toughest division in the league and has six draft picks. Along with a quarterback, the Rams need help along the offensive line, at wide receiver and in the secondary. Offensive line would seem to be the highest priority. Three NFL Media analysts who have done mock drafts have the Rams taking an offensive lineman with their first pick; two have them grabbing a wide receiver and the other has them selecting a cornerback. Their first-round pick obviously is going to impact how they proceed with the draft. Do they bypass a "need" in the second round to select a quarterback? Do they wait until the third day to get a signal-caller? Or do they want until the 2016 draft?
If they do draft a quarterback, he will be working with a revamped offensive staff. The Rams' new quarterback coach is Chris Weinke, who was hired in February and is on an NFL staff for the first time. Former quarterback coach Frank Cignetti was promoted to offensive coordinator when Brian Schottenheimer left for the same job at Georgia.
Mike Huguenin can be reached at mike.huguenin@nfl.com. You also can follow him on Twitter @MikeHuguenin.
