By Nick Wagoner
Senior Writer

As the Rams approached the NFL Draft a year ago, safety was one position that was, without question, one of the team’s greatest needs.

After all Adam Archuleta was coming off serious back problems and Aeneas Williams had reached the end of the road. In that vein, the Rams addressed that spot twice in the first four rounds.

First, St. Louis grabbed Stanford’s Oshiomogho Atogwe early in the third round. The Rams followed that by taking Florida State’s Jerome Carter in the fourth round.

In addition, the Rams added Michael Hawthorne and Michael Stone in free agency in an effort to give the position depth and experience.

Fast forward a year and the only thing that has changed is that Archuleta isn’t coming back. As it stands, the Rams have just one proven safety in free agent signing Corey Chavous.

Chavous will take over for Archuleta at strong safety after Archuleta signed a big contract with the Redskins early in free agency. Atogwe and Carter also return after up and down rookie seasons.

Carter got plenty of playing time last year, but never showed the big hitting skills that he was labeled with coming out of Florida State. Atogwe struggled early and didn’t play much until the end of the year. He finished with a strong showing in the season finale against Dallas and is the frontrunner to land the starting free safety spot.

Mike Furrey, who moved to free safety from receiver before last year, was not offered a contract and signed with Detroit after performing admirably in 2005.

Aside from Chavous, Atogwe and Carter, the Rams have Deandre Eiland and Dwaine Carpenter as the other safeties on the roster. Some in the organizations are high on Carpenter and believe he could not only make the team, but earn playing time next year.

In addition, cornerback Ron Bartell added some muscle in the offseason and there are rumblings that he could move to free safety in his second season.

Even with that group in place, safety is a position of serious need once again. The Rams enter this year’s draft with their eye on adding more help in the secondary.

At the top of their list and the list of every team looking for secondary help is Texas defensive back Michael Huff. Some teams view Huff as a safety, others see him as a corner. The Rams like him at corner, but he could get a shot at safety if the Rams believe Travis Fisher will get back on track at corner.

Should Huff be available when the Rams pick at No. 11, he is almost certain to be the choice, but it isn’t likely that he will last that long.

That means the Rams will probably wait until the middle rounds to add help at safety. After Huff, the other top safeties in the draft are Ohio State’s Donte Whitner, Tennessee’s Jason Allen and USC’s Darnell Bing.

The first two will be gone in the first round or early in the second and Bing should land somewhere in the second as well. South Carolina’s Ko Simpson, Nebraska’s Daniel Bullocks, Florida State’s Patrick Watkins and Georgia’s Greg Blue are other possibilities.