By Nick Wagoner
Senior Writer

With speculation running rampant that the Rams would use their first-round pick to find a star returner in Ohio State’s Ted Ginn, the team decided Wednesday to use their fifth-round pick to fill that void.

The Rams dealt a fifth-round choice to Kansas City for returner/receiver Dante Hall on Wednesday. The trade doesn’t necessarily ensure the Rams are no longer interested in Ginn, but it probably means the chances are far slimmer.

Coach Scott Linehan said the trade wouldn't completely eliminate Ginn from the conversation, but it probably signals a shift toward a defensive mindset in the first round.

“It’s going to affect it some," Linehan said. "Certainly it doesn’t eliminate players that play a position well.  The obvious ones are the Ginns of the world and those kind of guys, they’re pretty accomplished players at another position, but there are issues around whether or not you actually have a chance to get those players and whether you’d be able to go that direction anyway.”

For most of his time with the Chiefs, Hall was widely considered the best returner in the game with video-game like moves and ridiculous one-man shows on a number of his returns.

In Kansas City, Hall returned 11 kicks or punts for touchdowns and earned the nickname “X Factor” for his ability to change games from a position on special teams.

With one more kick return for a touchdown, the 28-year old Hall will tie Eric Metcalf for second all-time in the NFL.  Brian Mitchell holds the NFL record with 13 kick-return touchdowns.  Mitchell played 14 seasons and Metcalf 13 seasons.  The 2007 season will be Hall’s eighth.

In 2006, Hall returned 53 kickoffs for a 22.8-yard average and 27 punts for an 8.9-yard average and one touchdown in 2006.  He also caught 26 passes for two touchdowns.

Hall’s productivity has fallen off in recent seasons as he gets older, but he is still one of the most reliable return men in league history. For his career, he boasts averages of 24 yards on 360 kickoffs and a 10-yard average for 188 punt returns in seven seasons with the Chiefs. 

Linehan suggests that Hall's rapidly increasing workload as a receiver might have had the biggest correlation to his dropoff in return productivity. With Isaac Bruce, Torry Holt and Drew Bennett in the fold, Hall won't be asked to do much in that regard.

"It kind of makes you feel like the guy’s 100 years old," Linehan said. "He’s 28.  It’s like a lot of these guys, if he hasn’t been the best in the league the last couple years, he’s still been one of the best, and his numbers show that.  I think there’s a lot of things that factor in that, in our opinion.  He’s been playing quite a bit of a bigger role for them as a receiver.  Maybe that affects it, I don’t know.  He’s not going to have to be in that role for us, obviously, with our depth at wide receiver.  So having him be able to concentrate solely on his specialty, his art, will enhance his ability to get back to where he was.  And really, where he was last year and the year before isn’t too bad if you really look deep into the numbers.”

Hall has two punt return touchdowns of more than 90 yards in his career and three kickoff returns of more than 97 yards.  He has a game high of 296 yards in combined yardage.

The best season of Hall’s career came in 2003 when he returned two kicks and two punts for touchdowns and averaged 16.3 yards per punt return and 25.9 yards per kick return.

According to Linehan, this trade came together rather quickly. Earlier in the week, when discussing the possibility of trading for a defensive tackle, Linehan intimated that plenty of other teams had begun calling when informed of the Rams' interest in a player like Carolina's Kris Jenkins.

Perhaps this deal comes on the heels of Linehan's making the interest in Ginn and a dynamic return man clear to the rest of the league.

"The expectation is that he’s going to be great at what he’s great at, and that’s returning," Linehan said.  "You don’t see any slide or anything like that on tape.  I’ve got to be honest with you, I was surprised that he was available because you couldn’t find a downside for a second day pick – a fifth round pick – to acquiring this player.”

The trade of the fifth-round pick takes the Rams out of the fifth-round. Earlier in the offseason, they dealt a fifth-rounder to Detroit for defensive end James Hall. As for the possibility of adding another player in a trade, Linehan said he didn't see anything imminent, but to never rule out anything. And the Rams are still in play should Carolina make a more concerted effort to deal Jenkins.

In the meantime, Ginn won't be completely eliminated from the draft board, even though it's unlikely he will be the team's focus in round one now.

“He stays on the draft board," Linehan said. "He’s going to be a number one or a number two receiver I think through development.  And he’s still gotta go out and prove that he’s going to do what he’s going to do for a team as a rookie as a returner, which is the next phase.  I believe he’s going to do that and start that way.  But we value him still very highly as a guy that would be eventually a number one receiver.”