By Nick Wagoner
Senior Writer

Unofficially, the Rams are officially on the clock for the 2010 NFL Draft. And though some would prefer that the team turns in its card for the first overall pick today, there’s a lot that can happen between now and April.

“Yeah, we’re on the clock,” general manager Billy Devaney said. “But there’s a long way to go before the alarm goes off.”

Of course, everyone would like to know who the Rams are considering drafting in April or signing in free agency when it opens on March 5 but Devaney is quick to remind that there are a lot of things that can happen between now and then.

At this early stage of the offseason, the scouting department has already done a good portion of its legwork. That work is done over the course of a season where college players are triple checked to get different sets of eyes on players.

The past two weeks, the coaching staff and personnel staff reviewed the players already in place to begin formulating opinions on the players already in place.

But for anyone wondering who is already sitting on top of the team’s draft “board,” there is no board at this early juncture.

“I don’t know because right now there isn’t a ranking,” Devaney sad. “You try to get guys lined up according to position first and then you start ranking them according to position. We haven’t even started putting guys together according to position. That process will start right now. The first thing we have got to do is evaluate our team. We go over every player on our roster and kind of give us a roadmap of where we need to go in the offseason.”

With that process almost complete, the personnel and coaching staffs can then begin turning attention to earmarking players they want to take a closer look at in the upcoming all star games as well as plotting out interviews for which players they’d like to talk to.

Starting next week, that process will really begin. Next week brings the East-West Shrine game, featuring a variety of seniors selected to showcase their skills.

Next week brings the king of the all star games to the forefront as the Senior Bowl week kicks off in Mobile, Ala.

Of course, that is all followed up by the biggest meat market of all, the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis which is slated to begin on Feb. 24 and runs through Feb. 28.

Aside from all of that, though, there is still that matter of free agency to deal with. Because that comes before the draft, the coaching staff must first immerse itself in the potential additions via free agency.

Making things murkier in that regard is the unknown collective bargaining agreement status heading into the offseason.

Regardless, Devaney and coach Steve Spagnuolo believe there are some solid pieces in place for the future.

“From a players standpoint, I know this is crazy, we think we have got a pretty good foundation in certain areas,” Devaney said. “There’s no kidding, there’s places we have to upgrade significantly but there’s not nearly as many as there were this time last year.”

Indeed, with a defensive nucleus featuring the likes of Chris Long, Clifton Ryan, James Laurinaitis, Ron Bartell, Oshiomogho Atogwe and James Butler, the Rams would appear to be just a few pieces short.

Offensively, the Rams have running back Steven Jackson as the bell cow with plenty of pieces in place on an offensive line that when healthy was emerging as a potential team strength.

While the specific needs of the team are still being deciphered, Devaney made it clear what he’d like to find in this offseason.

“We need play makers,” Devaney said. “That’s what we have to get on our team right now, that’s what we have to get: guys that can score touchdowns from way out, guys that can sack the quarterback, make a difference, impact a game. I think that’s what we have to focus on right now, guys that are game changers on both sides of the ball.”

Because the team is positioned to be about well under the salary cap (should there be one) and armed with the top pick in each round of the draft, finding those type of players should be a little easier in the right circumstances.

Now, the process of figuring out which players fit which bill has already begun.
 
“I feel like we’ve done a good job, the college scouts have done a hell of a job, the pro department did a good job,” Devaney said. “The coaches, we have got a year with them so we know what their expectations are so I don’t feel any pressure. I have tremendous confidence in the people that will go into making this decision. So I don’t feel any pressure.”

Signing and drafting players aren’t the only ways of bolstering a roster, either. The Rams dealt for promising young wideout Brandon Gibson at the trade deadline and will explore any and every avenue possible to add more talent.

That includes hearing any and all offers for that coveted No. 1 pick. Although offers for teams looking to move up in the draft have been few and far between in recent years, it’s always dependent on whether there’s any “sizzle” as far as the top players available.

It would appear that this year, for the first time in a while, there is at least one player widely recognized to stand above the rest. That will sort itself out in time but it could potentially alter the way things break this year.

“It seems harder and harder every year for trades to be made regardless of where you are drafting,” Devaney said. “It’s hard to say. We’ll know better later, every draft has its own personality. There may be three players; there may be five players and then a drop off. We don’t have any way of knowing right now what that personality is. So as we go along in this process, that will go a long way. If it’s a one person or two person, maybe there will be some activity but if it’s deep and teams are at four, five and six and teams think they will get one of those premiere players, maybe there won’t be. But we are a long way from that.”