March 20, 2013; Phoenix, AZ, USA; St. Louis Rams head coach Jeff Fisher (right) speaks as NFL vice president of officiating Dean Blandino (middle) and NFL commissioner Roger Goodell (left) look on during a press conference at the annual NFL meetings at the Arizona Biltmore. Mandatory Credit: Casey Sapio-USA TODAY Sports

The St. Louis Rams have two picks in the first round of the NFL draft. They got this pick from the Washington Redskins in the draft trade last year that the Redskins used to get Robert Griffin III.

Rams’ second-first round pick, No. 22 overall, clearly is for sale. STL looking to deal out of 22.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) April 25, 2013

The Rams though could certainly use two first round picks to help their team as their division got increasingly tougher the past season and this offseason. Seattle has signed a slew of free agents and brought in wide receiver Percy Harvin in a trade with the Minnesota Vikings.

That must mean one of two things.

Either the Rams don’t think any of the players that could be available at that pick are worth that pick. Or they like guys that shouldn’t go till later and are looking to accumulate draft picks.

Either way, I personally wasn’t expecting the Rams to try and get out of the No. 22 pick. I would have thought that the Rams would’ve taken advantage of the pick and used this opportunity to get two solid first round choices and fill those holes in their depth chart.

Nov. 25, 2012; Glendale, AZ, USA: St. Louis Rams head coach Jeff Fisher against the Arizona Cardinals at University of Phoenix Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Many have complained about the NFL’s new helmet rule, and how it is moving the game closer and closer to flag football or back yard two-hand touch. Marshall Faulk says get rid of helmets, Dallas Cowboys tight end Jason Witten just wants consistency on calls and Eric Dickerson wonders what’s next, the stiff arm?

But at least one NFL coach is defending the rule, St. Louis Rams coach Jeff Fisher.

“I think this is a huge victory for the National Football League,” Fisher said on the NFL Network, via PFT. “Here’s how the game should be played: Let’s bring the shoulder back. We’ve lost the shoulder in the game. Let’s bring it back.”

Tackling and leading with the shoulder, versus the helmet, is an old fundamental in football. I remember being instructed to move my head to the side of the body and lead with my shoulder as a child.

Part of the concern is that those famous, tackle breaking runs, will be removed from the game. The key to remember is that this rule is only for plays outside of the tackle box, or in the open field. No Adrian Peterson bull dozing a Tyrann Mathieu sized cornerback outside the hashmarks. But still fears of more flags and penalties negating big plays worry most in the NFL.

“It’s not going to be over-officiated,” Fisher said. “The key thing here is you can deliver a blow with shoulder, with face, with hairline. It’s just deliberately striking with the crown, the top of the helmet.”

The rule passed with a 31-1 vote.

“Every step along the way we’ve been unanimous,” Fisher said. “If the players knew the amount of time that went into this they’d have a better understanding.”

Players have been widely critical of the rule, but those who’ve studied it, coaches and medical personnel alike, agree this rule needs to change.

Oct 10, 2011; Detroit, MI, USA; Detroit Lions wide receiver Titus Young (16) takes the field prior to the game against the Chicago Bears at Ford Field. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports

We all are aware of the new locker room cancer that is Titus Young. He has gone on Twitter barrages, said he’s better than megatron and almost solidified any doubt that he is crazy. Well when the Detroit Lions unsurprisingly cut the young wide receiver the St. Louis Rams picked him up.

Then they released him 10 days later.

Well that certainly cements that this kid is a problem child and a detriment to any team who’d risk bring him in their locker room. Rams head coach Jeff Fisher however went on “The Fast Lane” on ESPN 101 in St Louis and clarified the situation.

And by clarifying we mean throwing Titus Young a bone and potentially saving his career by helping him get one more chance.

As reported by Sports Radio Interviews:

“We wanted to go into detail with the young player. So if you let him clear waivers then you’re competing with the rest of the clubs and he’s on the free-agent circus tour, if you will, and you’re doing a brief interview and so on and so forth. So we felt that by claiming him … we would have a lot more time to do that. And so we did so. We claimed him, we brought him in, we spent a great deal of time with him. … And at the end of the extended interview process we just felt that we were better off going on as an organization.”

Certainly makes sense from a logistical standpoint. Makes you wonder though if that were the case why more teams don’t practice this?

Dec 23, 2012; Arlington, TX, USA; Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator Rob Ryan on the sidelines against the New Orleans Saints at Cowboys Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports

When the Cowboys shockingly let Rob Ryan go, and relieved him of his duties as defensive coordinator, Ryan brazenly promised that he would be out of work for all of 5 minutes. Well it took a little longer then 5 minutes but he has found a home.

That home is with the defensive minded St. Louis Rams. Their coaching staff is littered with former defensive coordinators. Head coach Jeff Fisher was a defensive coordinator but has presumably decided that he wants to not pull double duty like some head coaches do. But he isn’t the only former defensive coordinator on this staff. Linebackers coach Frank Bush is a former defensive coordinator, Chuck Cecil is also a former defensive coordinator, under Jeff Fisher.

According to ESPN, the Cowboys’ defense was 19th overall, 17th against the run and 21st against the pass while under Ryan’s control. The Rams’s defense was only slightly better ranking 15th against both the run and the pass.

But can Ryan take the Rams’s defense to the next level. One of the detractions about Ryan is that his defense is too complex, and runs too many schemes which consequently lacks identity. Instead of focusing on doing one thing well, like rushing the passer, he tries to do to much.

While his resume includes other defensive coordinator stints with the Oakland Raiders and the Cleveland Browns, and his legacy being the offspring of defensive guru, and father, Buddy Ryan, some question whether he can lead an elite defense. In all that time he has only once lead a defense into the top 10.

Some in Dallas say Ryan wasn’t given a fair shot this season as the team was plagued with injuries, especially on the defensive side of the ball. But Jerry Jones maintained his decision was made based on the Seattle and Chicago games, both of which came in the first half of the season, and both were losses.

It’s worth noting that Tony Romo threw 5 interceptions against Chicago.

The other hurdle for Ryan, he’s been coaching a 3-4 scheme and the Rams are built for a 4-3 with their current personnel.

But with Jeff Fisher’s defenesive knowledge and experience as a head coach, he could possibly rein in Ryan and his defense.

Dec 2, 2012; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Rams running back Steven Jackson (39) rushes for a first down against the San Francisco 49ers during the second half at the Edward Jones Dome. The Rams defeated the 49ers 16-13 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Photo by Scott Rovak-USA TODAY Sports

The St. Louis Rams have managed to go 4-0-1 within their division. Including beating and tying the San Francisco 49ers, who played in last season’s NFC Championship game. Despite a dominate record against their divisional foes this season the St. Louis Rams have only won one game outside of their division.

Rams running back Steven Jackson went on ESPN Radio in St. Louis and talked about the victory and the statement the Rams are making this season.

“It really [helps] us in our division and our conference as well. Teams are going to respect the St. Louis Rams now when they see us on the schedule,” Jackson said. “They know we’re a tough-nosed team that’s never going to back down, regardless of the situation, regardless of what the past may have been. This team has taken on a new identity.”

Despite only winning 1 game outside of their division, the Rams are pleased with their performance within the division.

“It feels good, that we’ve established ourselves in this division,” Jackson said. “Tough defenses, good running offenses and quarterbacks that are going to get it done. We have some young, talented quarterbacks in this division that are going to be around for a while.”

The Rams are 5-6-1 and have a slim chance of making the playoffs. But the Rams aren’t trying get too excited and maintaining their focus on the next game against Buffalo.

“We dare to dream, but we know we’ve got to do it one game at a time,” Jackson said. “It means a lot. We have a tremendous team, a lot of talent in this locker room, and guys that are willing to stick around, study film together, put in the time so we can all trust and go together. It’s starting to happen. You can see it on the football field, that we’re willing to play, we say, through the echo of the whistle. Guys are playing hard for each other.”

Jackson isn’t the only one who is playing down their playoff chances and claiming to solely be focused on next weeks game against Buffalo. Rams head coach Jeff Fisher addressed their slim playoff chances at a media gathering at Rams Park on Monday.

“This team is focused on Buffalo. It’s our next opponent,”  Fisher said. “There’s too much that could happen right now. I don’t even know what the record is of some teams in the division. So, we just go play.”

Sam Bradford echoed Fisher and Jackson’s sentimaents and is also focused on Buffalo, and not leap frogging 4 teams to make it into the playoffs.

“Regardless of whether we’ve won or lost the week before, our focus has gone on to the next week and that’s exactly what we’re going to continue to do,” said  Bradford. “Our focus now is going to Buffalo and getting another win.”

But after years of struggles, the Rams feel good to be headed in the right direction.

“It feels pretty good,” running back Steven Jackson said. “We have a lot of room to grow, but the one thing about this team that we learned about the personality of it that guys are going to continue to fight. Guys are going to continue to bring their ‘A’ game despite what it looks like, despite what people may think. This group of men believe that we can compete at a high level.”

Sept. 19, 2010; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Browns president Mike Holmgren during halftime of the game between the Cleveland Browns and the Kansas City Chiefs at Cleveland Browns Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jason Miller-US PRESSWIRE

Among the many stories going around in the lead-up to the 2012 NFL Draft, possibly the most intriguing of those involve teams that may trade up or trade down. So far the biggest story of these was the Washington Redskins trading up to the number 2 pick and now it appears the Cleveland Browns are prepared to part with the number 4 pick and have fielded multiple calls from teams asking about the pick.

The difference between this and some of the other conjecture we have heard thus far about pick trades is that there is legitimate talk of this trade being discussed. One of the teams that appears to be a frontrunner, the St Louis Rams, have commented on this possibility previously. At the NFL Owners meetings, new Rams head coach Jeff Fisher made it clear that the team was exploring the possibility of a trade. The targets for the Rams here are varied but at the moment it could be any of Trent Richardson, Justin Blackmon or Morris Claiborne.

The Rams aren’t the only suitors for the number 4 pick – the Philadelphia Eagles have expressed an interest. This is a really difficult possibility to read because the Eagles don’t have an apparent need to trade up. They’re solid at the RB, CB and WR positions which rules out the main targets at the number 4 pick. This suggests that they are interested in Ryan Tannehill which would make a lot of sense given Michael Vick’s injury history and inevitable decline. One other possibility for Philly is that they reach for a player they really like. This could be any of Melvin Ingram, Quentin Coples, Riley Reiff or Luke Kuechly but all of these are a stretch given how far the Eagles would be moving up.

Of the other teams who may trade up, Miami and Seattle are both possibilities to move up for Tannehill. I also wouldn’t rule out the Cowboys, Cardinals, Bills and Panthers for various reasons.

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January 17, 2012; St, Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Rams new head coach Jeff Fischer speaks to the press during his first press conference at the Russell Training Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-US PRESSWIRE

Thanks to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, the NFL Competition Committee has added three new members — St. Louis Rams head coach Jeff Fisher, Arizona Cardinals head coach Ken Whisenhunt and Green Bay Packers President and Chief Executive Officer Mark Murphy.

Fisher was previously a co-chairman from  2002-2010, along with current committee chairman Rich McKay. The competition committee “studies all aspects of the game and recommends rules and policy changes to NFL clubs.” Here are the current members of the committee:

Here are members of the sub-committees:

Subcommittee on College Relations

General Managers Advisory Committee

Coaches Subcommittee

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The St. Louis Rams will hold a press conference tomorrow to formally introduce Jeff Fisher as the team’s new head coach, the team announced. The press conference will be held at 1:00 pm at will be broadcast live on StLouisRams.com.

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“The coaches that I had after Mike Martz were coordinators that were very successful at the time, but Jeff brings stability,” Jackson said. “He brings credibility. He’s played in the league, and he was one yard away from winning the Super Bowl.

“I’m pretty sure he’s thinking along the lines of Eddie George when he thinks of coaching me and having me in his offense: downhill kind of guy. He’s going to put me in position where I can be at my best. … I think he’ll do a good job of utilizing the talents we have.”

Jackson hasn’t been the only Rams player to seem excited for the arrival of Fisher — numerous players have given Fisher their praise. The hiring of Fisher will only unify this team and bring a new excitement that should take the team to the next level.

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Will Jeff Fisher and Gregg Williams re-unite? (Getty Images)

New Orleans Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams has been a big part of the team’s success. Unfortunately for the Saints, this could be Williams’ last season with the team.

Per SI.com’s Peter King, Williams is  is “expected” to join his good friend Jeff Fisher on the St. Louis Rams staff next season.

Williams worked with Fisher during his time with the Tennessee Titans before leaving to coach the Buffalo Bills. Williams has said that he will not talk with Fisher until the season is over, but that won’t stop Williams from potentially joining the staff at the conclusion of the Saints playoff run. Why is Williams connected to Fisher? Just look at the high praise Williams gave for Fisher.

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