The Rams traded down twice in the first round of Sunday's NFL draft, leading to early speculation that they wanted to keep trading down over and over again until everyone went to sleep and then they could sneak out of town and move to Baltimore.
Alas, what they wound up doing led to even more speculation. The kind they don't need.Instead of selecting quarterback Trent Dilfer of Fresno State with the fifth overall pick - a move that coach Chuck Knox had often stated unequivocally that he would do if given the chance - the Rams moved down to the 15th pick and took Wayne Gandy, an offensive tackle from Auburn. In the process, they picked up an extra second- and two extra third-round selections.
But what emerged was not just more players in Rams uniform, but fewer Rams officials in unison.
If you opt to trade down as a strategy, that's one thing. If you do so because there's political turmoil within the club's draft-day situation room and it is the residue of an uneasy alliance between a team official determined to maintain control and a head coach who is one stumble away from becoming a lame duck, it sends a message to the NFL community that FEMA might be needed in the Rams' rebuilding process.
First, there's the questionable decision to pass on Dilfer in the first place. While he may not be an absolute can't-miss prospect, who is? But Dilfer, along with Tennessee's Heath Shuler (who went to Washington at No. 3), was considered by many pundits to be a franchise quarterback.
They don't come along in every draft. And you hope you're not a sorry enough team to pick that high every year. So when you have the rare opportunity to take a guy who could be your quarterback for the next 10 years, you do it.
Apparently, Knox feels differently. After flim-flamming the media into thinking he loved Shuler, he bailed out of that posture and explained later, "We had a change of heart."
What happened is that Knox wanted to build this team his way. He doesn't want a quarterback of the future, because he knows he's probably not John Shaw's idea of a coach of the future. He wants to win now. He'd rather commit to Chris Miller, obtained as a free agent, who as a passer is a talented man, but as a durable athlete is akin to a human breadstick.
Dilfer would have been the wiser move. Instead, Knox and the Rams took another path, one that adds depth to the roster, but doesn't deal with the most important position on the team for the long haul.
There's more. Skullduggery seemed to be the theme of the Rams' draft. Inside their inner sanctum, where many a dopey pick has been made over the years under the cloak of secrecy, the Rams tried to pull off a deal with Dallas for receiver Alvin Harper. The Rams desperately need a receiver. If they sincerely soured on Dilfer, as they intimated, the Harper trade would have been the next-best thing.
But that collapsed. Whether the Rams or Cowboys were the more obstinate party could not be determined, since both teams tend to lie like tampered witnesses. Dallas offered the explanation that its motivation toward catapulting into the top five was the chance to get USC's Willie McGinest. When he went to New England at No. 4, said Cowboys owner Jerry "Jonah" Jones, the deal with the Rams at No. 5 was moot.
So the Rams traded down with Indianapolis. The Colts moved to No. 5. The Rams moved to No. 7, receiving a third-round pick in return, the 83rd overall. Meanwhile, Tampa Bay took Dilfer.
Continuing to pursue the Harper deal - and continuing to fail at it - the Rams then made another trade, this one with San Francisco. The Niners jumped up to No. 7; the Rams descended to 15th, picking up a second- and a third- on the way down. At 15, they took Gandy.
"The two things that stood out most to me," said John Becker, Rams' director of player personnel, "is his athleticism and his tremendous productivity."
What stood out to some others about him was that one team had enough concerns about a possible back ailment during the scouting process that it requested additional X-rays. Explained Gandy: "I don't know what it was. Spinal something. Some minor thing."
Gandy pulled a groin muscle running a 40-yard dash in March. And, the club wants to plug in the rookie at left tackle - the blindside - to protect an injury-prone quarterback with only T.J. Rubley in reserve.
It should also be noted that Gandy's weakness is run blocking, yet he'll be playing for a head coach whose devotion to the running game has earned him the nickname "Ground Chuck" and partly led to the ouster of Jim Everett.
While the Rams may indeed have bolstered their roster with some able young men by draft's end, they also exhibited signs of a good, old-fashioned power struggle between Shaw and Knox.
On Sunday, Knox denied an ESPN report that there was a last-minute dispute in the Rams' war room during the first round. When Shaw was asked about the decision to pass on Dilfer, he replied curtly: "I think Chuck had a change of heart. Chuck has the final decision." When asked if he supported Knox's decision, he said, "Absolutely. 100 percent."
But the underlying story of this draft will remain whether the will of Knox or Shaw ultimately prevails, or if both will combine to keep the club where it is and give it yet another chance to draft high.