The Rams have signed 32-year old DT Fred Robbins to a 3-year, $12 million dollar deal.  Robbins played in all 16 games for the Giants last season and he made 25 tackles, 2 tackles for a loss, defensed 5 passes and he had 2 sacks.  Robbins has now played in 149 games in his NFL career and he has made 303 tackles, defensed 19 passes, forced 3 fumbles, has 3 interceptions and 28.5 sacks.  With the way the Rams played against the run last season this was a excellent signing for them.  The 6′4″, 317 pound Robbins will likely demand a double team quite often freeing the linebackers to make plays.

The Rams have signed 32-year old QB A.J. Feeley to a 2-year deal.  Feeley last played in a regular season game in 2007 with the Eagles.  Feeley has played in 23 games in his NFL career and he has connected on 372 of 665 passes (55.9%) for 4,070 yards with 27 TD passes and 29 INTs (69.6 QB Rating).  Feeley has also carried the ball 34 times for 45 yards (1.3 ypc) with 1 TD run in this career.  It will be interesting to see how Feeley is used by the Rams.  He could start in front of a rookie or he could backup a veteran QB to be signed later. 

The Rams have released 25-year old DT LaJuan Ramsey.  Ramsey played in 15 games for the Rams last season and he made 16 tackles, 5 tackles for a loss, he has 1 sack and he forced 1 fumble.  I’m kind of surprised that the Rams got rid of Ramsey because he made some plays for them last season and it’s not like they are loaded along the D-Line.

The Rams have claimed 26-year old tight end Derek Fine off waivers from the Bills.  Fine played in 8 games for the Bills last season and he caught 9 passes for 64 yards (7.1 avg).  He has now played in 18 games in his NFL career and he has caught 19 passes for 158 yards (8.3 avg) with 1 TD grab.  I like this move for the Rams because Fine is still young enough to help them out.

UPDATE:  The Rams have waived Derek Fine already as his career with them ended before it started.

The St. Louis Rams got themselves some players last April in the NFL Draft.  Inside linebacker James Laurinaitis was the Rams’ 2nd round pick (#35 overall) out of Ohio State and he had a excellent rookie season.  He played in all 16 games for the Rams last season and he finished up with 120 tackles, 2 sacks, 4 tackles for a loss, 1 forced fumble, defensed 5 passes and he had 2 interceptions.  He was the best pick the Rams had last season and he will be a building block for the Rams’ D for years to come.  The Rams selected LT Jason Smith out of Baylor in the first round (#2 overall) last April.  He showed well in his limited playing time as he played in 8 games (5 starts) while battling with injuries most of the year.  If he can just stay healthy the Rams have another keeper in him.  3rd rounder (#66 overall) Bradley Fletcher was having a decent year until injury finished it.  The young corner played in 7 games in which he made 23 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss and he defensed 1 pass.  The Rams selected DT Darell Scott out of Clemson in the 4th round (#103 overall).  He played in 11 games for the Rams last year and he made 18 tackles including three tackles for a loss.  WR Brooks Foster was taken in the fifth round (#160 overall) for the Rams last April and he didn’t make it onto the field last year for them.  In the 6th round (#196 overall) the Rams selected QB Keith Null out of West Texas A&M.  They wanted to bring him along slow but he was forced into action late in the year when Marc Bulger and Kyle Boller went down to injury.  He played in 4 games for the Rams last season and he completed 73 of 119 passes (61.3%) for 566 yards with 3 TD passes and 9 INTs (49.9 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 5 times for 6 yards (1.2 ypc) last year.  It’s hard to judge Null on his rookie season because he didn’t have much help.  RB Chris Ogbonnaya was the Rams’ last pick in the draft in the 7th round (#211 overall) out of Texas.  He got some P.T. at the end of the year due to injuries at RB for the Rams and he didn’t look too bad.  He played in 2 games for the Rams last season and he carried the ball 11 times for 50 yards (4.5 ypc) and he also caught 1 pass for 19 yards.

GRADE FOR THE 2009 SEASON:  B-

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE FUTURE:  A-