Rams News

Wadsworth visits Rams on predraft tour
Wednesday, April 8, 1998

By Jim Thomas\
Of The Post-Dispatch
* The defensive end from Florida State is beginning to question whether Arizona is interested in him.

For many weeks, every mock draft known to man has had Florida State defensive end Andre Wadsworth penciled in at the No. 3 overall spot to Arizona. But Wadsworth, who visited Rams Park on Tuesday, is beginning to wonder.
Why? Because Wadsworth's three predraft invitations are from St. Louis, followed by Oakland and Dallas later this week. No Arizona.
"They may be throwing a smokescreen, but you never know," Wadsworth said. "I really haven't heard too much from them. In my eyes, I think they're going to trade their pick, because they got so much from moving from No. 2 to No. 3 (with San Diego)."
The Rams have talked to Arizona about moving up from their No. 6 spot to No. 3 for Wadsworth. But so far, Dick Vermeil says the asking price is too high. On Tuesday, the Cardinals made a move that might lesson their interest in trading down: They sent a third-round draft pick to the New York Jets for running back Adrian Murrell - a two-time 1,000-yard rusher. (The Jets also sent a seventh-round pick to Arizona as part of the deal.)
Among the main reasons the Cardinals were thought to be interested in trading down were for help at running back and the offensive line. They may be done shopping at running back now that they have Murrell.
Sources familiar with the Murrell negotiations told the Post-Dispatch that the Rams were offered the same deal - Murrell for a third-rounder - but that Vermeil nixed the trade, in large part because he likes Penn State running back Curtis Enis so much. Vermeil could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
But there's a lot to like with Wadsworth, as well.
"I've seen him play," Vermeil said Monday. "I've studied him on tape. He's an excellent football player. In my mind, he might be the No. 1 guy in the draft that Orlando Pace was last year."
Wadsworth played his high school football at tiny Florida Christian in the Miami area. He was overlooked by the major colleges and walked on at Florida State. Midway through his redshirt freshman season - 1994 - he was the Seminoles' starting nose tackle.
He moved to end this past season after Peter Boulware and Reinard Wilson turned pro, and was a force. At 6 feet 3 1/2, 280 pounds, Wadsworth registered 16 sacks and 19 tackles for loss for the Seminoles in the regular season.
Some have compared him to Buffalo's Bruce Smith, and Wadsworth doesn't mind the comparison.
"For as big as (Smith) is, he's very explosive off the ball, very quick, agile," Wadsworth said. "There's not too many big ends that can do well on the run and get the passer. There's a lot of defensive ends that rush the passer, but they only weigh about a buck and a quarter. They're not that big. They're 250 or 230."
But Wadsworth takes the Smith analogy only so far. "Because I haven't proven myself," he said. "I proved myself in college, but I haven't proven myself in the pros."
Wadsworth's visit to St. Louis didn't include a spaghetti dinner at the Vermeil residence, which Enis got on March 30. Wadsworth "settled" for dinner at Morton's Steakhouse.

Ram-blings: With Wadsworth, Auburn linebacker Takeo Spikes and Florida State offensive tackle Tra Thomas, the Rams had roughly $40 million of draft picks visiting Rams Park on Tuesday.
Wadsworth is a top five pick, Thomas a top 10 pick, and Spikes will at worst be a top 15 pick. Spikes visited Detroit last week, and will visit Atlanta and Dallas later this week. Thomas already has made stops in Philadelphia, Washington and Oakland. He heads to New Orleans today, and then finishes off the week in Dallas.
* Also visiting Rams Park on Tuesday was Washington State running back Rashaan Shehee. Due in today are Georgia running back Robert Edwards and Clemson defensive end Lorenzo Bromell. Florida running back Fred Taylor is expected later in the week, as is Louisiana State offensive guard Alan Faneca.
* Ralph Cindrich, the agent for recently acquired quarterback Steve Bono, said Tuesday that Bono has some concerns about being traded to the Rams, but plans to report later this month. Cindrich said length of practice or the toughness of Rams practices was not an issue.
Cindrich would not elaborate on Bono's concerns. But it is safe to assume that Bono sees himself more as competition for Tony Banks than as competition for Will Furrer for a backup spot.

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