Rams News

Rams' don't need immediate
help at tight end, receiver
04/12 08:14 PM

By Jim Thomas
Of the Post-Dispatch Staff
If the Rams are looking for help at wide receiver, it shouldn't be for their top three spots. Isaac Bruce enters the second year of a four-year deal in 1998. Eddie Kennison will be in the third year of a five-year deal. And free agent Ricky Proehl was signed to a four-year contract in February.
So unless Kennison is packaged in a trade with Arizona for the Cardinals' No. 3 spot in the draft -- as has been rumored -- the search will be for depth. (The Cardinals are believed to be interested in Kennison, who scored a pair of TDs against them in 1996.)
But the current need is for someone to fill the fourth or fifth wide receiver spot on the roster, and then be groomed to contribute more in a year or two. The Rams had one such prospect last week in Chris Brazzell (rhymes with ``dazzle'') of Angelo State.
Unrestricted free agent Torrance Small, who was injury-plagued and prone to drops a year ago, became expendable as the team's third receiver when Proehl was signed. The status of Malcolm Floyd, who caught four passes in four games after being signed Sept. 30, is uncertain because of Achilles' tendon surgery in December. In addition, Floyd is an unrestricted free agent.
Special teams captain Keith Crawford, who caught 11 passes for 232 yards last season, signed with Atlanta as a free agent.
That leaves restricted free agent Johnny ``J.T.'' Thomas, with 14 catches in three seasons with the Rams, and youngsters Donnell Baker and Donald Sellers as roster candidates. Sellers spent most of '97 on the Rams practice squad. Baker was added to the practice squad in mid November.
At tight end, the Rams seem satisfied with Ernie Conwell. Despite some dropped passes, Conwell had as many TD catches (four) and just one fewer catch last season (38 to 39) than Miami's Troy Drayton -- the man he replaced as the starting tight end early in the '96 season.
The depth chart at tight end also includes Aaron Laing, Mitch Jacoby, and Tyji Armstrong. Armstrong, once a part-time starter with Tampa Bay and Dallas, was signed as a ``street'' free agent Jan. 21. Although not necessarily displeased with Laing or Jacoby, the Rams will draft a tight end in the middle to late rounds if they feel it's an upgrade.

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