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This is the second in my series of pre camp notes and thoughts. I think that the Rams really set out to address the future of the Linebacker corps in this offseason with Bud Carson's defense and philosophy in mind. Carson has always maintained that bigger is better, even at the expense of speed and quickness. The Rams experience in St. Louis has been to use undersized linebackers at all three spots who can pursue and play a finesse game. The last outside linebacker the Rams started and weighed more than 240 pounds was Fred Strickland. Daryl Bush, Jason Chorak are both over 240 pounds, and Leonard Little has the frame to easily play above that weight and did so prior to last year. The Carson philosophy is that linebackers have to be heavier and stronger to take on the larger offensive lineman in todays game. Jason Chorak-A lot of observers and scouts came away raving about him after the two mini camps. He was right at 250 pounds at the last mini camp but the Rams would like him to play at 245 or so instead. His injury plagued senior year dearly cost him in the draft and the pocket book...interesting argument for those who maintain college players should stay for their senior year. The Rams scouts and coaches are convinced they have a bigger, younger and more disciplined Kevin Greene on their hands. Neither Chorak or Little has very much experience or ability right now to drop into coverage...which is both a function of how they played in college and the fact that both can really get after the QB. The Rams came away from last year determined to fix three things....the ability of anyone other than Leslie O'Neal (whom Vermeil despised) to rush the passer, the run defense up the middle and the WR depth. Chorak and Little were drafted first and foremost to rush the passer on 3rd downs. The plan right now is to bring them along slowly as OLB but quickly as blitzers. Charlie Clemons-He worked very very hard last year all during the season to learn the defense, only to get hurt late in the year. He still is having problems with his assignments as a linebacker. He is physically suited to play in the middle, but tends to over pursue and is a sucker for play action and fakes. He has some ability as a DE rushing the passer and if he is to make the team it will probably be as a down lineman instead of a linebacker (which is all of a sudden a very crowded position). Eric Hill-He had his best season in 1996, and received strong Pro Bowl consideration. He is 258 pounds and likes to get into the middle of the action. He is tough, mean and has an enormous ornery streak. The Rams have not had a linebacker like him for years. He had neck, ankle and a broken leg bone and still had 118 tackles while missing 5 games. He made my offseason a lot easier to bear with the daily whiffs on guards. He has already established a rapport with Phifer and Jones and has not shown any lingering injury issues in mini camp. Mike Jones-His future is plainly on the weak side with Chorak on the strong side. He did not do well as a blitzer or in crashing the line on run blitzes last year and that is not part of his game. Like Phifer he is better at chasing the play down from behind or playing the angles than taking on the play head up. He did help the Rams a lot in covering backs out in the flats (a severe weakness in 1996 and 1995). Muadianvita Kazadi-An awesome physical specimen who hits extremely hard...if he ever hits anybody. He registered none, not a single, null set solo tackles last year. He is the epitome of the type of player the Rams drafted before Charlie Armey…physical marvels who could not necessarily play football (see Lovell Pinkney). Leonard Little-Once again I had to laugh at Dave Te Thomas in his analysis of Little. Who said they wanted him to drop into coverage....his position and role on the Rams is to get the QB not to cover the tight end. He has the frame at 6:3 and a very big upper torso to play heavier and in fact did in college. He moved to middle linebacker last year to both help the team and get some experience playing standing up for the pros. He has a pro future at weak side linebacker, but if they want to he might be able to bulk up and play DE in pass rushing situations. He was the leader and intensity on Tennessee's defense for years. His speed and quickness were the best of the linebackers in mini camp. Roman Phifer-This may be it for Roman as a Ram, sadly enough. The team seems to be moving away from his style and Carson's defense is best with a true weak side/strong side set up as opposed to the one they used last year. Roman has at times been one of the few Rams to appeal to the players pride in the locker room. He has made several impassioned speeches (some ignored at times) to play with heart and to play like winners. He has a lot of teaching ability and could make a great coach someday. He is not a blitzer and that limited the defense last year. Lorenzo Styles-If not for Frank Gansz he might not have a job. He is a workout warrior who is alarmingly strong and has made some big plays on special teams but has never shown any ability to play linebacker or to learn a defense. Atlanta was begging for him to play MLB and take some of the load off of Jesse Tuggle and he could not do it. He is a favorite of Gansz and could help the at times woeful Rams special teams but he is not going to push Hill for playing time. Daryl Bush-One of my favorites but he probably needs a year of rehab before being remotely ready to play in the NFL. He has by my count had four knee injuries/operations and his lateral movement has been severely effected. Before the injuries he had rare ability to make plays from the middle side to side and was the leader unquestioned on the defense and in the locker room. He had fantastic reaction time and great upper body strength. I fear that is all behind him, but I would like to see the Rams stash him on the PUP list or practice squad and let him learn the defense and have at it next year. London Fletcher-He is built almost identically to Zach Thomas and has some great all around athletic ability. But he has never played at a major college level (John Carroll out of Ohio) and some observers said he looked "in awe and overwhelmed at the second mini camp". But it was also said to me that Vermeil is in love with the kid and that he may be a practice squad player and/or have a shot on special teams. He is as tough as they come and spent some time with Eric Hill on technique one-one. Jim 
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