Grass is greener for ex-Rams

The grass is truly greener on the other side, at least for players who leave St. Louis. 

Several players released by the Rams in the last two seasons of the tenuous tenure of the Spagnuolo-Devaney regime have gone on to prosper for other teams.

This speaks to the state of the Rams in a whole new facet. St. Louis is not only a football Siberia for free agents but is also a black hole where developing consistent talent is next to impossible. 

Take for example Laurent Robinson, who is having a breakout season in Dallas after Miles Austin was lost to injury.

Rams fans remember how awful Robinson was in 2010 and I can’t blame the team for letting him go, but there must be some explanation on why he has exploded for the Cowboys after leaving the receiving quagmire in St. Louis.

Robinson played in 14 games as a Ram in 2010, caught 34 passes for 344 yards and two touchdowns. In Dallas, Robinson has only played eight games and already has 31 receptions for 475 yards and five touchdowns.

The talent surrounding Robinson is much better in Dallas than in St. Louis but he is only one example.

Adam Carriker is another prospect that has moved on to more productivity. Carriker wasn’t a product of Devaney’s drafts, but was expected to flourish under the defensive mind of Steve Spagnuolo.

Instead, he finished his 31-game career as a Ram with 53 total tackles in three seasons and two sacks.

He was released before the 2010 season and moved on to Washington to reunite with Jim Haslett.

Haslett has drawn out the player the Rams thought they were getting in 2007 with Carriker amassing 43 tackles and 6.5 sacks in five fewer games.

Again, Carriker has more talent around him and is probably better suited as a 3-4 defensive end in the Redskins system, but this is why the Rams continue to whiff on wins and valuable roster depth.

Finally, there is Chris Ogbonnaya, who has moved on to Cleveland as the new feature back in Pat Shurmur’s system.

Ogbonnaya was a seventh round pick in the 2009 draft by St. Louis and was seen as an eventual developmental third down back.

Instead, the Rams gave up on him and shelled out some cash this offseason for Jerious Norwood and Cadillac Williams to finally “solve” the lack of depth behind Steven Jackson. 

Norwood and Williams: 255 yards in 11 combined games with a 3.5 yards per carry average and zero touchdowns.

Ogbonnaya: 285 yards in five games with a 4.3 yards per carry average and one touchdown. 

There is no argument of more talent around Ogbonnaya in Cleveland, the Rams have spent just as many draft picks and as much money on lineman to compliment Steven Jackson as the Browns have in recent offseasons.

The point is each of these glaring examples represent yet another failure in the laundry list of problems plaguing the Rams. 

Devaney uses picks on players who are released too soon or become a victim of the vicious circle of no development structure at Rams park.

Player development is the foundation of why St. Louis is constantly outclassed by teams who help their rosters grow from top to bottom to reduce crippling turnover.

These players are a staggering example of the ineptitude surrounding the Rams but at least fans have Donnie Avery, who has yet to register a catch in Tennessee.