Public Enemy number one for NFL owners: not the players, not their agents, but the U.S. court system?

There hasn't been much news to report in the ongoing stalemate in the NFL labor negotiations, and as fans get restless, George Atallah (executive spokesman for NFL players) is stepping into the breach. His latest post at NFLlockout.com offers to host a weekly Q&A session with all NFL fans. (Questions can be submitted via Twitter to @GeorgeAtallah).

The most pressing question: What is the timetable for returning players and owners to the negotiating table?

But as Judy Battista writes this week for the New York Times, that simple question has a long and complex answer, complicated by the decision by the union to decertify. But surprisingly, something other than money is emerging as a key factor in the process:

How would that be possible? Only by both sides coming back to the table and settling their differences in the collective bargaining process. The catch is that the players would have to re-assemble as the NFLPA, losing all of the leverage that they gained through the court system.

Jake Locker is all smiles. The Rams might be too.

Jake Locker's pro day has been getting a lot of attention from a bunch of NFL teams -- perhaps including the Rams? Not that we need a quarterback this year, but Locker's suddenly rising draft stock could mean big things for the top of the draft. Most notably, pick #10, held by Washington.

AlbertBreer
Spoke to scouts/GM types last night on Locker. Interesting: 1 said he's as accurate on run as anyone. Below average accuracy from pocket... That's where the Redskins/Locker match comes in -- Easy to envision him running those Shanahan-trademark bootlegs off outside zone runs.

Which direction the Redskins go will be one of the biggest wildcards in the draft. Our Bloguin brethren at Hogs Haven offer an obvious breakdown of needs that notably does not include wide receiver:

Though the Shanahans and Allens tend to be rather secretive about their draft plans, they have never been particularly secretive about their needs. To make Jim Haslett's defense work, they need a complementary pass rusher. To make Kyle Shanahan's offense work, he needs a quarterback.

Of course, the Vikings at pick #12 are also deeply in need at the quarterback position, and their new offensive coordinator, Bill Musgrave, is a Shanahan disciple. Suddenly, it becomes potentially very dangerous for the Redskins to consider trading down... And scenarios open up where Julio Jones falls into the Rams' laps.

After the break, see videos of Locker's performance -- and WLB Mason Foster's performance as well -- at the University of Washington pro day.

Could Mason Foster be the next London Fletcher?

The Twitter-wide MockOne draft made huge waves with a stunning array of trades in the first round, including a deal by Rams faithful @PFF_Tyson to snag Julio Jones at pick #11. Now that the first fifty picks are gone, trade activity is calming down, but our man Tyson still managed to make some waves with his second-round selection, filling a key need for the Rams. 

PFF_Tyson
With the 19th pick in the 2nd round the St. Louis Rams select OLB from the U. of Washington, Mason Foster. #MockOne

I confess to a lack of scouting knowledge on Foster, but my arm needed little twisting. As it turns out, the PAC-10 tackling machine who led the Senior Bowl in stops is well worth reading about.

Muhammad Wilkerson's draft stock has been shooting up since the NFL Combine. Should he be in consideration for the Rams' 1st round pick?

No other event produces risers and fallers in the draft like the NFL Combine -- you take the players away from their supporting casts, out of the trappings of their power conference or small school uniforms, and pit them head to head in a contest of pure skills. Those that excel get a whole horde of scouts poring over game film, looking for plays that corroborate the skills on display.

One such player is Temple DE/DT Muhammad Wilkerson, whose draft stock has been soaring as that of injury-plagued players like Iowa's Adrian Clayborn has been plummeting. Barely mentioned in early conversations, Wilkerson has been appearing in a lot of first-round mocks, and has already had workouts with teams like the Patriots, Ravens, and Giants who will be picking in the late teens to mid-twenties.

But in one recent mock draft by DraftAce.com's Ryan McCrystal, he shoots the gap straight to pick #14, by the Rams, supplanting the more popular choice of Illinois DT Corey Liuget.

draftace
@RamsHerd just a hunch, but Rams seem to like bigger, stronger DTs. Liuget is a little smaller and has less potential as a run stuffer.

Like Tyson Alualu last year, who was a shocking (but pretty decent) pick by the Jaguars at #10 overall, Wilkerson's under-the-radar rise to prominence could surprise many casual observers. However, in such a rich draft full of defensive line talents, is this a good value pick?

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After accurately predicting Sam Bradford to the Rams, Adam "the sage" Schefter has the Panthers taking Cam Newton. But our Bloguin brethren have gone a different way.

The biggest question in the NFL draft -- and the biggest variable in the multitude of mock drafts emerging -- is this: How high do the quarterbacks go? Two picks into the Bloguin mock draft, we have yet to have an answer.

In fact, the new question might be this: how far will they fall? 

In three consecutive years, a quarterback has risen to the top tier of the draft and earned the starting job in Week 1 of that following season: Sam Bradford for the Rams, Matt Shafford for the Lions, and Matt Ryan for the Falcons. Those three teams (no thanks to Stafford's counterparts on defense) improved by a combined 15 wins with their rookie QBs.

No one expects that trend to continue this year. Neither Cam Newton nor Blaine Gabbert are seen as NFL-ready enough to step right in and lead a team. And very few have either ranked as their "best players available" in a draft with elite talents stacked up on the defensive line, cornerback, and wide receiver.

But when your team has a need at quaterback, as the Panthers so clearly do, arguably there is no greater need, and you are almost compelled to take the best QB available and then look at the rest of your board. Our Bloguin brothers at XtraPointFootball tackled the Panthers' dilemma head-on back in January, and failed to find a suitable answer among the young QB talents.

The upshot for the Rams? Teams' tolerance for "project" players will be sorely tested this season, with free agency a huge unknown. And if these projects fall, the "sure-thing" offensive players like AJ Green and Julio Jones will be off the board well before the Rams pick at #14 -- and likely well ahead of anywhere reachable without sacrificing huge chunks of draft value.

We will see how this all shakes out in the coming week, with one new pick posted every day. We will also be publishing our own mock draft, written by a new contributor to the Herd, and we'll be talking to representatives of some of the biggest wildcard teams in this draft.

Let's get into the brain of Billy Devaney for a moment. You drafted a hard-hitting player who could play safety and cornerback. But the player really struggled in coverage all season long, and was relegated to special teams. You have a reasonably full stable of corners, with a decent top 2 and a nickel back. You just lost your best safety to free agency, and your options to replace him played a combined 377 snaps last season.

So... we let Murphy audition at safety, right?

Stop making sense, says Rams beat reporter Jim Thomas in last week's chat:

Q: Prior to the lockout had there been any discussion at Rams Park regarding moving Jerome Murphy to free safety? I've noticed that he entered college as a FS and played there some while there.

UPDATED answer: Switching Murphy to safety has not been part of the Rams' thought process at this point.

(Hat tip to @T_Bron for the link.)

It's a small note, but it does imply that a safety like Clemson's DeAndre McDaniel could be very much on the Rams' radar. It also lays bare the fact that Atogwe's loss deepens a roster hole, and that our "creative" solution may be little more than wallpapering over a window.

The Rams' internal grades on Murphy and on another third rounder, John Greco, may not be known directly. But we might get a pretty strong hint in the coming draft.   

Jim Thomas hosts another chat this Thursday, for those that are interested in learning more.