The number one seeded teams are meant to have an advantage with the bye week, but that just hasn’t been the case in the last decade as three of the past ten Super Bowl Champions have been wild-card teams and five of the past ten champions didn’t get the first round bye. This hasnt just been the case in football either. The L.A. Kings in Hockey pulled off a similar run last year and it looks like a lower see could win the cup again this year.The St. Louis Cardinals pulled off a similar run in 2011 and almost did it again last year. Runs like these have become more common and the Rams have the pieces to do it, it’s just a matter of putting them together.

One thing that the Rams have going for them is good front office and coaching. The Rams finally have stability at the ownership spot in Stan Kroenke and have a good foundation built with Les Snead and Jeff Fisher. Fisher was one of the most successful coaches in his tenure in Tennessee, and took the team to their first Super Bowl, ironically losing to the Rams. The Titans have got 15-17 since Fisher left and aren’t looking to be any better this season. The Rams hired Les Snead last season to his first general manager job, Snead previously was the director of player personnel. Good front offices and coaches are all something that a Super Bowls champion needs. The Packers have Mike McCarthy and Ted Thompson, the Ravens Have John Harbaugh and Ozzie Newsome, and the Giants have Jerry Reese and Tom Coughlin. Fisher and Snead could be the next great duo.

The Rams also have a good defense. It is said that offense wins games, but defense wins championships. That statement could not be more true. Every team that has won the Super Bowl had a defense ranked in the top 10. The Packers in 2010 had a defense that was ranked number five. Their defense hasn’t been the same since which is part of the reason they haven’t been back to the big game. The Rams defense in very good as they tied for the lead in sacks last season. Their front seven is arguably one of the best and their secondary is pretty darn go od except for the safety position. The Rams defense should without a doubt be top 10 next season of not top 5. The Rams defense could very well be a super bowl caliber defense.

One thing that the Packers, Ravens, and Giants all had in common were that they all were able to win on the road. The Packers beat the Falcons and Bears  on the road in their Super Bowl run, the Giants beat the Packers and the 49ers on the road, and the Ravens beat the Broncos and the Patriots on the road. The Rams had a tough time winning games on the road the past couple of seasons. The Rams let a few road games slip away in 2010 leading to them not getting into the playoffs, and then lost a few tough road games last season. The Rams more than likely wont win the division meaning if they make the playoffs, they will have to win on the road. It is said that defense travels well, therefore the offense needs to step up and score points on the road. If the Rams can win on the road, making a Super Bowl run will be very possible.

The Rams very well could be the Ravens or Giants of 2013. Nobody expected to Giants or Ravens to be in the Super Bowl, and nobody is expecting the Rams to be there this season. The Rams have a lot of young talent on their team, and if those players play like veterans, there is no doubt that this team could do it. They have a solid front office and a solid defense. Those are the two most important things you need to make a run. The Rams may still be a year or two away from making a run, or making the playoffs for that matter, but when all is said and done, they have the potential to surprise a lot of people and maybe even shock the world by winning the super bowl  for the first time since winning in 1999.

Feb 3, 2013; New Orleans, LA, USA; Baltimore Ravens safety Ed Reed (20) celebrates with the Vince Lombardi Trophy after defeating the San Francisco 49ers 34-31 in Super Bowl XLVII at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports

At this point in the offseason, mock drafts are a ‘dime a dozen,” most of them changing week-to-week based off of small rumblings or, sometimes, out of sheer boredom. While mocks do tend to reflect a teams “likely” selection with that pick, they all have one fatal flaw; the inability to account for trades. Unless there is some definitive announcement about a trade, like the one between St. Louis and Washington in the 2012 draft, most mockers shy away from working trade scenarios into their selections. That makes sense, given that simply “guessing” who a team will pick is hard enough without attempting to prophesize which GM will shoot up the board to snag that one player that dropped from their projected spot. Naturally, with two picks in the 1st round, the St. Louis Rams are prime suspects to make a trade. Based off of Jeff Fisher and Les Snead’s first draft as heads of the organization, any trade scenario in St. Louis would likely mean moving down the draft order, snagging more pick in later rounds or, even, picks in the 2014 NFL Draft. So, who are the likely candidates for a trade…

1. Green Bay Packers (26th Overall)

Starting with the Packers at the 26th pick, the majority of teams left choosing in the 1st round are the ones who are a player or two away from playoff dominance. The Green Bay Packers, who lost in disappointing fashion to the San Francisco 49ers in the Divisional Round of the playoffs last season, are definitely one of those teams. Erase the failed game plan aimed at forcing Colin Kaepernick to win with his legs instead of his arm, and Green Bay had a significantly improved defense last season, even with the wave of injuries that plagued most of “star” starting cast. Casey Hayward likely should have received the Defensive Rookie of the Year Award, and with Brad Jones, Clay Matthews, and B.J. Raji returning at “full strength” the defense should be fine, with some added depth.

However, the one position that has eluded the Packers for years has been running back. If Green Bay buys into the smokescreen of Eddie Lacy going in the 20-25 range, they could trade up to get the top projected running back in the draft. The Packers also might get antsy about snagging an offensive tackle to protect Aaron Rodgers’ blindside, after leading the league in allowed sacks last season. Someone like D.J. Fluker, who very well could be available in the 22nd spot, could be tempting enough to make the move up…

2. Minnesota Vikings (23rd or 25th Overall)

After trading Percy Harvin to the Seattle Seahawks, Christian Ponder and the Vikings’ offense are nearly bare in the weapons department, outside of Adrian Peterson. If Tavon Austin were to fall to the 16th slot, Minnesota might be forced to make a deal to move up and grab the Harvin-esque player; albeit, one with a significantly smaller ego and no history of migraines. This is a fairly deep draft in terms of wide receivers, especially in terms of players graded in the late-1st/early-2nd round range. However, while Cordarrelle Patterson and Keenan Allen might be the best No. 1 wide out options, they might not fit into the offensive scheme in Minnesota, especially if their are any concerns about injury or about latency in development. It would be hard to imagine the Vikings giving up both 1st rounders to move up, but it would not be unprecedented to see them use the 23rd pick and their 2nd or 3rd rounder to go and get Tavon Austin, if available.

3. Baltimore Ravens (32nd Overall)

Looking back at the Ravens’ Super Bowl roster, the current team is a mere shell of  what it was just over two months ago. They will undoubtedly replace some of those holes through the draft and free agency, but no team can replace top-tier defensive players like Dannell Ellerbe, Ed Reed, Ray Lewis, and Paul Kruger overnight. The biggest hit of the offseason was clearly to the linebacking core, which has been the trademark position on the team since they drafted Ray Lewis after moving to Baltimore from Cleveland. The Ravens will have to find a replacement for some of that talent; enter the St. Louis Rams.

Every year, “red flags” force one or two Top-10 prospects to tumble down the 1st round before landing in the lap of a team in desire need of help at that position that is willing to take a chance. Last year, Janoris Jenkins was the prime example, dropping out of the 1st round completely until Jeff and Co. took a flyer on the young star. This year, there are a handful of players in that position, but none more so than Jarvis Jones (DE/OLB hybrid) and Alec Ogletree (ILB/OLB). Both are arguably the top prospect at their respective positions. However, Ogletree has seen his name fall out of the Top-10 and into the 20-32 range of the 1st round after he pre-cursored his NFL Combine debut with a DUI. Jones is much less likely to drop, but is in a similar situation to that of Robert Quinn (dropping out of the Top 5, down to the 14th spot in the 2011 NFL Draft) as a result of a medical “red flag.” After those players, assuming the other top prospects are selected when they are projected to go, the drop off in talent is fairly substantial. Players like Arthur Brown and Kevin Minter might be a reach, even at the bottom of the 1st round. If either Jones or Ogletree are available in the 22nd spot, it might send the Ravens scrambling up the board. However, moving up 10 or more spots in the draft would likely fetch a fairly sizable return, maybe as high as a 2nd rounder or a combination of multiple picks in the mid- to late-rounds of the draft.

Oct 2, 2011; Green Bay, WI, USA; Green Bay Packer former player Jerry Kramer on the field during halftime against the Denver Broncos at Lambeau Field. The Packers defeated the Broncos 49-23. Mandatory Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports

First of all congratulations to the Pro Football Hall of Fame class of 2013!  The class of Larry Allen, Cris Carter, Curley Culp, Jonathan Ogden, Bill Parcells, Dave Robinson, and Warren Sapp is a very well deserving group and this article is not meant to question their selection.  There were some great finalists for the 2013 class that didn’t get in including Jerome Bettis, Tim Brown, Michael Strahan and Aeneas Williams.  This article isn’t about these great players and their impending enshrinement into Canton, no this article is about a great player still waiting to receive the games highest honor.  Browsing through twitter Sunday night following the Super Bowl a retweet from Peter King caught my eye regarding Jerry Kramer.  Someone asked him why Kramer hadn’t made it into the HOF yet to which King replied with instructions to google his, Kramer and Bart Starrs names for the answer.  As a person who feels strongly that Kramer should have been inducted years ago I naturally went straight to Google and read the article written by King, which happened to be a section of his August 27th Monday Morning Quarterback article.  King makes some good points in the article about how Kramer was a finalist for the Hall of Fame a total of ten times, 9 times during his regular modern era eligibility period and once as a senior nominee, without being selected.  To King the fact that he made the list as a finalist ten times and was never selected stands as a valid reason to no longer consider Kramer for induction into the Hall of Fame.  He also concludes the article by relaying a conversation he had with Bart Starr regarding former Packers that he would recommend for the Hall, and Starr never mentioned Jerry Kramer.  With all due respect to Starr, I really don’t understand the value that this is supposed to add to King’s argument.  If Vince Lombardi, one of the most respected coaches of all time and a man who was constantly evaluating Kramer throughout his entire career, had failed to mention Kramer in an interview regarding players he felt were worthy of consideration then that would mean something. 

Let’s take a look at some of Jerry Kramer’s Hall of Fame credentials, since he played guard from 1958 to 1968 there are no statistics with which to support his case for induction.  Kramer’s accomplishments include: 5 time NFL Champion (61, 62, 65, 66, 67) which includes Super Bowls I & II, 3 time Pro-bowl selection, 6 time All-Pro selection (5 first team and 1 second team), member of the NFL’s 1960s all decade team, and a member of the NFL’s 50th Anniversary Team (the only member not in the HOF).  Kramer was also the place kicker for the 1962 NFL Championship team, kicking 3 field goals and an extra point in the championship game against the New York Giants.  Kramer was also a key player (some say THE key player) in “The Block” during the Ice Bowl that sent the Packers to the Super Bowl to face the Oakland Raiders, where they became the only team in NFL history to win 3 straight championships. 

Jerry Kramer retired from the NFL following the 1968 season, playing in 129 of the 148 regular season games over his 11 year NFL career.  A player does not become eligible for the Hall of Fame until 5 years after their last game, and modern eligibility lasts for 15 years.  In King’s article he mentions Kramer’s modern eligibility expired after 1988 which would have made him eligible for induction from 1974 through 1988.  During that time period 67 people were inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame and only one (or 1.5%) of those players was a full time guard.  That player was Gene Upshaw who was inducted in 1987, the final year that Kramer was a finalist during his modern era eligibility.  Upshaw was a tremendous player so I am not arguing that it should have been Kramer over Upshaw.  Instead the argument should be how is it that he was the first, modern era full time guard to be enshrined?  Prior to the enshrinement of the 2013 class there are 273 members of the HOF, with 226 of those being modern era members.  Of the 226 modern era members in the Hall of Fame only 10 of them (4.4%)  played guard exclusively with only Upshaw having been inducted during Kramer’s eligibility.  King’s argument that Kramer shouldn’t be considered for the Senior Nomination into the Hall of Fame is based on the idea that he was given a fair shot to get in.  I would argue that the position of guard was so undervalued during his eligibility period that he ended up being a victim of circumstance.  During the first 25 years of the Hall of Fames existence only 1 full time guard was selected, during the 25 years since Upshaw became the first there have been 9 more guards enshrined with a 10th selected in the 2013 class (Larry Allen). 

The “Packer Sweep”, one of the most famous plays in history of professional football was made possible because of the quality of guards the Packers had.  In July of 2008 NFL Films released their Top Ten not in the Hall of Fame, which named Jerry Kramer as the player they consider most deserving.  The late Steve Sabol spent his entire life eating, breathing and living football, I will take the opinion of him and his colleagues at NFL Films over any other member of the media.  Kramer has been held out of the Hall of Fame for far too long so please write a member of the Senior Selection Committee http://www.profootballhof.com/hof/selectionprocess.aspx   Thank you for reading and as always Go Rams!!