Free Agency Grades: St. Louis Rams
By Justin Stine
The second tier of signings on my list include Quintin Mikell and Justin Bannan. Mikell was awfully close to being in the top group, but he is getting a little older and probably isn’t the quite player he once was. I still really like him on this team, and he fills another huge hole at safety. I’m not saying he doesn’t have it anymore, but I am saying he’s a step slower than he was. Bannan is a little under-the-radar, but he’s another guy I really like. He’s solid, he works hard, and he does his job.
The third and final group includes Dan Muir, Al Harris and Zac Diles. This isn’t that I don’t like any of these players, but I don’t think they will make as big an impact as the players listed above. All of these guys will play a role on the defensive side, whether it be as a starter or in rotation, and if we are going to have a successful season we will need all of these guys listed.
So, what is the overall grade? I’d like to go high on this, but the lack of a running back in free agency has to factor in. I reserve the right to change this if and when the team brings in a running back, but for now I have to go with a B. The moves were good, they filled needs, but they didn’t address RB and didn’t really make any major, big-name signings. I didn’t expect any of the big names to be here, and overall I really like the guys we brought in.