Player Spotlight: James Laurinaitis

James Laurinaitis has done everything the right way in his seven-year career. And it all started with his stellar play as an Ohio State Buckeye.

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While at the Ohio State University, Laurinaitis started from day one and quickly worked his way up to a starter by his sophomore year.

This proved to be a very smart move for Jim Tressel and the Buckeye coaching staff as Laurinaitis led the team in tackles with 115 total tackles as well as led the team in interceptions with five. He also led the team in tackles for loss with 8.5 and four sacks.

Heading into his Junior year, Laurinaitis picked up where he left off, but this time, racked up six more tackles to finish the season off with 121 tackles, five sacks and two interceptions.

At this point, Laurinaitis was making a name for himself, but one more season stood in his way before being drafted into the NFL.

But, Laurinaitis did not let that get in his head as he racked up 130 tackles, four sacks and two interceptions. Laurinaitis was awarded First-team Big Ten in 2006, 2007 and 2008 and was seen as a sure-fire first round pick.

But, a slow 4o-yard dash time of 4.88 led teams to believe that his speed wasn’t up to par for the NFL. But, it was clear that Laurinaitis was excellent at bring down anyone who was near the football. So, in the 2009 NFL draft, projected as a late first, early second round pick, Laurinaitis heard his name called on day two as the St. Louis Rams selected him with the 35th overall pick in the second round.

Many scouts did view Laurinaitis as the safest pick in the 2009 draft, and that has proved to be dead on. In his seven-year NFL career with the Rams, Laurinaitis has never had less than 109 tackles in a season, which came a season ago. Laurinaitis’ best season came in 2012 where he racked up 142 tackles and two interceptions.

Something to note in his career, is that ever since winning a starting job in his sophomore year, Laurinaitis has never missed a start in 10 years.

Laurinaitis has always flown under the radar, but maybe that’s exactly how he likes it. He signed a five-year contract extension back in 2013, and is singed until 2017 where he will make 41,500,000 million dollars. It is not clear at this time if the Rams will opt to resign him when his contract is up, but one thing is certain. The 28-year-old Laurinaitis is the centerpiece on defense for the Rams and will continue to lead one of the best young defenses in the NFL.

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