Five Takeaways From Jeff Fisher’s Combine Press Conference

4. Rams To Move Alec Ogletree To Middle Linebacker

"“We really liked Mark coming out, draft wise. And we were surprised to some extent that he was available and so we took advantage of it. So we just kind of plugged him in and Gregg (Williams) is good at moving people around and creating opportunities and then early on in the season unfortunately we lost Alec and Mark’s reps increased and I thought he had a really good year. If you see there’s a trend in the league for that kind of guy. And we feel he really fits in our defense so he’s a priority from the standpoint of getting him re-signed. Yes, Alec’s going to be our Mike. I think Alec, where he was playing before he got hurt in Arizona, it’s hard to find someone playing inside behind the ball who was more productive. So he’s excited. Ive had the conversation with him since the difficult time in releasing James, and Alex is really excited about moving inside. He’s been inside the building every day and he’s wearing Coach Williams out right now. Alec’s going to get people lined up. He’s going to call plays. He’s a really smart player. The question is, Alex moves over there. As I told James, that was the reason for the decision. And our challenge now it, be it Mark Barron, or whoever else is going to get behind the ball next to Alec – Im hoping it’s Mark. And in the few snaps a game where you have to play with three behind the ball, we’ll figure out who that last one is.”"

After cutting James Laurinaitis, the thought was that the Rams would probably be moving Alec Ogletree to middle linebacker and keep Mark Barron at the Will Linebacker spot, and that’s exactly what’s going to happen.

Fisher likes what Ogletree and Barron bring to the table, and while they are smaller, they bring a lot of athleticism and speed to the defense.