What Could Have Been or Should Have Been?

With Alex Barron out Jason Smith will be the starting right tackle Friday night as the St. Louis Rams take on the Atlanta Falcons at the Edward Jones Dome. Since Jason was the second overall draft pick in the 2009 NFL draft it will be nice to see him with the starters. Unless you are the ultimate optimist you can see that this Rams roster is lacking depth and superstars. Superstars and depth are two things you can build through the NFL draft. For years the Rams have failed to draft great talent to fill the holes that have become many. Friday night you will get a look at what could have or should have been the Rams path. As the Rams famous core of Warner, Faulk, Holt, Bruce, & Pace have left, they were not replaced with quality players. Did the Rams wait too long to rebuild? Should the Rams have started from scratch the last few years by drafting what they thought would be a franchise QB? Friday you will get to see Matt Ryan who was selected 3rd overall in the 2008 NFL Draft. Ryan is already considered a top 10 QB in the league. The Rams could have drafted Matt Ryan but instead chose Chris Long. This year with Pace leaving and holes along the O-line the Rams chose Jason Smith who may have been a reach as the second pick in the 2009 NFL Draft. The Rams could have once again elected to go with a projected franchise QB in Mark Sanchez. In 2007 the Rams selected Adam Carriker as the 13th pick and moved him from DE to DT for what reason I do not know, he was a solid DE at Nebraska. In the same 2007 draft the Rams could have selected Brady Quinn. Two years ago the Rams front office elected to give Marc Bulger a $65 million dollar contract extension and in doing so selected the path we would head down. You may not remember but the Rams took Bulger from the Falcons practice squad back in 2000. Now the Falcons may once again have a QB the Rams need. Did the Rams choose the correct path to rebuilding?