Rams put focus on defense with first-day draft selections

ST. LOUIS -- It almost seems the Rams are trying to corner the market on defensive tackles.

In 2001, the Rams took Damione Lewis and Ryan Pickett in the first round of the NFL draft. In the first round on Saturday, they added 320-pound Jimmy Kennedy of Penn State to the mix with the 12th overall pick.

They were eager to do it because they had Kennedy rated among the top five players on their draft board, and they've been saying for weeks that they would take the best prospect available. The team's greatest needs are also on defense, but at linebacker and cornerback.

St. Louis passed on Georgia linebacker Boss Bailey, perhaps due to questions about his surgically repaired knees. The cornerback the Rams coveted, Marcus Trufant of Washington State, was taken by the Seahawks with the 11th pick.

Instead, St. Louis now has three young starting-caliber defensive tackles. Coach Mike Martz said he was "shocked" that Kennedy was available.

"It's not a need, obviously," Martz said. "But he has such great value. A premium is always put on those inside tackles, and they're so hard to come by."

Shoring up defense

The Rams stayed with defense while drafting for need in the second round, taking 230-pound outside linebacker Pisa Tinoisamoa of Hawaii. All of their first and second-round picks the last three years, including three first-rounders in 2001, have gone for defense.

This for a team that led the NFL in offense from 1999-2001.

In the third round the Rams went for wide receiver Kevin Curtis of Utah State, filling their biggest offensive need.

Martz was so happy with the first day, he said he might break out in a dance. And then he did, swinging his hips and thrusting out his arms.

"Things have gone very well for us," Martz said. "I'm trying to restrain myself."

Lewis also was the 12th pick and Pickett the 29th in 2001. Pickett made 14 starts last year, but Lewis has been hampered by a broken foot that goes back to his college days at Miami and made two starts last year.

Martz said Lewis' injury history was not a factor in Saturday's pick.

"That was never a discussion," Martz said. "That has nothing to do with anything."

Martz was so surprised that Kennedy was available he wasn't sure how he'd deploy the three tackles.

"Who cares?" Martz said. "Maybe we'll play five defensive linemen. I don't know."

Better late than never

Kennedy was projected to go much earlier in the first round, perhaps as early as the seventh pick. He might have been held back by recurring weight problems and an uninspiring workout during the NFL's annual scouting combine in February.

"I realize I'm not an Olympic sprinter, I'm not an Olympic power lifter or anything like that," Kennedy said. "But when it comes down to it, I put my hand in the dirt and I'm a football player."

Kennedy downplayed any weight problems, saying he was never heavier than 360 pounds at Penn State. He disputed reports that he reported to school weighing 400 pounds.

"It hasn't been a problem," Kennedy said. "The media kills me with that."

In any case, the Rams vowed that weight would not be an issue for Kennedy in the NFL. Defensive line coach Bill Kollar had great success melting excess pounds off Pickett, nicknamed "Big Grease," the last two summers, and is looking forward to another project.

"I know one thing, it's impossible for him to be in as bad shape as Grease was," Kollar said. "It's a never-ending battle. We've got to find out his best weight and if he's not at that weight, he'll be fined."

Tinoisamoa had a career-high 129 tackles, 6 1/2 sacks and two interceptions in 2002. The Rams are hoping he'll help shore up a linebacker corps that had no sacks or interceptions last year, and looked past the four-month jail sentence he served for assault while in high school.

"I got into a fight, actually a couple of fights," Tinoisamoa said. "They helped me mature a lot faster than a lot of other people."

Tinoisamoa has a month-old son.

"There's a lot of things I did when I was young that I'm not real proud of," Rams defensive coordinator Lovie Smith said. "We checked Pisa out and we feel he can come in here and be a productive player and be someone people in the Rams family can be proud of."

Curtis had a team-leading 74 receptions for 1,258 yards and nine touchdowns for Utah State. Rams receivers coach John Ramsdell rated Curtis, 5-11 and 186 pounds, as the second-best wide receiver in the draft -- ahead of Charles Rogers of Michigan State, who was the second overall pick.

Curtis also scored 48 of 50 on the Wunderlich questionnaire given to NFL players, and he did not have time to answer the 50th question. He'll be 25 next season because he spent time on a Mormon mission.