Bad Drafts & Trades

The LA Rams under former GM, Don Kolsterman, always stockpiled draft choices.

But under new ownership the LA Rams traded away high draft choices.

1982: Bad luck:

LA Rams traded #1 pick and #2 pick in 1982 draft to the BALTIMORE COLTS for Bert Jones. The BALTIMORE COLTS picked QB, Art Schlicter and P, Rohn Stark. Stark was a very good punter. But Schlicter was a bust. The LA Rams could have picked future Hall of Famers, OG, Mike Munchak and RB, Marcus Allen.

The trade would have been a great trade but Bert Jones suffered a career ending injury during the 1982 season. Don't like to that idiot, Joe McDonnell, who says Bert Jones was washed up. Bert Jones was coming off a 3,000 yard passing season in 1981, yeah, really washed up.

1986: Good at the start, bad ending. But if they made the right decision in 1984, there would have been no need for this trade.

Jim Everett. Everett was drafted 3rd overall by the Houston Oilers. But held out and refused to sign with the Oilers. The LA Rams and Oilers then agreed on a trade. For the rights to Jim Everett the LA Rams traded to the Oilers:

Kent Hill a Pro Bowl OL
William Fuller DE
1st round pick in 1987 Haywood Jefferies WR
5th round pick in 1987 Spencer Tillman RB
1st round pick in 1988 Terry McDaniel CB (Oilers traded pick to Raiders)

Was Jim Everett worth five players? This would have been a moot question if the LA Rams had drafted Boomer Esiason in 1984. They could have kept the five players/draft choices to improved the defense. Fuller turned out to be a solid pass rusher for the Oilers. In 1987 some players drafted after Jefferies, include; Harris Barton and Bruce Armstrong, both Pro Bowl OT. Both sure as hell would have been better than LA Rams choice in 1986, OT Mike Schad, a player who played college football in Canada!!! The only saving thing was that most of the players LA Rams passed up, players selected 5-10 choices after Schad, were busts too. Neal Anderson, Gary James, Dalton Hilliard, all RBs, and Ernest Givens a WR, were the only players drafted 5-10 picks after Schad that were worth a damn. The LA Rams didn't need any RB since they had Eric Dickerson.

In 1988, some players drafted within 5-10 picks of Terry McDaniel, include; Micheal Irvin, HOF WR, and Randall McDaniel, HOF OL, though the LA Rams didn't need the an OL because they drafted Tom Newberry in the 1987 draft. But Irvin was sure as hell better than Aaron Cox and Flipper Anderson, two WR, the LA Rams drafted in 1988.

1987: Bad Drafting=bad trade.

But one year after making the trade for Everett, all hell broke loose with Eric Dickerson. Dickerson's time with the LA Rams was filled with training camp holdouts, changing of agents, and 1,000 and even 2,000 yard seasons. The holdouts really bother the cheap owner, Madame Ram, so she forced the trade of Eric Dickerson, on Halloween Night, 1987. Dickerson would be traded to that damn team in Indy for a boatload of draft picks and players.

From that damn team in Indy the LA Rams would get:

RB, Owen Gill
1988 1st round pick-Aaron Cox
1988 2nd round pick-Fred Strickland
1989 2nd round pick-Frank Stams

From Buffalo

RB Greg Bell
1988 1st round pick- Gaston Green
1989 1st round pick-Cleveland Gary
1989 2nd round pick-Darryl Henley

Of those eight players: Owen Gill was a bust. Aaron Cox always seemed to be injuried an never made an impact. Fred Strickland was a decent LB who was turned into a DL in the LA Rams "Eagle Defense" Frank Stams was an overrated Notre Dame linebacker, who was a NFL bust.

Greg Bell had a couple good seasons for the LA Rams. Gaston Green was a square peg, in John Robinson's round offense. Cleveland Gary was a good running back but fumbled the damn ball all the time.

So unlike the Dallas Cowboys of the 1990's, who used the Herschel Walker trade to build build the foundation of three Super Bowl Champions, the LA Rams didn't do anything with their draft picks from the Eric Dickerson trade.