Will the St. Louis Rams Regret Their Selection of Maurice Alexander?

As the St. Louis Rams’ 2014 season has gone on, some higher-order concerns have been eased as first-rounders Greg Robinson and Aaron Donald, who began the season as backups, have developed into effective starters, and third-rounder Tre Mason has ascended from a healthy inactive to the team’s de facto starting running back. However, there’s still one pick from the Rams’ 2014 Draft which is much more open to criticism than the others: the fourth round selection of safety Maurice Alexander.

The Rams took Alexander with the 10th pick of the fourth round (110th overall) despite the fact that many draft experts had the Utah State product pegged as a sixth or seventh-rounder. Alexander, a St. Louis native, spent the 2011 season at Utah State as a linebacker after transferring from junior college, but was kicked off the team before the 2012 season and sentenced to 45 days in jail after he assaulted a teammate at a party, forcing him to have emergency facial surgery. He rejoined the team for 2013 and switched to safety, making 80 tackles with an interception.

While Alexander’s 6-foot-1, 220-pound frame and physicality drew him comparisons to Sean Taylor from Rams defensive coordinator, Gregg Williams, who coached Taylor with the Washington Redskins, it’s difficult to conceptualize why a player with major character concerns who only played one year at his position in an inferior Mountain West Conference was worthy of a fourth round selection.

NFL Media’s Michael Silver, who was in the Rams’ War Room this spring, provided some insight into the team’s selection of Alexander, detailing how motivated Rams head coach Jeff Fisher was to take him in the fourth round:

"“If I don’t get him,” he told Demoff and Snead on Friday night, “I’m gonna be mad.”“How mad?” Demoff asked.“Like, Bobby Wagner mad.”Ouch — the reference to Wagner, another ex-Utah State defender, evoked an unpleasant memory from the 2012 draft: Rather than picking Wagner, the middle linebacker he coveted with the 45th overall selection, Fisher got greedy, trading down five spots to pick up a fifth-round pick from the Chicago Bears. Two selections later, the Seahawks took Wagner, who would become an instant standout and, in his second season, serve as the defensive signal-caller for their Super Bowl-winning team. The Rams (who still could have drafted future Tampa Bay Buccaneers star linebacker Lavonte David, for what it’s worth) instead took running back Isaiah Pead, a major disappointment who probably will have to fight for his roster spot this summer.“If you want him that much,” Demoff advised Fisher, “just take him in the fourth round, even if you think he might be around later. It’s not worth messing around.”"

Despite that immense interest that Fisher apparently had in Alexander, it hasn’t really shown as the Rams’ season has played out. Alexander has been active for only two of the Rams’ first eight games, and when he’s been up, he has been limited exclusively to special teams. When a possible opportunity opened up for him to possibly get some playing time this past week against the San Francisco 49ers, with free safety Rodney McLeod’s health status unclear and backup Cody Davis out with a concussion, the Rams instead made the move to trade for former Tampa Bay Buccaneers first-rounder Mark Barron.

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Even after Barron had practiced just twice with the Rams, the coaching staff deemed him to be a more useful contributor on special teams than Alexander, and he dressed for the game in San Francisco on Sunday. In addition, running back Zac Stacy was active but never got on the field. That could lead one to think that the Rams aren’t exactly enamored with the contributions that Alexander is capable of making in the kicking game.

It wasn’t exactly a panic move for the Rams to trade for Barron; he’s a former Top 10 pick who has shown the ability to produce in the NFL but was available on the cheap due to the fact that he’s not a good fit for Lovie Smith’s defensive scheme.

At the same time, Barron and Alexander (at his absolute ceiling) are exactly the same type of player. Alexander and the the 6-foot-2, 213-pound Barron are both heavy hitters who can electrify a defense with their physicality. Neither, however, should be relied on too heavily in coverage. Considering that the Rams also have T.J. McDonald, a natural strong safety who generally fits the same mold as Barron and Alexander, but is slightly better in coverage and might be able to pass as a free safety, it doesn’t seem like Alexander is going to have a clear path to the starting lineup.

It’s not fair to jump to conclusions regarding players who are in the midst of their first NFL seasons. We can look at players like Robinson, Donald, and Mason, who contributed little to nothing in the early part of the season but are key players now, or even a player like Brian Quick, who was basically a non-factor during his first two years in the league but developed into the Rams’ best receiver before going down with a season-ending shoulder injury two years ago.

With that said, there was a player taken shortly after Alexander at a position of need for the Rams who is already taking the league by its horns as a rookie.

Martavis Bryant, a 6-foot-4, 211-pound wide receiver out of Clemson, was taken by the Pittsburgh Steelers at pick 118, or eight spots after Alexander. After spending the first few weeks of the season on the Steelers’ inactive list due to an A/C sprain in his shoulder, Bryant returned three weeks ago and has been on a tear. Through three games, Bryant has 10 catches for 167 yards and five touchdowns.

With those numbers, Bryant would be leading the Rams in touchdowns, and his receiving yardage trails only Brian Quick, Jared Cook, and Kenny Britt. Quick played in seven games, while Cook and Britt have played in eight. That also means that Bryant’s production over three games has exceeded that of Rams wideouts Tavon Austin, Chris Givens, and Stedman Bailey over the entire season.

To be fair, Bryant has a significant advantage over the Rams wideouts in that his quarterback is Ben Roethlisberger rather than Austin Davis, who has been efficient but doesn’t realistically compare to the two-time Super Bowl champ. Even with that considered, though, it’s difficult to understand why the Rams went for Alexander rather than Bryant.

The Rams had at least a short-term need at wide receiver; they knew that Stedman Bailey was going to be suspended for the first four games of the season due to a PED violation. Beyond that, Quick, Givens, and the since-released Austin Pettis were by no means guaranteed to make positive contributions. Even with as much as they’ve invested in the receiver position since the Fisher/Les Snead administration took over, there would have been no reason to complain if the Rams took a wideout in this draft. That’s why so many people thought Bryant’s college teammate, Sammy Watkins, was the most logical fit for the Rams at number two overall.

There’s no reason to hit the panic button yet on Alexander. After all, he’s a fourth-rounder, and many of those players take a while to develop. But as he continues to spend his Sundays on the sidelines, and a player picked so soon after him lights up the league, there’s going to be increased pressure for him to produce.

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