Scott Linehan - Next Stop the Senior Bowl

Last year about this time, Scott Linehan's head was spinning. Coming into the Rams organization as first time head coach, he not only had to try and evaluate the team, but he also had to try and put together a coaching staff that would work well with his plans and ideas. And so when it came down to checking out the players during the 2006 Senior Bowl, there wasn't much time for him to really pay much attention to what was going on.

That has all changed this year. With just one coaching spot to fill with the loss of defensive quality control coach, Joe Baker heading off to Denver, he has far less on his plate this time around.

Last year at the Senior Bowl, Linehan admitted that everything was just a blur and most of the time he spent locked up in his hotel room ordering room service, just to be able to try and figure out exactly what he was going to do with this Rams team, let a lone check out 50 or more anxious senior players waiting for him down in the hotel lobby.

This year will be different though. This time he will be able to devote all his time for the Senior Bowl, going to their practices, meeting with the players, doing the whole deal, to see what these players have to offer and just where they might fit into the Rams draft plans for 2007.

Linehan and his staff will leave Sunday for Mobile and will be joined there by the scouting crew along with president of football operations Jay Zygmunt.

'The Senior Bowl's the best evaluation we've got other than the NFL scouting combine,' Linehan told the St. Louis Post Dispatch. 'The campus workouts are fine, but they rank No. 3 in my book. At the Senior Bowl, you get to watch them practice football. And doing what we do. It's a pretty good measuring stick.'

Linehan will meet with the scouting department Monday and Tuesday in Mobile, to review both rosters in the Senior Bowl. Then they plan to meet with players Monday and Tuesday nights. This is a common practice generally done during the combine, which is next month, but Linehan simply wants a head start on the rest of the NFL this year. Linehan knows you only get about 60 reviews at the combine and by getting a head start on it at the Senior Bowl, he'll be giving his staff an extra 30-40 reviews.

The staff will return to St. Louis on Thursday with their findings and start preparing themselves for the combine next month and start building that draft board for April.