BLUES CONTINUE TO ROLL

How great was it to see Andy McDonald back in the lineup last night against San Jose? He’s going to have to be a key cog moving forward. His offensive skill and previous playoff experience will be invaluable down the stretch.

So, as of the end of NHL action last night the Blues have the 3rd best record in the NHL, sporting 75 points with 27 games remaining in the season. Here are a few interesting notes…

- The Blues are currently on pace to register 112 points. The franchise record is 114 points (1999-2000) and the team has reached the 100 point plateau three other times in the past. Obviously point totals have gone up in the era of the 3-point game but that’s still pretty impressive, if they can keep it up.

- They’re three points behind Detroit in the Central Division but have two games in hand on the Wings. On a couple of different occasions Ken Hitchock told me, while speaking on Sports Open Line, that his team’s focus needs to be on getting home ice advantage for as much of the playoffs as possible. Right now the Blues would have home ice in the first round of the playoffs and he wants one of those top overall spots. To do that you have to catch Detroit while holding off Nashville.

- By the way, the Blues would face the Predators in the first round of the playoffs if the season ended today. The Blues are 0-2-2 against Nashville this season with the two OT losses coming in a shootout.

- Starting February 23 the Blues will play 13 of 16 games on the road. First up is a 6-game road trip (NSH, WPG, CGY, EDM, VAN, SJ), then a 3-game home stand (CHI, ANA, CLB) and finally a 7-game road trip (CLB, CHI, CAR, TB, ANA, LA, PHO). Tough stuff.

NFL DRAFT

Just a quick thought here…

I’m a Justin Blackmon guy. I want him to be the Rams’ 1st round pick this April and I think he’d be an instant difference maker in the passing game for Sam Bradford but I’d like that to be after the Rams trade down a bit.

I wouldn’t value Blackmon over getting more picks/players in exchange for that #2 pick. He’s really good but he is not – I repeat, not – Calvin Johnson. The comparison is ludicrous. Johnson is 6’5″ 240 and ran a 4.35 in the NFL combine. Blackmon is listed at 6’1″ 215 – before being officially measured in Indianapolis, by the way – and is not going to run in the 4.3′s. The wingspan is different, the leaping ability is different and in no way does Blackmon compare to Megatron.

But Blackmon is really, really good. Better than anything the Rams have, for sure, but I’d rather have A.J. Green or Julio Jones if I’m being totally honest and those guys went #4 and #6 overall last year. If I can get Blackmon in one of those spots after a trade then I’d be thrilled.

Here’s another reason I’m a little concerned about Blackmon as the #2 overall pick – he came out of a spread offense at Oklahoma State. There’s a lot of talk about how spread QB’s need to adjust but not enough about how WR’s from those systems need to make some change too. Consider the following 1st round WR’s from recent years:

2011:

4. A.J. Green, Georgia
6. Julio Jones, Alabama
26. Jonathan Baldwin, Pittsburgh

2010:

22. Demaryius Thomas, Georgia Tech
24. Dez Bryant, Oklahoma State

2009:

7. Darrius Heyward-Bey, Maryland
10. Michael Crabtree, Texas Tech
19. Jeremy Maclin, Missouri
22. Percy Harvin, Florida
29. Hakeem Nicks, North Carolina
30. Kenny Britt, Rutgers

2008:

(no WR’s in the 1st round – Donnie Avery the 1st WR taken at #33 overall)

2007:

2. Calvin Johnson, Georgia Tech
9. Ted Ginn, Jr., Ohio State
23. Dwayne Bowe, LSU
27. Robert Meachem, Tennessee
30. Craig Davis, LSU
32. Anthony Gonzalez, Ohio State

How many of the success stories from the last 5 drives are WR’s who came out of a spread offense in college? To me there is one – Jeremy Maclin. All of the best players from these past five drafts come from pro style or run heavy offenses in the college ranks.

I’m not basing my evaluation of Blackmon on that but it is an area that causes me some concern. By all accounts Blackmon does not have the “diva” attitude that Crabtree and Bryant have so I don’t expect him to struggle like those two have but I’m still concerned about the adjustment.

Maclin made the adjustment, the other two did not.

Gil Brandt of NFL.com, one of the top talent evaluators out there, ranks Blackmon 3rd on his Top 100 players list and he has Alshon Jeffrey out of South Carolina ranked 9th and Michael Floyd from Notre Dame ranked 13th. If you’re locked in on a receiver – and the Rams may or may not be – then I’d be perfectly fine with selecting either Jeffrey (6’4″ 230) or Floyd (6’3″ 230) if it means getting more top tier talent on the Rams roster, either by grabbing an extra 1st rounder this year or maybe 2nd-3rd round picks this year and another 1st in 2013.

In other words, let’s not lock in on a specific player. No one guy will change the Rams fortunes. They need a talent upgrade in a lot of areas and if trading down from #2 means you get more picks but lose out on Blackmon, so be it. There are other outstanding WR options out there and if you get either Jeffrey or Floyd alongside other potential impact players then that’s better than just taking Blackmon #2 overall.

Blackmon is the best WR in this draft but the difference isn’t big enough to pass on adding more high-end talent at other positions.