Rams make secondary their primary concern

ST. LOUIS -- The Rams started the second day of the NFL draft much the way they ended the first day, bolstering the secondary.

With the first of two picks in the fourth round on Sunday, the Rams took Florida State safety Jerome Carter. He was the third defensive back taken in a span of four selections, joining second-rounder Ron Bartell of Howard and third-rounder Oshiomogho Atogwe.

Bartell will be tried first at cornerback, but Atogwe and Carter are safeties and could help restock the team's thinnest position. The only returning player is Adam Archuleta, who is rehabbing from a back injury that hindered him much of last season.

"It's a position and area of need for us," secondary coach Kurt Schottenheimer said. "We're looking for as much competition as we can find in that secondary.

"I feel very good about our picks."

The 5-11, 219-pound Carter, a teammate of first-round pick Alex Barron, led a defense that was ranked seventh in the nation and fourth in scoring defense. The Rams were impressed with his workout at the combine in February, then worked him out at Florida State.

"I want the chance to play in the NFL and show what I can do," Carter said. "Whatever I'm asked to do, I'll do it."

The team's last six picks were a mixed bag, one each at guard, tight end, wide receiver, punter, quarterback and running back.

Later in the fourth round, the Rams took 343-pound guard-tackle Claude Terrell of New Mexico, who wrote a column "Inside the Trenches with Big C" for the school's fan Web site.

"I may do something with the draft now," Terrell said. "I want a career maybe in broadcasting or journalism when I'm done playing, so it was good experience for me."

The Rams traded up 11 spots in the fifth round with the Bucs to select Jerome Collins, a tight end/outside linebacker from Notre Dame. Tampa Bay got St. Louis' first seventh-round pick in exchange for the right to choose Collins, who had two blocked punts and four tackles on special teams although he did not start a game his senior year.

The Rams project Collins as an every-down tight end eventually.

"Jerome is a very intriguing young man," tight ends coach Frank Falks said. "In terms of potential and upside, this young man has it."

In the sixth round they selected Ball State teammates, wide receiver Dante Ridgeway and punter Reggie Hodges. Hodges is being brought in to push incumbent Kevin Stemke.

"I'm going to put the work in, for sure," Hodges said. "Then we'll see how it shakes out."

Ridgeway is from nearby Decatur, Ill., and has watched Rams games on television for years.

"I've been a fan of them for a while now, since Kurt Warner got there and they won that championship," Ridgeway said. "I get to come in and sit behind Isaac Bruce and Torry Holt; that's a dream come true."

Hodges impressed new special teams coach Bob Ligashesky in a workout in 29-degree weather at Rams Park.

"Just like every other position on the football team, competition brings out the best in all of us," Ligashesky said. "This is a significant commitment, and it provides competition at the position and hopefully brings out the best in both young men."

In the seventh round, the Rams took Harvard quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick and North Carolina running back Madison Hedgecock.