There has been speculation that the Rams may select running back Trent Richardson out of Alabama in the first-round of the NFL draft next week. Of course, there have also been rumors about Steven Jackson's future with the Rams should Richardson be the pick but according to Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Jackson would be fine with the selection. "The Rams are going to do what's best for the Rams," Jackson said. "I understand that. It's a business." If Richardson is the pick, Jackson will fall back on past experience in succeeding Hall of Famer Marshall Faulk in 2004 and 2005. "All I can do through my own lessons replacing another legend, is try to be there for the young guy," Jackson said. "If he's receptive, I'll help him and do the world for him. And if not, you've just got to compete — and I'm not backing down." "My first few years in football professionally, I leaned heavily on just my talent itself," Jackson said. "Now I'm at the point where my physicality has not fallen off, and my mental (game) has really taken off by leaps and bounds in understanding the game of football. I feel like I'm right there. I feel like I'm in my prime. And I'm excited about what I can do in this offense." "Nearing the age of 29, you do hear the echoes and the whispers. Very few people have had success over 30 but I think about guys like Emmitt Smith that played a long time. Marcus Allen. Even Thomas Jones fairly recently ... he had a 1,400-yard season over the age of 30. "So it's doable. I've just got to continue to make sure that I take care of myself the way I have, and continue to believe in myself. When people fail is when they start letting the outside interfere with their mentality and their confidence." You can call his perspective biased, but Jackson would love to see the Rams take Oklahoma State wide receiver Justin Blackmon with their first-round pick. And in typical Jackson fashion, he isn't shy expressing his opinion on the topic. "I believe Blackmon is an unbelievable talent," Jackson said. "I think he adds another weapon, especially for Sam (Bradford). We're all talking about Sam and what he can do, the tools that he has. But for us to see what he's fully capable of and see him blossom, we have to definitely give him weapons on the outside." Source: The Redzone
yep, the rams are in a situation here where they're going to need to decide what to do and i doubt jackson is going to be real happy if they ask him to restructure. But $7 mill for an aging RB who has had trouble staying healthy is quite a bit of money.
