Tye Hill Gets Second Chance With The Falcons

The St. Louis Rams drafted cornerback Tye Hill out of Clemson 15th overall in the first round of the 2006 NFL Draft. The Rams traded Tye Hill to the Atlanta Falcons on September 1, 2009 for a 2010 7th round draft pick prior to the 2009 season starting. This move still makes little to no sense to me. With a defensive coach like Steve Spagnuolo coming to the St. Louis Rams why not see if he can coach up Hill to play better. I know Hill is coming off another knee injury and has lost confidence but he was the fastest player at the 2006 combine running a 4.31 40 yard dash why not see if we can get him playing better than ever? Hill was already on a 5 year contract through 2010, and with a thin secondary already, you think the Rams would try to work more with who they had to work with.

This week we will see if the Rams made another player personnel mistake as Tye Hill is set to start against the Dallas Cowboys. The Falcons starting cornerback Brian Williams, who suffered a season-ending knee injury is the break Hill needed to get back into the lineup. Hill now has his second chance lets see what he can do with it. The Falcons at 4-1 are set for another playoff run, and I believe Tye Hill may play his best now with another chance with a good team. Unless the Rams truly believe that Hill's knee injuries have ended his career, I believe they let him go as under salary dump. I do not believe that Spagnuolo wants bigger more physical cornerbacks as the sole reason for the trade. Hill is 5-10 185 which is basically the same size as Justin King and Jonathan Wade who both still find themselves on the Rams roster.

St. Louis Rams Trade CB Tye Hill To Atlanta

Today the St. Louis Rams traded former 1st round draft pick, CB Tye Hill to the Atlanta Falcons for a 7th round draft choice in the 2010 NFL Draft. This is the end of the road for Tye Hill who has been a major disappointment since being drafted. Hill known for his 4.3 track speed while coming out of Clemson has never materialized as a top CB. Coach Steve Spagnuolo wants bigger, tougher cornerbacks to play his scheme and Hill at 5'10" 185 pounds just no longer measured up. Jonathan Wade at 5'10" 195 pounds will now take over at the other starting cornerback opposite Ron Bartell. While I do not believe Wade is ready to be a starting corner the coaching staff has made the move. Spagnuolo is putting his stamp on the Rams while sending a crystal clear message that they are going to get bigger, stronger, and younger his way.

As we look back on Rams drafting mistakes we can now point to the Tye Hill selection. Most fans have forgotten that in 2006 we traded the #11 overall pick to the Denver Broncos while moving down to 15th and getting the #68 pick from the Broncos. Meanwhile the Rams could have selected Jay Cutler in the 11th slot. The Rams may look back at that choice for a long time.

St. Louis Rams Cut 5 Players and Trade Tye Hill

The St. Louis Rams had to cut their roster to 75 today according to NFL rules. The huge news of the day was the Rams trading Tye Hill to the Atlanta Falcons for only a 7th round draft pick. In addition the Rams cut 5 players - Joe Klopfenstein, Brooks Foster, Jarrett Byers, Daniel Sanders & Marcus Brown to get down to the limit. Brooks Foster cleared waivers after the cuts and the Rams placed him on injured reserve. Things will now happen very quickly as the Rams will still need to cut their roster to a maximum of 53 players on September 5th.