We are less than a week away from the Rams roster being cut down from around 80 players to 53. The Rams, like every team in the league, are going to be faced with some tough decisions as they try to figure out who will stay and who will go. One of the more interesting battles in camp has been at the third quarterback position with incumbent Brock Berlin battling out with 6th round draft pick Keith Null. While publicly the Rams have not tipped their hand on which quarterback they
intend to keep I believe the Rams have only one way to go on this decision. Keith Null has to be their guy.
The reasons to keep Null really have nothing to do with his play this preseason or poor play by Brock Berlin. This decision comes down to an organizational direction decision and not an individual play decision. Both players have had pretty good training camps. Both have done the right things on and off the field and both have played pretty well in game competition. The reason Null has to be kept is because Null has the higher upside then Berlin does.
Berlin is now 27 years old and the Rams have to ask themselves do we ever see a scenario where Berlin becomes a starting quarterback in this league? Not in an emergency situation but a legitimate NFL starter. The answer I believe is pretty clear. No. They then have to ask themselves the exact same question about Null. The answer for Null is possibly. I have no idea if Null will ever fully develop into a starting NFL quarterback but if the chance exists, which I believe it does, then the Rams have no choice but to keep Null.
The Rams have been very consistent during the offseason and the preseason that they are not going to fill their roster with quick fixes and aging veterans. They are going to have players on their roster that can not only help them today but can help them into the future. Berlin might be able to help the Rams in 2009 but what are his chances of helping the organization into the future? Not very high. Null on the other hand could be a guy that can become a threat to win the quarterback position by 2011. That makes the decision simple to me.
It should not matter what happens on Thursday night against the Chiefs. The path is clear to me at this point. We'll see if the Rams are thinking the same way by this time next week.
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