Barron, entering the final year of his contract, was switched to left tackle after Pace was released in March

Said coach Steve Spagnuolo, "The way we begin is not always the way it kind of unwinds, but I think it will kind of be a more natural progression for him (Smith). He's played both (tackle spots), Alex has played both, so it gives you a little bit of flexibility."

After being drafted, Smith said, "I'm a football player, and if it was tackle, tight end, defensive end, nose tackle, D-tackle, water boy, I didn't mind doing what I'm asked to do. I do what needs to be done for us. I don't think about me, I think about we."

--QB Keith Null's position coach in college was former NFL quarterback Ryan Leaf.

Said Null, "Coach Leaf was a great guy. He just knows the game. As everyone knows, he tore it up. That was his thing. So it was great to have him around, have that experience and he really taught me a lot. It's great to have somebody who's done it and who's been successful at it. It was a blessing to have him there."

The irony is that Rams general manager Billy Devaney was with the Chargers in 1998 when they selected Leaf with the second overall pick in the draft. Leaf wasn't ready for the NFL from a personality standpoint, and didn't last long.

When was asked if he talked to Leaf about Null, Devaney stammered and said, "No, I did not talk to Ryan. I don't want to say you can't hold it against the guy, but Ryan was there. Who knows, maybe Ryan did a good job or worked with him for awhile. I don't know, but it wasn't a positive for him, but we certainly didn't hold it against him that Ryan was there. It was kind of weird the way it worked out though."

Later, Devaney was told Null said "I guess it was just a God thing," when asked how it was that he wasn't recruited by Division I schools out of high school.

Said Devaney, "God had a funny sense of humor putting him with Ryan Leaf."

--General manager Billy Devaney said the evaluation process of players continues into training camp. While he insisted it's not imperative the team adds a veteran wide receiver, the Rams will be watching players that become available in the days ahead.

"Regardless of position, if there is somebody that comes free between now and training camp, we'll shift gears," Devaney said. "After the college (undrafted) guys are signed, then we start focusing on and go back to the pro personnel side again and just start watching the waiver wires and go through it. Say a team took two receivers, one in the first round and one in the fourth round, well that means that those guys are going to be on the team.

"Two receivers that were on that team last year are probably going to be let go. So we kind of go through everybody's roster, handicap where they are going to have excess and start watching those guys. This process goes on all year-round."

--Devaney took exception to the notion that cornerback Bradley Fletcher was a "risk" pick in the third round because he didn't start fulltime until last season at Iowa.

Said Devaney, "(He) played really well this year, played well in the East-West game. He was outstanding so it wasn't like we took a flier on a he

ight, weight, speed guy. We really think that he's a good, solid football player."

QUOTE TO NOTE: "I'm not really sure. I guess it was just a God thing. He had a place for me to go and I guess it was just His doing. I had pretty good numbers in high school. No one really got on me. I guess I just sort of slipped through the cracks." -- QB Keith Null, when asked why only Division II schools recruited him in high school.