Rams Coach Scott Linehan: Adam Carriker Will Be 'A Great Player in This League'

Is there any NFL rookie whose team has higher expectations for him than Rams defensive lineman Adam Carriker?

Sure, there are rookies whose teams might have bigger long-term plans for them than the Rams have for Carriker, like Calvin Johnson in Detroit. And teams always think of their first-round quarterbacks as the future of their franchise, but Cleveland's Brady Quinn isn't a starter and Oakland's JaMarcus Russell isn't even signed.

Carriker, on the other hand, has Rams coach Scott Linehan saying things like this:

"He's the best addition we've made to our defense since I've been here. He's kind of a throwback all-football guy, with unbelievable work ethic and practice habits. He's got an inner cockiness that I love. Early on, we were moving a few things around on defense, and he told [defensive coordinator] Jim Haslett: 'Hey, I'm the nose.' It'll surprise me if he's not a great player in this league.''

Coaches usually take a "show me" attitude toward rookies. For a head coach to talk in such gushing terms about a rookie indicates that the expectations are very, very high.