Miami's Damione Lewis (top) is just one part of St. Louis' mass influx of defensive talent.(AP)

But, nah, Don Coryell Jr. has not been transformed into the reincarnation of Buddy Ryan.

It's just that coaches and officials of the high-scoring Rams, who last year posted 500-plus points for the second season in a row but were still eliminated in the first round of the playoffs, grew a little more pragmatic during the offseason.

Staring at the Vince Lombardi Trophy in the lobby of their plush complex, St. Louis management surely became a little melancholy realizing that the league's most treasured hardware might have had a bookend partner if the Rams' defense had stopped anyone in 2000. And so a team that went into one of the most significant drafts in its history hell-bent on bolstering a unit that could have as many as eight new starters in 2001 stuck to its game plan.

So much that -- while he might have privately conceded his trigger finger was getting a bit itchy as all those fleet wide receivers went off the board in the first round -- even Martz couldn't help but smile at a draft bounty that included five young defenders and a trade that will bring six-time Pro Bowl cornerback Aeneas Williams to the team.

"I know that every team in the league at this point is talking about how excited they are about the draft they've had," Martz said. "But we are legitimately excited here."

The long day of maneuvering Friday -- when the Rams dealt backup quarterback Trent Green for the Chiefs' No. 12 choice, acquired cornerback Aeneas Williams and traded tight end Roland Williams to the Raiders -- left club officials feeling pretty good about things.

But that was just a prelude to Saturday when they got downright giddy. No franchise can ever boast that a draft went exactly according to the blueprint, but St. Louis came close, it appears, to addressing all its shortcomings.

On a grease board outside the St. Louis war room on Saturday morning, club president Jay Zygmunt had written simply "4-7-1," the number of points surrendered by the Rams last year. With that graphic reminder as a catalyst, the St. Louis coaching and personnel staffs set about trying to erase the memory of a dismal season. And they clearly got a solid head start with a first-day draft performance directed exclusively at the defense.

At one point, underrated general manager Charley Armey suggested the team's defensive staff was "upstairs forming a conga line" as it relished the young reinforcements the personnel folks deemed necessary to upgrading the shabby unit.

And, hey, why not?

St. Louis grabbed the one-gap defensive tackle it most relished, Damione Lewis of Miami, with its initial first-round selection at No. 12. At No. 20, the Rams chose strong safety Adam Archuleta of Arizona State, a high-energy performer most draft pundits had pegged to St. Louis for more than a month. And then to finish off the round, St. Louis reached a bit for underclassman defensive tackle Ryan Pickett of Ohio State with the 29th selection, making the pick after a lengthy debate over defensive end Aaron Schobel of TCU.

Armey defended the choice of Pickett, a selection that was the only head-scratch gambit the club made over the key two-day period.

"His voice hasn't even changed yet," Armey said, "but when it does, he'll be a man."

In the second round, the choice was Florida State strongside linebacker Tommy Polley, a player St. Louis scouts actually rated a first-round talent. With their third-round pick, the Rams snatched another former Seminoles linebacker, Brian Allen.

Add the high-character Williams to the bunch -- the Rams signed him to a three-year contract worth $14.7 million and feel he'll give them superb play for at least two more seasons -- and it is an impressive defensive windfall for a team that certainly needed this kind of infusion.

No one in the St. Louis hierarchy, at least not publicly, would so much as hint that this draft could catapult the team back into Super Bowl contention. But an unspoken sentiment here, one that was fairly palpable and permeated even into the back offices, was that the Rams should certainly be among the NFC favorites in 2001.

"Really, I don't pay a lot of attention to what is going on with the defense," said quarterback Kurt Warner, who stopped by to observe the proceedings. "But when you bring in a class act and great player like Aeneas, it makes you pay attention. And I guess, from what everyone is saying, some of these young guys should come in and help us right away."

Actually, some of the young players will have no choice in the matter.

During this offseason, the Rams have either released or declined to re-sign six starters from their 2000 defense. Two more starters, outside linebacker Todd Collins and safety Devin Bush, are certain to be released after June 1, when the Rams can lessen the impact on their salary cap. That leaves only three starters from the 2000 season -- end Grant Wistrom, middle linebacker London Fletcher and cornerback Dexter McCleon -- as returnees.

Two free agent acquisitions, weakside linebacker Mark Fields of New Orleans and safety Kim Herring from Baltimore, will be starters. Obviously, Williams will upgrade a young secondary. But the Rams have to get some starters from this draft class and Lewis and Archuleta are odds-on favorites to be at the top of the depth chart by opening day.

Although he wasn't the top defensive tackle in this draft, Lewis was the best one-gap player, a guy who can squeeze between the gaps and into the backfield in the new scheme being installed by rookie coordinator Lovie Smith. The design will be similar to that of the Tampa Bay Bucs, a blueprint that emphasizes quickness and playmaking skills at every position. Had the Rams not consummated the Green trade Friday evening, and gained the 12th overall selection, there is no way they would have secured Lewis.

"Oh, somebody would have jumped on him and it would have killed me," said defensive line coach Bill Kollar. "He's the perfect guy for what we want to do up front."

Said Smith: "I just see (Lewis) as being a 'disrupter,' a guy who could really set the stage for what we want to be."

A former linebacker and the Pac-10 defensive player of the year in 2000, Archuleta is a rare workout freak who hustles all over the field. He could play nickel linebacker in some spots but will be groomed to take over at strong safety, with Herring positioned at free safety. Pickett is a 20-year-old prospect who will have to mature mentally and physically, but whom Smith sees as an eventual starter at the nose tackle spot.

Picking up right where they left off late Friday night, the incredibly proactive Rams didn't even wait for the official start of the draft to begin making moves once again, getting Williams to agree to a deal over the protests of agent Eugene Parker.

In the sign-and-trade deal, the Rams sent second- and fourth-round choices to Arizona. The No. 2 choice was the latter of St. Louis' pair of second-rounders. The fourth-round pick was the one that was obtained on Friday in a trade that sent tight end Roland Williams to the Raiders.

"I just decided that, after a long career with the Cardinals, a change of scenery might be in the best interest of my career," Williams said. "I loved my time with the Cardinals. Those people have been good to me and are like family. But the Rams sold me on the idea of being able to win a (Super Bowl) ring and that's a pretty good enticement."

Martz said that, while he dislikes the new-age term "shutdown corner" to describe a player's raw coverage abilities, Williams "comes close to fitting the term."

Added Martz: "He is so technically sound and such a character person, we really wanted to get him."

In 10 seasons, Williams has never missed a game and has started 159 of 160 contests. He has 46 interceptions and nine defensive touchdowns.