Entering 2010, the Rams were a team in need of good fortunes. The past three years had not been very kind to them as they amassed a record of 6-42 in that time. Most thought 2010 would be no different. Think about it, rookie quarterback, lousy wide receivers, and basically the same defense from the year before.
Well, I bet everyone thinks Sam Bradford is well worth that 50 million in guaranteed dollars. He was the breath of fresh air this team needed, instantly becoming a leader for a disorganized, beaten down football team. A 7-9 record is a nice starting point, but there are plenty of holes still to be filled.
Let’s play GM and take a look at areas the Rams can improve in for the upcoming year.
Wide Receiver
Long gone are the days of Torry Holt, Isaac Bruce and “The Greatest Show on Turf.” This is a team in desperate need of a playmaker that can stretch the field and place fear in opposing defenses. Think back to Week 17 of the regular season with the division on the line and that’s basically what the Rams current group of wide receivers represents. None of them possess the skills to be a go to guy; they are all nice number two and three options that flash from time to time.
The most productive player in the bunch would be the scrappy, undrafted, Wes Welker clone, Danny Amendola. Amendola was the Rams highest rated receiver last year with an average rating of +2.5. Being targeted over a hundred times helped his production to the tune of 689 yards, 3 touchdowns and an average of 8.1 yards per catch. Brandon Gibson was the next most productive player in terms of receptions and yards, finishing the season with a 53-620 line. The third spot belonged to their starting tailback Steven Jackson who finished the year with a negative PFF rating in terms of receiving.
Very little has been done in the draft to address the position appropriately. There are only two receivers on the Rams roster that were actually drafted by the team, 2008 2nd round selection Donnie Avery and 2010 4th round pick Mardy Gilyard. Avery tore his ACL in the third pre-season contest against the Patriots, while Gilyard managed a total of 181 offensive snaps before landing on injured reserve with a nagging wrist injury.
Look for the Rams to find a playmaker on day 1 of the draft if the opportunity presents itself.
Running Back
Since the start of 2005, Steven Jackson has had more touches than any other running back in football. He has amassed over 2,052 touches for an average of 342 a season. Can you say workhorse? The last semi-productive backup the Rams had was an over-the-hill Stephen Davis in 2006. Backup running back is a position they have been trying to address since 2007 when they drafted Brian Leonard out of Rutgers. Leonard is now in Cincinnati and our most recent number two (Kenneth Darby) is a free agent, which places them right back where they started.
It was business as usual for Steven Jackson last year. He pounded out 1,241 yards on the ground, earning him his third Pro-Bowl selection. After he gets his, it starts to get sketchy in a hurry. Backups Kenneth Darby and Keith Toston carried the ball 53 times total for an underwhelming 161 yards. A change of pace back needs to bring more than 3.03 yards per carry to the table – not to mention that no RB on the Rams roster finished with a positive PFF rating.
Steven will tell you he prides himself on being one of the few three-down running backs left in the league, but that statement alone shouldn’t stop the Rams from going out and finding a top-tier player to spell him. Keeping him fresh throughout the game will allow him to be more effective in the fourth quarter by punishing opponents and closing out games, a problem they had in a few winnable games last year.
Outside Linebacker
The revolving door known as outside linebacker is a position that seems to get skipped over year after year. The Rams have had very few players who have been true impact players at the position. Sure, Mr. Irrelevant aka David Vobora is a nice story and fan favorite around PFF, but he’s a very mediocre player at best. St. Louis used five different starters at both OLB spots last season with not one starting all 16 games.
Free agent acquisition Na’il Diggs was the most consistent player at strong-side linebacker and has already been entrenched as the starter there next season. It seemed as if Diggs had a tough time adapting to Spagnuolo’s system at first, but his play hit stride after the bye week in effort of posting the three best games of the season, all in a row. The success was short lived because of a torn pectoral muscle, but despite missing the last four games of the season he still had more tackles than any other OLB on the roster.
With Diggs being 33 at the start of the season, it would be smart for the Rams to try and find two players that have starting potential.
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