When you finish a season 1-15, there’s not much room for you to be any worse. Only the 2008 Detroit Lions were capable of being a worse football team over the stretch of 16 games. So, what better time than now to start the rebuilding process in St. Louis where this year’s first overall pick will be expected to show the fans that he’s the one that can lead the franchise back to respectability.
Well, judging by what he has to work with on offense, Sam Bradford is going to be in for a long season. The Rams offense looks set to rely on Steven Jackson’s running ability once again since there are no real weapons at the wide receiver or tight end position that Bradford can work with. However, the question remains: By working Jackson so much year after year, how much are they hurting his long-term future as a premier running-back? A running back only has so many carries in him before he hits the wall and become a shell of his former self.
But looking at the starting wide receivers and tight end, the trio of Laurent Robinson, Donnie Avery and Daniel Fells is not going to worry too many NFL defences. The offensive line has a lot of no-name and journeyman guys as well, so you have to wonder if they’ll even be able to create enough holes for Steven Jackson to have big carries.
Defensively, they have three players that really need to stand out game in and game out since the rest of the defence looks to be weak. James Laurinaitis has to play up to the expectations that he set for himself by being so dominant at Ohio State. Chris Long has to prove that he’s closer to being a stud than being a bust after the Rams used a first-round pick to get his defensive end services. And OJ Atogwe has to be a rock at the corner spot.
A couple of players to look for in camp are AJ Feeley and Mardy Gilyard. Feeley is listed as the starter right now, but we all know that Bradford will be the starter once we get to Week 1. But the Rams have to hope that Feeley just doesn’t concede the spot to Bradford in training camp or that he pouts about losing his spot to an unproven rookie. You have to think that Feeley will be called upon at some point during the season because of either injury or poor play, so he has to be on top of his game at all times.
Gilyard was a fourth-round selection for the Rams in this year’s draft, but most experts believe he was a steal at that spot. He was a stand-out wide receiver in his university years with Cincinnati and was a big reason why they became a BCS program. Can he translate his success in the college ranks to success in the pros?
2010 Prediction: 1-15 again...