Team Preview: St. Louis Rams

The Rams 2007 season was the epitome of injuries happening at bad times. Star running back Steven Jackson missed four games mid-season due to injury and is currently holding out of training camp in the hopes of getting a new contract. Jackson barely made it over the 1000 yard mark last season, and only tallied two 100+ yard games. Jackson’s hold-out makes the training camp battle between Brian Leonard and Antonio Pittman all the more interesting, as it could transpose into playing time during the season.

Central Catholic alum Marc Bulger also missed four games last year with injuries and had a dreadful TD-INT ratio of 11-15. Bulger was either hot or ice cold last year. He topped the 300-yard plateau in 3 games, yet was under 200 in 6, including 3 games under 150 yards passing. One of Bulger’s main targets, Isaac Bruce, has departed for the slightly greener pastures of San Francisco.

However, if you’re looking for a team that has the potential to rise from the pits of misery to be a playoff contender, the Rams might just be your team. Bulger had the worst year of his career last season, and he has weapons-a-plenty in his offense. The Rams drafted two wide receivers, showing that even with the departure of Bruce, Tory Holt will have some company out in the field. The Rams also drafted Roy Scheuning (G-Oregon State) to add youth and depth to an offensive line that was devastated by injuries last year. With anchor Orlando Pace on the Physically Unable to Perform list to start the season, the Rams have time to work out replacements to the All-Pro tackle while thinking about the future of their offensive line.

The Rams draft was highlighted with defensive players, including Defensive End Chris Long and cornerback Justin King from Penn State. King had a disappointing year last year, but with the right teaching, could develop into a shutdown corner. The Rams defense will improve with the development of last year’s first round pick Adam Carriker. The Rams were 21st last season in total defense but 31st in scoring defense. Their season was highlighted by their inability to stop teams with the game on the line. One may remember their game against Cleveland last year when they came from behind to take a late lead, only to let Cleveland march down the field and score.

If the Rams can stay healthy, they can definitely leap-frog the 49ers and maybe even make a run at Arizona and Seattle for the division crown. The Rams may very well start the season 0-7 or 1-6 with games against Philly, the Giants, Seattle, Buffalo, Washington, Dallas and New England to start the year. However, after that stretch, if they remain injury-free their schedule lightens up. Their last 9 opponents had a combined record of 52-92 last season, with only Seattle and Arizona breaking the 8-win plateau. If the Rams are going to make a run, they are going to do it in the second half of the season. If they can muster 2 or 3 wins out of the first half, this team has the potential to go 8-8, which in the NFC means battling for a playoff spot. If this team is going to get that far, it’s going to take a monumental effort by the defense as well as some luck in avoiding injuries during the rough first half of the year so that the team is fresh down the stretch.

Ian’s 2008 prediction: 7-9
John’s 2008 prediction: 6-10