ST. LOUIS RAMS 09' QB PREVIEW

(Photo by Nick Laham/Getty Images)

    The quarterback position on an NFL team is considered to be one of the most demanding and complex in all of the major sports, especially if you are the starter.  When your team wins you may get more credit than you deserve, and more blame for the losses as well.

    Now there are many factors that contribute to the position such as line play, talent at the skill positions and don't forget coach / coordinator turnover.  However, the weight of the offense's success rests squarely on the qb's shoulders because a good to great quarterback can overcome these deficiencies and still lead his team to victory.

    Then there are the numbers, and boy do they tell a story for the Rams over the past 3 seasons.  Since the 2006 season in which the Rams were among the top ten in all major team passing categories with the only exception being sacks allowed (27th).  They have since plummeted like the stock market of recent history to the cellar of most categories.

    The team passing stats will be in order from 06' - 08' with their NFL rank in parenthesis.

Total Passing Yards:  3962 (4th), -729 = 3233 (19th), -286 = 2947 (26th)

Total Yards Per Game:  247.6 (4th), -45.5 = 202.1 (19th), -17.9 = 184.2 (26th)

Completion %:  62.7 (5th), -4.7 = 58 (24th), -1.8 = 56.2 (28th)

Touchdowns:  24 (8th), -5 = 19 (17th), -8 = 11 (30th)

Interceptions:  8 (1st), +20 = 28 (32nd), -9 = 19 (26th)

QB Rating:  92.7 (6th), -25.7 = 67 (31st), -0.1 = 66.9 (31st)

Sacks Allowed:  49 (27th), -1 = 48 (27th), -3 = 45 (29th)

    With that being said, let's break down the candidates for the St. Louis Rams Quarterback depth chart.

Projected Starter(Marc Bulger) - Bulger has been the starting quarterback since he replaced fan favorite, and future Hall of Famer Kurt Warner in the 2002 season.  Although he has missed 5 full games and parts of others due to injury over the last two years and his production has declined sharply over that span.  He is still the clear-cut starter and has no real competition yet to speak of.

    Bulger once considered a top-tier quarterback in the league has now become injury-prone, inaccurate, and the term "Battered Quarterback" has been attached to almost every conversation involving his status.

Here is a breakdown of his stats over the past 3 seasons

08'  -  15 gms  -  251 / 440 = 57%  -  2720 yds  -  6.2 yd avg  -  71.4 QB rating

          11 td's / 13 int's

07'  -  12 gms  -  221 / 378 = 58.5%  -  2392 yds  -  6.3 yd avg  -  70.3 QB rating

          11 td's / 15 int's

06'  -  16 gms  -  370 / 588 = 62.9%  -  4301 yds  -  7.3 yd avg  -  92.9 QB rating

          24 td's / 8 int's

Projected Backup (Kyle Boller) - Boller was a highly touted prospect coming out of the University of California who was drafted 19th overall by the Baltimore Ravens in the 2003 draft.  He has spent his entire six year career with the Ravens even though all of last season was spent on the IR with a shoulder injury.

    He played in 53 games with 42 starts.  He is currently the franchise leader in passing yards with 7,846.  He also posted 45 td's and 44 int's, a completion percentage of 56.9 and a QB rating of 71.9 for his career up until now.  His best season came in 2004 when he posted 2,559 passing yards with 13 td's and 11 int's.  Along with missing all of last season he only totaled 17 starts the two seasons before which is just fewer than 6 starts per season over the last three years.

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