St. Louis Rams Offseason Wishlist: 10 Positions That Need to Be Upgraded

At first sight, the Rams' offseason wishlist might remind you of a chubby little spoiled kid plopped on Santa's lap at the mall. 

Sure, the other kids in line have been waiting literally all day for a turn, but it doesn't stop him from reading off a five-foot long list and crying when Santa cuts him off and claims he can't have all of those presents in one year. 

Then again, it's hard to compare a team with a 15-66 record over the last five years with a spoiled child. 

St. Louis fans could care less if the team's wishlist is too demanding. They are fed up with the garbage they see on the field every Sunday. 

As far as they're concerned, especially after seeing first-year coaches like Jim Harbaugh instantly succeed, the next head coach can start winning immediately or get the hell out. 

The fans have put up with too many timid coaches and far too many losses to have to deal with another waste of a season in 2012. And believe it or not, the Rams' roster is talented enough to at least produce a mediocre .500 season, which would be far more entertaining than the current state of the team. 

So the new head coach, whoever it may be, better have a checklist of his own that will instantly make the team halfway respectable, or he'll lose fan support real quick. 

That list might be similar to the following...

Head Coach

As expected, basically every fan from every team with a recently departed head coach wants their team to snag a candidate from the prestigious list that features only ex-head coaches who have had previous success in the league. 

Bill Cowher, Jon Gruden, Jeff Fisher, Tony Dungy and Marty Schottenheimer would all be names that come to mind.

Sure, they would be ideal, despite the fact some people overlook key details, like the fact Cowher runs a 3-4 defense while the Rams have been adding 4-3 personnel for the last five years and beyond.

Other than that, there's also a chance that Fisher may be the only coach from that list who is actually interested in coaching again, meaning the Rams would have a lot of competition to overcome if they want to win him over. 

The last three head coaches in St. Louis have all been promoted coordinators with no prior head coaching experience (Mike Martz, Scott Linehan, Steve Spagnuolo), and since all three failed in St. Louis, it's understandable why fans want an established candidate. 

But given the lack of options, perhaps, the fans should brace themselves for another rookie coach.

Whether it's Rob Ryan (Dallas defensive coordinator), Chuck Pagano (Baltimore defensive coordinator) or Joe Philbin (Green Bay offensive coordinator), the search committee needs to do their due diligence and sign the best long-term option, rather than the flashiest name. 

General Manager

Before the search for a head coach can begin, the team obviously has to hire a general manager. 

Billy Devaney, who was fired along with Steve Spagnuolo, had the right overall idea: Build through the draft, spend sparingly in free agency, remain active in scouting undrafted rookies and raid other team's practice squads. 

It's safe to say that the regime before Devaney was completely incapable of finding hidden gems, such as Danny Amendola, Darian Stewart, Danario Alexander and Josh Gordy. 

However, when you make horrible draft day decisions, like taking Mardy Gilyard over Aaron Hernandez and Mike Williams or Donnie Avery over DeSean Jackson or Jason Smith over Brian Orakpo and B.J. Raji, then it's bound to get you fired. 

The Rams need to steal a valuable front office assistant from a successful organization, such as the Green Bay Packers, the Baltimore Ravens or the Pittsburgh Steelers and then make that person their general manager. 

More importantly, the new general manager has to be a great talent evaluator with a similar "build through the draft" philosophy like Devaney, except with a better overall nose for talent. 

Quarterback Coach

Entering the 2011 season without a quarterback coach should have been a huge indicator of the impending doom that awaited. 

Everyone thought Josh McDaniels was too much of an offensive genius, and Sam Bradford was too talented for there to be any problems, but we now know that Bradford truly needed the undivided attention of someone completely familiar with the offense. 

Whether the new regime retains McDaniels or switches to a new system (meaning a new coordinator), the team must hire a mentor who Bradford can learn from and turn to throughout the course of a game. 

On top of being knowledgeable, the new quarterback coach should be relatable, as McDaniels is not exactly a people person by some accounts. Bradford needs someone he likes and respects. 

Dick Curl was an ideal fit as the team's quarterback coach during the 2010 season, but he was forced out after the team changed offensive systems.

However, if the team were to go back to the West Coast offense, then he could possibly be a candidate due to the success between him and Bradford a year ago. 

Offensive Line Coach

This has been a long time coming—Steve Loney has been needing to be fired for quite some time now. 

Loney was hired by Scott Linehan as the offensive line coach in 2008, and even though the line was beyond awful during that season, he was still retained by Spagnuolo.

During Loney's time in St. Louis, here are the resources he has been provided with...

-Jacob Bell ($36 million free agent)

-Jason Brown ($37.5 million free agent)

-Jason Smith (No.2 overall draft pick, $61.77 million contract)

-Rodger Saffold (No.33 overall draft pick)

-John Greco (third-round draft pick)

Regardless, Loney was the proud leader of arguably the worst offensive line in football in 2011, which is an honor he's very familiar with. 

In fact, every single lineman to play under him in St. Louis has had their development either come to a screeching halt or regress completely (the latter is usually the case).

That's right, there has been literally no positive progress with even one single lineman that has been "coached up" by Loney. Not one. 

Outside of maybe certain aspects of the government, can you think of anyone who has been provided with that amount of resources only to fail so miserably? Any one of us would have been fired 10 times over by now. 

So in other words, the Rams desperately need a competent line coach who is known for developing players to their full potential. 

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Offensive Line

Now, we can finally get off the coaches, as well as the front office and focus on the different positions the team needs to focus on. 

The offensive line definitely needs to be a focal point in the rebuilding process, even though a new line coach alone would probably improve the unit significantly. 

Center Jason Brown is a complete bust as a free agent and will likely be gone in 2012. The same goes for left guard Jacob Bell. 

Jason Smith, the Rams' former No. 2 overall pick in 2009, has been a complete disaster at tackle. The Rams would be wise to draft a true right tackle in the draft (Levy Adcock of Oklahoma State comes to mind), while Smith needs to either move to guard, like Robert Gallery did for Oakland or just be flat out cut from the team. 

Right guard Harvey Dahl seems to be the only decent lineman on the team, and while left tackle Rodger Saffold deserves another shot, he certainly gave fans a reason to be concerned with his poor play. 

In other words, the whole unit needs a makeover. 

Offseason Options

LT Matt Kalil (first-round draft pick, USC)

RT Levy Adcock (second-round draft pick, Oklahoma St.)

C Ben Jones (second to third-round draft pick, Georgia)

LT Demetrius Bell (free agent, Buffalo Bills)

LG Carl Nicks (free agent, New Orleans Saints)

C Scott Wells (free agent, Green Bay Packers)

Wide Receiver

The Rams' leading receiver this season was Brandon Lloyd (51 receptions, 683 yards), who was not even with the team for the first five games of the season and is set to hit free agency. 

The second-leading receiver was Steven Jackson (42 receptions, 333 yards), who is obviously not even a wide receiver at all but rather a running back, as well as the only offensive player to earn his paycheck in 2011.

That should tell you something about the lack of fire power on the Rams offense. 

Protecting the quarterback is important, but the Rams need someone to throw to in the event Bradford is miraculously provided with more than two seconds to throw a pass at some point. 

It's hard to decide which is more important, but unfortunately, the Rams will have to improve in both areas if they want to start winning games. 

One bonus is that the team will get Danny Amendola back from injury next season, but he can't do it by himself. 

Offseason Options

WR Justin Blackmon (first-round draft pick, Oklahoma St.)

WR Brandon Lloyd (re-sign via free agency)

WR Alshon Jeffery (first-round draft pick, S.Carolina)

WR DeSean Jackson (free agency, Philadelphia Eagles)

WR Vincent Jackson (free agency, San Diego Chargers)

WR Steve Johnson (free agency, Buffalo Bills)

Tight End

The Rams used their second-round pick in 2011 on tight end Lance Kendricks (Wisconsin), who was very impressive throughout training camp and the preseason, but he had his struggles during the regular season. 

Still, fans should not be giving up on him completely. His numbers (28 receptions, 352 yards) are actually on par compared to some of the premiere tight ends during their rookie years, like Jason Witten (35 receptions, 347 yards), Antonio Gates (24 receptions, 389 yards) and Tony Gonzalez (33 receptions, 368 yards). 

However, Kendricks is smaller than a prototypical tight end at 6'3" and 247 pounds. He needs a larger counterpart at the position to provide the team with the traditional tasks expected out of a tight end, such as run blocking. 

Mike Hoomanawanui and Billy Bajema are likely both on their way out, which means there is a void that needs to be filled by a player with solid blocking skills as well as red-zone receiving abilities.  

Offseason Options

John Carlson (free-agent, Seattle Seahawks)

Joel Dreessen (free-agent, Houston Texans)

Visanthe Shiancoe (free-agent, Minnesota Vikings)

Defensive Tackle

The Rams ended the season with the 31st-ranked run defense in the NFL, surrendering an average of 151.7 yards per game. 

A major reason for the poor run stopping was the lack of a difference-making defensive tackle. 

Fred Robbins was a phenomenal addition for the Rams in 2010, but he was merely adequate this season, even though he did show flashes of his former self at times.

Unfortunately for the Rams, Robbins will turn 35 years old in March, and it's a realistic possibility that he'll retire.

With Justin Bannan, Gary Gibson and Darrell Scott as the only other options, the Rams are desperate for some help in the middle.

Offseason Options

Jason Jones (free-agent, Tennessee Titans)

Brodrick Bunkley (free-agent, Denver Broncos)

Josh Chapman (second-round draft pick, Alabama)

Brandon Thompson (second-round draft pick, Clemson)

Jared Crick (second to third-round draft pick, Nebraska)

Outside Linebacker

Prior to the season, the Rams signed Ben Leber (Minnesota Vikings), Brady Poppinga (Green Bay Packers) and Zac Diles (Houston Texans) in an attempt to finally solve their problem at outside linebacker—a problem that has been haunting the team for the better part of a decade.

Diles was cut before Week 1, and Leber was let go in the middle of the season. Poppinga is the only one of the three still on the team, but he has been underwhelming to say the least.

As good as third-year middle linebacker James Laurinaitis has been, his talent will continue to be wasted if the Rams cannot find at least one above-average linebacker to play alongside him.

A quality outside linebacker could do wonders as far as improving the team's pass defense, as well as outside runs (which particularly hurt the Rams this season).

Offseason Options

Ronnell Lewis (second-round draft pick, Oklahoma)

Lavonte David (second to third-round draft pick, Nebraska)

Rocky McIntosh (free-agent, Washington Redskins)

Manny Lawson (free-agent, Cincinnati Bengals)

Keith Brooking (free-agent, Dallas Cowboys)

Cornerback

The Rams finished with the 19th-ranked pass defense in the NFL, but they were actually ranked in the top 10 overall as late as December, which might suggest that finding a defensive back is not a huge priority. 

The fact that their top four cornerbacks obtained season-ending injuries also suggests that they'll be fine at the position moving forward. 

However, their starting corners (Ron Bartell, Bradley Fletcher) are beginning to grow into very injury-prone players, and there's no guarantee that either will completely return to full health due to the seriousness of their injures (Bartell fractured his neck, while Fletcher tore the same ACL for the second time in three seasons). 

The backup corners seemingly held their own, but they were not totally challenged due to the fact opponents were often leading early in the games, removing their need to go airborne. 

With some solid options in both the draft and free agency, this may be the year to find a long-term solution at the cornerback position. 

Offseason Options

Carlos Rogers (free-agent, San Francisco 49ers)

Terrell Thomas (free-agent, New York Giants)

Cortland Finnegan (free-agent, Tennessee Titans)

Richard Marshall (free-agent, Arizona Cardinals)

Morris Claiborne (first-round draft pick, LSU)

Dre Kirkpatrick (first-round draft pick, Alabama)

Chase Minnifield (second-round draft pick, Virginia)

Jayron Hosley (second-round draft pick, Virginia Tech)

Other Possible Needs

Running Back: Steven Jackson seems to be as strong as ever, but he will turn 29 years old in July and has a lot of miles on the odometer. He could certainly use a quality backup at the very least. 

Defensive End: Chris Long and Robert Quinn seem to make up a formidable duo, but James Hall, the third wheel, will turn 35 in February. 

Kick Returner: The Rams' pitiful offense can't score, so an explosive return man capable of taking one to the house every so often would certainly help the cause.  

Backup Quarterback: Kellen Clemens played well in Sam Bradford's place, but the Rams should think about drafting a young late-round quarterback who could eventually develop into something special in the event Bradford doesn't work out.