Rebuilding a Franchise: The St. Louis Rams From Top to Bottom

In a repeat of last year, the St. Louis Rams again have the second pick in the draft.

After a 2-14 record the Rams have left many questions unanswered. Is it time to blow up the team and start over?

The first topic every team has to deal with this time of year is the head coaching vacancy. The players want to play for Jim Haslett, while the front office is in search for anything else.

Maybe Jim Haslett is the right guy for St. Louis. As head coach of the Saints, he compiled a 45-51 record. He never had a record worse than 7-9, other than the season of hurricane Katrina, which was a year of distress. Maybe he is the most qualified candidate the Rams can obtain? The fact that the players like him is also a major plus.

If the Rams were to pursue a new head coach, he has to be young and fresh. Look at turnaround teams like Atlanta, Miami and Baltimore. They all hired first time coaches that are younger. Jim Schwartz or Kevin Gilbride would be great fits.

Then comes the draft. Almost every expert tells the Rams to draft Andre Smith. However, first the Rams need to decide what to do with Orlando Pace. Can Andre Smith play right tackle? Because Orlando Pace, despite injuries lately and all, has earned that left tackle position.

Another key decision that the Rams' front office needs to make is what to do at the quarterback position. If Marc Bulger's time is done, maybe the second pick would be better spent on a quarterback. Unfortunately, most of the quarterbacks are underclassmen, meaning that they have one less year of experience and currently are uncertain of their own future.

In the second round, the Rams need to take a defensive tackle. The rush defense was terrible and our linebackers are not the worst. If a guy like Ndamukong Suh or Terrence Cody were to be available in the second round, the Rams must take them. An up-the-middle run-stopper could propel the defense in the right direction.

Then comes the coordinator positions.

Al Saunders is not the right fit for the Rams. In theory, he is a great fit. However, it has not worked out. The Vertical offense often focuses too much on the big play versus the safe run that it fails to attack with short passes and outside running plays.

Also, offenses lose their dimensionality when defenses know the team will not run and it needs the big play; this tends to result in low completion percentages and high interceptions. Al Saunders' coaching style does not work with the Rams, since the Rams need to use Steven Jackson to even have a chance to win.

Second, the Rams must get rid of Rick Venturi. He was appointed as defensive coordinator to compliment Jim Haslett's promotion. I have nothing positive to say about him—he has never succeeded. In three seasons as head coach of Northwestern he went 1-31-1.

He has been an interim coach twice. The record he compiled was 2-17. He was not kept by those teams even as a coordinator. The Rams ranked 31st in points allowed, 28th in yards allowed, and 29th in rushing yards allowed.

Lastly, this is a year for players to prove themselves. Steven Jackson has to prove to everyone that he can be a number one back and stay healthy for a full sixteen games. Rookie Chris Long was great in the first half of the season, but did nothing in the second half. Orlando Pace has to stay healthy for sixteen games.

Ultimately next season is do-or-die for the Rams. With back to back seasons of having the second pick, another year of the sames would require a house cleaning.

However, the Dolphins, Ravens and Falcons have proved that this team with the right moves can go to the playoffs next year.