Will The St Louis Rams Avoid Another One Win Season?

With the NFL season set to kick off and excitement reaching feverpitch, everybody wants a say in which teams will be facing off in Cowboys Stadium in Superbowl XLV. With the buzz around who will be lifting the Lombardi Trophy this season, I am taking a look at the NFL's worst team last year, the St Louis Rams and whether they have done enough to avoid the first overall pick in next years draft.
 
With the 1st overall pick of the 2010 NFL Draft, the St Louis Rams selected Sam Bradford, Quarterback, Oklahoma. With the rookie set to start at QB for the Rams, Rams fans can rest assured that they won't be seeing Keith Null under center this year. However, we cant pin the Rams awful record last season solely on the quarterbacks. St Louis will have to do a better job in pass protection if they want to win games. Bradford has a good arm but he was rarely pressured behind Oklahoma's stellar offensive line. The Rams quarterbacks were hit 98 times last year which was the third highest total in the league and the offensive line will have to improve if they want to keep Bradford healthy. I liked the Roger Saffold pick, and he will start in his rookie year although whether this will be enough to improve the mediocre line remains to be seen. Jason Smith started just five games last year and if he can stay healthy it will be a huge boost. As well as pass protection, Bradford will have to worry about who he is going to throw to. Donnie Avery, the teams leading receiver was placed on IR and last years starting tight end Randy McMichael is gone. Danny Amendola caught 43 balls last year, and the receiver in the mold of Wes Welker can be a reliable target for Sam Bradford on short passes. The Rams recognized the lack of experienced targets and traded for WR Mark Clayton who is a solid addition for the team. The Rams don't have a Torry Holt type receiver who is going to record 100 receptions and unless rookie WR Mardy Gilyard and rookie TE Michael (here goes) Hoomanawanui are ready to become legitimate weapons for Bradford, expect the Rams to rely heavily on star running back Steven Jackson.
 
To win in the NFL, a team must have a quarterback, protect the quarterback, and rush the quarterback. The Rams defense recorded 25 sacks, the 3rd lowest total in the league. Leonard Little the team's sack leader with 6.5 was let go. Eugene Sims and George Selvie, two rookies can contribute at defensive end especially if Selvie can rediscover the form he showed in his sophomore year at South Florida when he recorded 14.5 sacks with 31.5 TFL's and was tipped to be a first round draft pick.
The big question is whether Chris Long, the 2nd overall pick can produce after two relatively average seasons. Former first round pick, Defensive tackle Adam Carriker was traded to the Redskins leaving the Rams with next to nothing inside. Former Giants veteran Fred Robbins steps in to add experience but if anything the Rams defensive line has got worse, leaving Steve Spagnuolo's pass rush rotation questionable. At middle linebacker, James Laurinaitis looks to build on a succesful rookie season and will be the anchor of the defense. Na'il Diggs was brought in from Carolina and is expected to start at outside linebacker. A solid addition but he is no Will Witherspoon. The lack of pass rush isn't helped by a poor secondary. O.J. Atogwe desperately needs help in the defensive backfield. Jerome Murphy the 3rd round cornerback out of South Florida addresses a need and could start in a nickel role at the least. Craig Dahl is a good blitzer and can provide additional pressure in safety blitz packages.

When a team needs all their draft picks from rounds 1 - 5 to potentially come in and start, that's a team in trouble. With no big free agent signings or trades, the Rams are relying heavily on their rookies. Even now, Sam Bradford is definitely an upgrade over any one of Marc Bulger, Keith Null or Kyle Boller, the trio who together started under center last year. Bradford will start but I think he will have more of a Matt Stafford year than a Mark Sanchez year. Mark Sanchez stepped into a talented Jets team where he didn't have to play well for the Jets to win games. Like Matt Stafford, Sam Bradford steps into a team where he will need to lead the offense and put points on the board, because the defense is going to concede points. In my opinion simply drafting Sam Bradford was enough to avoid a one win season. However I don't think the Rams have done enough in the offseason to win more than 4 games, and though it seems they are good enough to win more than one game, there is still a good chance that the St. Louis Rams will be selecting first in next years draft.