State of the Union: St. Louis Rams

You don't have to be Nostradamus to predict that the Rams are going to be terrible this year. Their number one wide receiver, Keenan Burton apparently, has 425 receiving yards over his first two seasons. I don't know how Sam Bradford couldn't succeed with a weapon like that on his side. Throw in Donnie Avery and Bradford should be in the Pro Bowl. Too many threats to not be good. In all seriousness though, I think Sammy's gonna be awful. First of all, he played QB at Oklahoma. This isn't my Texas bias, this is the fact that their QBs don't do well in the NFL. It's a fact. Had Troy Aikman stayed there instead of transferring to UCLA chances are he would have been bad too. I also don't like it when guys come out after their junior year. The Jets could hide Sanchez with their running game, but that won't be the case here. For QBs I prefer a guy who gets the full four years and as much experience as possible like Matt Ryan had. You can point to Leinart, but overall I think that extra year can show what a guy's really made of, especially after playing for a stacked team. The year they played Florida for the National Championship he could sit back in the shotgun, crack a beer, and wait until one of his stud receivers got open. Last year he finally got hit and was broken. Do you really think he'll have more time in St. Louis? I'll admit the kid throws a pretty ball but I don't think he'll be able to while he's running for his life. They brought in a new center, Jason Brown who played with Baltimore, but other than that the line is the same one that looked pretty bad last year. Even if Sam doesn't get hurt, this year will be a struggle to say the least.

The Rams have some potential on D but not much. They're returning last year's entire unit, and for a team that went 1-15, was ranked 27th against the pass and 25th against the run, that isn't a good thing. I only say they have some hope because James Laurinaitis is a beast and should feel more comfortable in his second year. I also think Chris Long could still be a good defensive end. The guy works hard but he hasn't gotten the results yet. It isn't a JaMarcus situation where he's just lazy. Hopefully for the Rams, Steve Spagnuolo will help him develop like he helped Osi and Justin Tuck in NY.

Steven Jackson is the only saving grace for Rams fans. The guy's a beast (ignore the crappy music), and even though he got cracked in that video he popped up like a monster. In this more open offense it'll be great to see him in the open field getting some room. If they're going to win any games this year (they play the Lions so they have a chance) it'll probably be because he carries them. I pity Rams fans, but at least they can watch him.