Rams don't fly. Why are you making that celebration, Ogletree?
Last season: 6-10, last in the NFC West.
Key Additions: Akeem Ayers, Nick Fairley, Nick Foles.
Key Losses: Jake Long, Scott Wells, Sam Bradford (it’s questionable as to whether these are key).
ARE THEY GOING TO L.A.? Probably. They have a history there, and St. Louis is a baseball town anyway with the Rams being the “other” team. (Other “other” teams include the Blues). It doesn’t help that the Rams have sucked or have been mediocre for a while now. But the L.A. saga is ongoing, and, with everything still very much confusing on that front, let’s talk football instead.
The Rams are a strange team. Every year, experts give them little side glances and say, “Yeah, but watch out for the Rams. They are building something.” It’s like the Rams are on an FBI watch list as possible future terrorists. Considering they employ Jeff Fisher and Greggggggg Williams, maybe that’s not far off.
The Rams have been on the cusp of relevant for years. Constantly in the bushes, ready strike, but never actually doing so. They were given a king’s ransom by the Skins for RGIII, and they turned it into an incredible D-line, but that’s about it. To be fair, Bradford spent two seasons on IR, and a competent QB might have made the Rams far more viable than they have been. They also have no big WR threat. Tavon Austin hasn’t lived up to billing, and their next big receiver is Kenny Britt, he of the batsh*t insane. Oh, and Stedman Bailey, I guess.
The jury is still out on Nickfolean Dynamite. Foles looked good in Philly, then looked merely passable. It’s still very possible he’s a future superstar and also very possible he’s a pumpkin. Honestly, the pressure won’t be on Foles. With Todd Gurley, Tre Mason and Zac Stacy on the roster, the Rams are going to run on all the downs. But that defense looks like a nightmare. Donald, Quinn, Ogletree, Long, Laurinaitis, Brockers, and new addition Nick “The Fat Man” Fairley make up most of the front seven on any given down. That is nightmare fuel for any QB.
So, here is to another year of the Rams possibly scaring the world and probably just being average. We need to stop talking about this team’s potential until they actually do something with it.
For the Rams fan perspective, Internet Rams fan JRizzle weighs in.
The 2015 St. Louis Rams season is being overshadowed by the team’s potential move to Los Angeles. However, there is some hope the Rams make it to the playoffs finally after 11 years. The Niners look dead, and the Rams’ defense once again looks terrifying. They have arguably the best defensive line in the NFL and augmented it by adding Nick Fairley. The rest of the front seven ain’t too shabby, either. They added Akeem Ayers to play opposite Alec Ogletree, and James Laurinaitis is a solid player. The secondary is a question mark, as it’s still very young. T.J. McDonald is blooming into a star at safety, and Janoris Jenkins is a playmaker, who gives up as many big plays as he makes it seems like. If the Rams want any chance at making the playoffs, the defense needs to live up to its rep and play like a top-five unit.
On offense, the Rams like to run the ball a ton. The issue with that is the offensive line is a giant question mark. They will be starting a second-year left tackle, possibly a third-year center with no game experience, and two rookies at the right guard and tackle spots. The Rams hope Todd Gurley can help make the line look better once he actually starts to play. Though, it sounds like he won’t be playing until after the bye. The Rams also need Nick Foles to stay healthy for a full season, something he has yet to do – a fun step up from dealing with Sam Bradford’s knee. Tavon Austin living up to his lofty draft status would help a receiving core with very little proven talent. With the Rams’ strong defense, the offense just needs to be near-average for them to win games, hopefully.
Their early season schedule is frightening – Seattle, Pittsburgh, Arizona and Green Bay, along with Washington, all before the bye. Under Jeff Fisher, the Rams have been sort of difficult to predict what they’ll do each week. The prime examples of this… not showing up against the Vikings, blowing a three-touchdown lead to the Cowboys, and then later a dominating performance against the Broncos last season. The Rams could start the season 5-0 if the defense shows up in every game (unlikely) or 1-4 (I don’t see them losing to the Washington Football Team).
Basically, for the Rams – Defense GOOOOOOD, Offense ??????????? (but probably BAAAAAAD). If the offense can help out the defense by being at least average and not turn over the ball in bad spots, I could see the Rams doing well this year.
