NFL Team Previews: Los Angeles Rams
The fourth and final team of my NFC West previews is the Los Angeles Rams, coached by Jeff Fisher and have Les Snead putting together the roster. After a recent move to LA from St. Louis, the Rams trade the future for a young arm in #1 overall pick Jared Goff. The Rams hope that he and second year RB Todd Gurley can lead this team past the Arizona Cardinals and Seattle Seahawks and bring them back to the playoffs.
DRAFT RECAP: WR Pharoh Cooper is a nice pick, and they need all the help they can get a receiver and tight end. They actually spent four of their five non-Goff picks on pass catchers, and the rams hope that they can gel with Goff and the rest of the offense. It's funny that I say that, however, because before Todd Gurley, the Rams had no offense. It's why they mortgaged their future on Goff, which is one of the more questionable decisions in the draft. This trade, along with the Carson Wentz trade in Philadelphia, reminds many of us about what happened with the whole RGIII thing in Washington (and the Rams were on the receiving end of that one, and built their team from it). The Griffin trade was a disaster for the Redskins, and he was projected better than Goff is projected now. Not only that, but the Rams made the trade so they could spend the time deciding who they would take, Wentz or Goff. If you don't for sure know who is better at the time, why are you making the move? It's a silly trade in my mind, and they probably could have traded up somewhere between picks 5 and 7 and still received Goff.
FREE AGENCY: The Rams did not do a lot this free agency. They brought in CB Coty Sensabaugh from the Tennessee Titans to help fill the gap Janoris Jenkins leaves behind, and Sensabaugh's basic stats are only slightly worse than those of Jenkins. The Rams also brought in OLB Quinton Coples from the Dolphins, who was a bust for the Dolphins after being drafted in the first round a few years ago. The Rams are hoping a change of scenery will work out for him. Outside of those moves, the Rams resigned some players, and otherwise did not do much via free agency.
PLAYERS LOST: I've already talked about Janoris Jenkins, but the Rams also lost a few more members of their defense. To start, they lost long time ILB James Laurinaitis to the New Orleans Saints, and FS Rodney McLeod to the Philadelphia Eagles. Former #2 overall pick DE Chris Long went to the New England Patriots, and backup DT Nick Fairley joined Laurinaitis in New Orleans. That's five key contributors lost, with not a whole lot in return. The Rams also lost tight end Jared Cook to the Green Bay Packers, but they drafted two tight ends and still have Lance Kendricks.
STRONGEST POSITION: Despite losing Fairley and Long, I'm still going with defensive line as the strength here. Todd Gurley is in line to be the best running back in the league, but he has injury history and the Rams don't have much great depth behind him. Back to the D-Line, the Rams have two of the best in DT Aaron Donald and DE Robert Quinn. Both have accrued more than ten sacks in a season at some point in their careers, and many regard Aaron Donald as the second best DT behind JJ Watt of the Houston Texans. Michael Brockers and William Hayes are starters almost anywhere, and they help round out a solid line. Resigning DE Eugene Sims and adding Quinton Coples help with the depth, and barring injury to Donald or Quinn this line should be stellar again.
WEAKEST POSITION: Wide receiver. When Kenny Britt is the best true receiver on the team, it says a lot. He's a number three receiver at best, but here he's forced into being the guy who has to go up against Patrick Peterson and Richard Sherman four times next season. Pharoh Cooper could be good, but he also might not be good, you never truly know what rookies will turn into being. Tavon Austin is an overall strength for this team, but he did as much returning the football as he did catching. He's more of a return man than a receiver. Maybe Jared Goff can fix the receivers, but as of now, the receivers are the weakness.
FIVE MOST IMPORTANT PLAYERS TO THE RAMS SUCCESS: QB Jared Goff, RB Todd Gurley, DT Aaron Donald, CB Trumaine Johnson, DE Robert Quinn. Obviously, this offense lives and dies with the production with Todd Gurley, but it's also important to the Rams to have Jared Goff have a good season and show he was worth the trade. Goff can make this offense respectable, or keep in in the bottom of the league. I've already discussed the importance of Donald and Quinn, and CB Trumaine Johnson is needed to help offset some of the losses and rebuilding in the secondary. There's a lot of questions as to who will start where, especially at safety, and Trumaine Johnson is needed to help solidify the back end of the defense.
PREDICTION: I think that Goff will have a decent season, but the Rams are in a restart right now, and not just because they moved cities. Arizona and Seattle are in the division, and with the roster they have, they don't have a good chance of being better than one of them, let alone both. That said, I still think this Rams team can go 9-7 with a good season from Goff. With a bad season from Goff, this team goes down to 5-11.
