St. Louis Rams

St. Louis Rams

2013 Season: 7-9

The Rams in the same tough division as the Super Bowl champions NFC West and QB out for the season after 7 weeks still had a chance to get into the playoffs up until the end of the season.  The 30th passing offense in the league struggled in their division going 1-5.  

They were good on defense with Robert Quinn, Jake Long, and James Laurinaitis stopping offenses.  They ranked 3rd in the league in team sacks with 53.  Robert Quinn with 19 sack was a half a sack behind the league leader. 

 The departure of Stevan Jackson left big shoes to fill, but Zac Stacy stepped up with 973 yards rushing 26 receptions.  Speedy Tavon Austin made some plays in his rookie season playing in 13 games grabbing 40 catches for 4 touchdowns. 

 The team had the 4th most penalty yards.  That and a hurt QB early in the season doesn't help your team win football games.

Key Additions:  Kenny Britt, Greg Robinson, Tre Mason

Key Losses:  Daryl Richardson

Fantasy Players to watch for:  Zac Stacy, Tavon Austin

2014 Season Outlook:  The Rams have the 3rd toughest schedule this season.  The uncertainty of Sam Bradford while being in as tough as a division as they are in makes the season outlook really cloudy.  Adding Greg Robinson from Auburn will help to keep the QB protected combining his youth with LT Jake Long's experience.  Tre Mason was my favorite RB last season in college and he joins his teammate.  The offense adds Kenny Britt to the receiving corps.  It's the defensive side of the ball that I think will be the strength of the team.  

Chris Long off one end and Robert Quinn coming off the other is a force.  MLB James Laurinaitis has started every game of his career now entering his 6th season, last season had 116 tackles.  Not to be outdone LOLB Alec Ogletree ended up with 117 tackles.  Youth in the secondary and Sam Bradford has me thinking not to highly of this team.  I think this will be a 6-10 team.