Progress
Coaching Staff
Head Coach - Scott Linehan is a first year coach who will replace Mike Martz as Rams HC this year. Linehan has been very successful as an offensive coordinator in Minnesota and Miami. When Linehan moved to Miami last year, Minnesota's offense fell apart whereas Miami's looked much improved. The Rams are loaded on offense and should not slump from a coaching perspective with him in charge. There is hope that he will even bring more balance to the play-calling. The defense might be of concern if not for the new DC.
Defensive Coordinator - Jim Haslett might as well be called the defensive head coach. Just last year he was the head coach of the New Orleans Saints, and he had been for many years. Even in years the Rams went to the Super Bowl, Haslett's Saints gave them some of their only losses. Haslett's teams still struggled in New Orleans. However, before that he was a defensive coordinator for a dominant Pittsburgh defense. There is no question this is going to be Haslett's defense, and it will be a whole lot better than his predecessor's. Larry Marmie became DC under the Martz regime primarily because he and Martz were college roomies.
To give you an idea how bad Marmie was, I'd like to give a brief summary of his career. He coached at Arizona State for four years, and in that time average attendance to games fell from 70,717 to 55,715 partly because the Cardinals had come to town and partly because Marmie's teams stunk. Marmie got canned by the college and somehow got hired on in the Cardinals organization as a position coach and eventually became defensive coordinator. His defenses were awful, so the Cardinals fired him, and we picked him up. In one year our defense went from no.1 at forcing turnovers to dead last and dropped several positions in total defense. The next year was even worse. In all the years Marmie has coached in the NFL, his defenses have yielded exactly one Pro Bowler. The difference between Marmie and Haslett is the difference between night (on the dark side of the moon) and day (on Mercury).
Offense
Quarterback - Marc Bulger, Gus Frerotte, Jeff Smoker/Ryan Fitzpatrick, Marques Hagans?
Bulger is back and has to be considered one of the best quarterbacks in the league. Frerotte gives us a much better back-up than we had last year. Smoker and Fitzpatrick will battle for the third position as they did last year. Fitz is the kid from Harvard, and he got the job in '05, but Smoker might have more of an edge this year since the new QB Coach is his old college position coach. Marques Hagans could be allowed to compete, but he'd have trouble beating out the incumbents.
Runningback - Steven Jackson, Marshall Faulk, Tony Fisher, John David Washington, Antoine Bagwell, Marques Hagans?
Tony Fisher is a comparable back to Arlen Harris at no. 3; he might see time on the field in obvious passing situations. Jackson's a bruiser with speed but spends too much time deciding which way to go before hitting the hole. He's young; he'll learn. This is probably Faulk's last year before he retires and waits to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. We signed Denzel's son as an UDFA, but I don't know if he'll make the final cut. Ditto Bagwell. Hagans could fit in here as no. 4, but we have satisfactory depth already.
Wide Receiver - Torry Holt, Isaac Bruce, Kevin Curtis, Shaun McDonald, Dane Looker, Clinton Solomon,Marques Hagans?
Holt might be the best in the game today. Bruce is Mr. Ram, but he's nearing the end of his career. If Bruce declines, Curtis is a legit no. 2 and probably our fastest receiver. McDonald and Looker give us great depth. McDonald has also returned kicks for us They ll put Hagans at the bottom of the depth chart at some position. This could be it. The Rams also signed an UDFA by the name of Solomon.
Tight End - Joe Klopfenstein, Dominique Byrd, Aaron Walker, Jerome Collins, Aaron Trafford, Ed Nelson, Jonathan Williams
Klopf, Byrd, and Nelson are all new. The first two are talented receiving tight ends and should be considered upgrades over Manumaleuna probably even as rookies. Nelson is a long-term project. The others are/were back-ups, and at least one of them should make the roster for blocking skills. Trafford supposedly looked really sharp at camp, and Collins was a draft pick last year. Williams was an UDFA added after the draft this year.
Fullback - Madison Hedgecock
Same as last year. He will be used almost exclusively as a lead blocker.
Offensive Tackle - Orlando Pace, Alex Barron, Todd Steussie, Blaine Saipaia
Pace is easily one of the three best at his position in the league. Barron could be that good one day and has already been a decent starter in his rookie year. Steussie ain't what he used to be, but he is as good a backup as you could expect to get. Saipaia is more of a guard, but could function as a backup tackle if necessary
Guard - Adam Timmerman, Claude Terrell, Richie Incognito, Mark Setterstrom, Tony Palmer, Todd Steussie, Blaine Saipaia
Timmerman could start at guard but is getting older and has been injured in recent years. With the addition of Setterstrom and Palmer, depth looks a lot better. Both are better at run-blocking than pass protection. Terrell will likely start at the other guard position, but he needs to work on conditioning. Saipaia may see more time as a back-up tackle, but he's still best suited for guard. Incognito could even be a starter at guard the beginning of the season depending on what kind of shape Timmerman is in. Richie could have been a first round pick last year if not for injury and character concerns. Steussie is also seeing reps at guard so he should be able to fill in wherever needed.
Center - Andy McCollum, Richie Incognito, Larry Turner, Mike Degory, Donovan Raiola
McCollum is old and has an injury history, but he's our best center.
Incognito is back from injury and looking sharp; he could play center as well. Turner will do, but he's not exactly exciting. Degory and Raiola are both centers I expected to be drafted that we were able to sign as free agents after the draft; a lot of lists had Degory as the third highest ranked center in this class. Suddenly depth doesn't look so bad here either.
Defense
Defensive Tackle - La'roi Glover, Jimmy Kennedy, Claude Wroten, Jeremy Callahan, Brian Howard, Tim Sandidge, Ron Slavin
Glover gives us an interior pass rush we never had before. Kennedy will really have to step up next year, as so far he has been inconsistent. He has to prove he can hold up against the run and consistently take on double-teams. If Jimmy can't hold down that NT position, we don't really have a good alternative. Wroten will be a good backup and should eventually take over for Glover when he retires, but he's not really the massive blocker-engulfing mass that you want in a nose tackle. The others in that list were all signed as UDFAs; only a couple of them will make the final roster. We also were considering signing veteran Jason Fisk. I think we should definitely revisit that possibility after the draft
Defensive End - Leonard Little, Anthony Hargrove, Victor Adeyanju, Brandon Green, Clifford Dukes, Kory Lothe
Little is a Pro Bowl calibur player. In past years, we let the Seahawks sign away our other left defensive ends banking on the development of Hargrove. He has not impressed so far, but we don't have a good option to replace him. Green is not an every down player, but he gives us a better rotation to keep the line fresh all game. Adeyanju could do it eventually, but the knock on him is that he is raw and will need more work to reach his potential, so we can't expect him to be an immediate impact player. Dukes will probably be on the practice squad. Lothe was an UDFA, who will have to fight for a roster spot as well.
Linebacker - Will Witherspoon, Pisa Tinoisamoa, Brandon Chillar, Raonall Smith, Dexter Coakley, Trev Faulk, Jon Alston, Tim McGarigle, Drew Wahlroos, Mike Goolsby
I'm not quite sure how these guys will be deployed. Early indications are that Pisa will play weakside, Spoon will play middle, and Chillar or Smith will play strongside. Even with those two at strongside, it is not certain either is true starter quality at this point. Coakley is a former Pro Bowler coming back from a major injury, so he might be an eventual starter or he might not even make the team. For now, he will back up Tinoisamoa at weakside. Pisa has been one of our only consistent players on defense in the last couple years, and Witherspoon led a very talented Panthers defense in tackles last year.. Faulk and McGarigle are inside or middle linebackers, who will likely be no more than backups for now. One of them could be relegated to the practice squad, and Goolsby will almost surely find himself there. Alston could play 'backer in a situational role, but there is talk of moving him to safety. Wahlroos is primarily a special teamer and is unlikely to see regular play on the defense.
Safety - Corey Chavous, Oshiomogo Atogwe, Jerome Carter, Jon Alston, Ronald Bartell
Chavous is currently set to play strong safety, but I think he's more of a free safety. All of those others will be rookies or second year players, and all of them have potential. Bartell is a corner, but there is talk he will slide over. Likewise, Alston is a linebacker who might be converted to safety. At the moment this is another starting position up for grabs.
Cornerback - Jerametrius Butler, Travis Fisher, Tye Hill, Fakhir Brown, Ronald Bartell, DeJuan Groce, Dwight Anderson
I doubt all of these names are still on the final roster. Butler and Fisher were our 1 and 2, but both are coming off major injuries. Rumor has it we're already trying to trade Fisher. Butler should have the inside track on one of the starting positions. Hill, Brown, and Bartell will likely compete for the other. Bartell could switch to safety, though. Still, that's no less than 5 starting corners on the roster right now! Groce is probably only a nickelback, but he adds to our incredible depth.
Special Teams
Kicker - Jeff Wilkins, Josh Cummings
We call him "Money." He doesn't miss often.
Punter - Matt Turk, Andy Groom
Turk's old and his leg isn't that great anymore. Groom is young and needs to prove he deserves a chance. They will compete for a position, probably with some UDFAs in training camp.
Returner - Brad Pyatt, Marques Hagans, Shaun McDonald
If Pyatt plays to form and doesn't go crashing down in a heap, Hagans is going to have a lot of trouble unseating him. Of course, considering Pyatt actually got injured before his first minicamp with the team, maybe that's not such a long shot. If Hagans doesn't make the roster as a returner, he'll probably be on the practice squad waiting for Pyatt to go down. McDonald has returned for us in the past, but it's not his strong suit. He did it because we didn't have a real return specialist.
Overall
This is roughly where our starting lineup stands:
QB - Bulger
HB - Jackson
FB - Hedgecock
WR1 - Holt
WR2 - Bruce/Curtis
TE - Klopfenstein
LT - Pace
LG - Timmerman?
C - McCollum?
RG - Terrell?
RT - Barron
RE - Little
NT - Kennedy
DT - Glover
LE - Hargrove
WLB - Tinoisamoa
MLB - Witherspoon
SLB - Chillar?
FS - Atogwe?
SS - Chavous
CB - Hill?
CB - Butler?
K - Wilkins
P - Groom?
PR - Hagans?
KR - Pyatt?
On offense, a better/healthier line could help us establish a running game, and the upgrades at tight end should translate into improved performance in the redzone. Improved depth across the board hedges against the risk of injury ruining a season.
On defense, the secondary should be much improved, but I don't see that we have done a lot to improve the run defense. Alston at safety might help against the run if he adjusts quickly, but I don't see anybody else who should be ready to start and is known for their play against the run.. I don't like the fact that so much hinges on Kennedy having a better year than any he has had so far. Signing a player like Jason Fisk would be a prudent contingency plan. Hargrove is another player whose development we are really banking on. Just the change in defensive scheme should make a big difference in our defense, though. The current coaching staff observed that when watching tape from last year it was hard to tell whether the players were out of position or not because you couldn't even tell where they were supposed to be on some plays.
I hope they bring in someone to challenge Hagans for that returner job. Maybe one of those RBs we just signed can return kicks. It's not that I don't like the kid; I'm just not convinced he's a great returner.
I think some of the keys to success next year will include establishing a rhythm on offense, a more agressive and unpredictable defense, and the development of our young players at NT, DE, and SLB.
