It is unfortunate that the Rams lost a tremendous leader in Na'il Diggs. Diggs, along with DT Fred Robbins were the only new starters from last year to the this year in the new revamped defense. Diggs had came over from the Carolina Panthers where Ken Flajole used to coach. Diggs was part of the machine that made this defense go. Although he has not performed greatly this season, him and James Laurinaitus were very consistent and started every game. He will definitely be missed.  Which brings me to my next point.

The weakside linebacker position is a total mess. Larry Grant started in the beginning of the season and performed okay, then he got cold and handed the reins to Bryan Kehl. Then the start went to Chris Chamberlain, and back to Grant against the Broncos. This past week, the start went to Mr. Irrelevant David Vobora, who played exactly like his name. He was not active at all. The linebacker position is very weak except for the man in the middle.

My guess is that Vobora starts at strongside linebacker like he did last season, and Bryan Kehl starts at WLB. Even though Kehl was inactive @ the birds, he has performed the best. 

So imagine the linebackers, the combination of Vobora/Chamberlain/Grant/Kehl and Laurinaitus. Holy crap. The Rams play very well up in the middle in the run support. But notice the bigs runs that Tim Hightower had, ALL to the outside. 

Unless a top tier wide receiver is available in the draft, the Rams must go for a linebacker. Maybe they go for a free agent, but I am unsure who is a free agent at the end of the season.

The rest of this year is a test to see what these outside linebackers can do without Diggs. Hopefully, they can play well enough for the Rams to be crowned 2010 NFC West Division Champions.