Lack Of Quality Depth Will Kill Rams

by Stlvinnie on Sep 14, 2010 12:00 AM CDT

As I said in my St. Louis Rams 2010 Season Preview the biggest problem with the 2010 St. Louis Rams will be their lack of quality depth. I believe players 1 through 22 will keep the Rams in games, but the lack of quality depth from 23-53 will kill them. This fact already has reared it's ugly head after only one game. Late in the game against the Arizona Cardinals with cornerbacks Kevin Dockery and Justin King injured the Rams were forced to play Bradley Fletcher on the weak side with safety James Butler filing in as the nickel corner. The Arizona Cardinals had two long drives late in the game and ending up winning 17-13 on a pass from Derek Anderson to Larry Fitzgerald, where it appeared there were some coverage issues on the play.

To compound the loss to the Arizona Cardinals we are now finding out that the Rams had several key injuries during the contest. According to the Rams cornerback Kevin Dockery has a "significant" hamstring strain, and cornerback Justin King may also miss the Oakland game with a hamstring injury. So that leaves only Bartell and Fletcher so rookie Jerome Murphy will be forced into action. Luckily the Raiders passing game is not that good.

In addition to the weekend secondary the Rams will also be without LB Chris Chamberlain who fractured his toe and may be out for the season. Chamberlain is the first backup at the linebacker position and plays significant time on special teams as well. The Rams will now only have David Vobora and rookie Josh Hull to back up Diggs, Laurinaitis and Grant. Look for a heavy doss of Darren McFadden on Sunday.

On offense the Rams will be without TE Michael Hoomanawanui who suffered a high ankle sprain and could miss several games. Hoomanawanui who was the star in the preseason will be missed as Sam Bradford looks for a safety valve when pressured. Billy Bajema and Daniel Fells will have to step up. Not sure why the Rams kept 4 tight ends on their roster but now they will need them. The Rams who already have the worst receiving core in the league, and were damn lucky to get Mark Clayton will now be without starting receiver Laurent Robinson who aggravating an ankle injury, and never seems to be healthy. Marshall Faulk today said the Rams receivers are bums on NFL Network. The most disconcerting news of all today was that running back Steven Jackson had an MRI today for an inflamed knee and is listed as day to day. If the Rams have to play any games without Steven Jackson they will have a hard time scoring at all.

By Stlvinnie - http://www.stlouisramfan.com

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we have several starters that will kill us

granted depth is something we need, but we are struggling to fill our starters with quality players, evident is our lack of OLBs and WRs. just saying.

עם ישראל חי

by nodisrespect on Sep 14, 2010 12:17 AM CDT reply actions

We kinda look like bums this year at WR

but I have an image of next year (clayton amendola d alexander and green)…. it is a pretty image

by stlfan2004 on Sep 14, 2010 7:24 AM CDT reply actions

Did you hear Marshall Faulk last night?

He called our band of WRs “a bunch of bums.”

Smart fella.

by Pekka for Predator Pontiff on Sep 14, 2010 11:56 AM CDT reply actions

The Rams FO is being Cheap

this is getting sad! You draft a good QB and u put nothing around him and Then throw 55 times they let alot of good Free Agents get bye them but they have a couple left, they should give Matt Jones and Willie Parker a look it would really help and it wouldnt cost that much!!!!

by Ramsfan201 on Sep 14, 2010 1:09 PM CDT reply actions

haha matt jones would "help".... sure....

from the lou and im proud AND st. louis (ahem bitches)

by stlcardsfan4 on Sep 14, 2010 6:17 PM CDT up reply actions

I don't know if it's as much "being cheap"

as it is not paying for short term benefits. I don’t see what Matt Jones or Willie Parker would bring to the table. Vincent Jackson? Sure. Brian Westbrook? Meh, but there was at least an argument. A slow Willie Parker? I doubt that’s much better than Darby or Toast.
Vinnie is right – the depth on this team is lacking in talent. We’ve done a solid job at rebuilding much of the starting roster. In a year, that might get us to the playoffs. But being fully competitive means filling in the entire roster through years of drafting.

You don't seem to want to accept the fact you're dealing with an expert in guerrilla warfare, with a man who's the best, with guns, with knives, with his bare hands. A man who's been trained to ignore pain, ignore weather, to live off the land, to eat things that would make a billy goat puke. In *St. Louis* his job was to dispose of enemy personnel. To kill! Period! Win by attrition. Well, *Steven Jackson* was the best.

by 3k on Sep 14, 2010 8:57 PM CDT up reply actions

Lack of depth?????? Try lack of quality starters. We've got plenty of b/u caliber players.

Chris Long didn’t get a stat Sunday. He was double and triple teamed all day. What does that tell ya about the rest of the D-Line? I didn’t see much improvement on either side of Lauranaitis either. When you are counting on guys like Dockery to start…yecch! And his b/u is Murphy??? We need to be tradin’ some draft picks for quality players right now.

by RamChop on Sep 14, 2010 7:52 PM CDT reply actions

Robbins did pretty well when he was in there,

but the rest of them didn’t do much. Hall, Scott, Gibson – nothing. Grant and Diggs were almost invisible most of the time. Come to think of it, I didn’t hear much from JL either. We do still need plenty of help in the front seven.

by andyhawk on Sep 14, 2010 11:42 PM CDT reply actions

i remember something impressed me about grant

i dont remember what it was, to be honest, maybe it was a strip… but i cant remember. all i can recall is thinking that he was a good pickup and being pleased with him. though as i said before, quality WRs and OLB are a must, need more talented starters before we focus on talented depth.

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by nodisrespect on Sep 15, 2010 12:31 AM CDT up reply actions

+1

by RamChop on Sep 15, 2010 4:02 PM CDT up reply actions

Depth is an issue no doubt...

Before the game – I told my buddy that I was afraid we would get destroyed by Doucet. I told him that our starting CBs (Bartell and Fletcher) were ok – not probowlers, but ok – and that the depth behind them pretty much didn’t exist so I expect every opponent’s 3rd/slot WR to have a field day. With Dockery and King going down – it just makes it that much worse….

I still think the direction of the team is in an upward trend – and Bradford (health permitting) gives reason for hope. The fact is though that this is a team one year removed from 1 win and the p major upgrades are a rookie QB and LT – there were no major game changing FA splashes made. Still too many holes IMO for alot of the preseaon optimism from some. Its not wrong to get excited, I guess I just like to keep my expectations in check.

I should be working right now...

by gorams77 on Sep 15, 2010 12:19 PM CDT reply actions