Fuel For Nightmares

I've been drinking again...... Yup.  My mind decided to torment me with thoughts of what happens if our players don't reach the hopes and expectations we have for them.  What if the Rams take a step back? What if none of our WRs step up? What if our OLBs are just as bad as they were last year? What if our O line and Sam don't improve like we hope?Instead of breaking down and crying in front of my friends, I decided to hold it in and post it up on here, so I wouldn't be the only one with sleepless nights.

Don't read any further, because I'm not sure any Rams fan will enjoy reading these twisted thoughts.

Quarterback: I've seen the phrase too many damn times I refuse to say it, but it rhymes with offmore flump.  What if Sam struggles in his second season?  18 TDs and 15 INTs was fine for a rook, and I don't think we could have expected anything more from Sammy last year.  Now we have great expectations for Sam.  So what if he doesn't do everything we hope for?  What if he throws 18 TDs with 23 INTs?  Or maybe we watch Sammy make checkdown after checkdown.  My god, what if he does WORSE!?  SMPF 10/10.  If Sammy doesn't continue to improve, I'll cry as we take losses from the 9ers and shehawks.

Receivers: Camp and preseason be damned, what if Gibson doesn't do jack squat with his impressive camp? What if Sky Walker is another bust free agent receiver pickup like Drew Bennet was?  Then Avery either can't stay healthy or is just a disappointing draft bust and neither of our rookies can step up.  We all know DX can't stay healthy, no matter how many goats we sacrifice.  Imagine spending a whole season watching Danny boy and Kendricks making 5 yds a catch.  Excuse me while I go vomit.

O Line: Everyone who watched that Titans game knows what I'm worried about.  Jackson had 1.6 yds a carry, and Sammy had all kinds of pressure on him.  Our O-Line doesn't improve, maybe even does worse? Maybe Jason Brown's poor performance last year wasn't just because of Goldberg lining up next to him.  Maybe we get no room for runs, no time for Sam to throw.  You thought 3.8 yds per carry was bad for Jackson last year, if Dahl ends up being a waste of money and he does worse?  No running game coupled with no passing game.  And if one of our line gets injured and Fraley has to start (I'm drinking nightmare juice if Fraley even makes our final roster)!? SMPF 10/10.  Watching DEs and DTs plow through our O-Line would crush my soul.

Tight End: Illinois Mike can't stay healthy, and everyone is talking about how much McD loves that double tight end set.  What if Kendricks isn't the baller we all think he is?  We gonna depend on Bajema to be a consistent receiving threat? Or Onobun?  Goodness no.  I'll admit it, of all the NFC West, we have the weakest TEs if Kendricks doesn't show up big.  9ers have Vernon Davis, shehawks have Zach Miller and Carlson.  Shit even the Cardinals have Todd Heap.  What happens to McD's double TE sets if our TEs smoke pole?

Running back: No one has had more touches then SJAX in the last several years.  He is an old 28, maybe he is aging as bad as some people think.  Maybe he isn't the beast we hope he is.  He only had 3.8 yds last year, is Dahl going to help that much?  We have Cadillac and Norwood, but neither one has proven they can start for a team.  Cadillac lost his job to the rookie Blount, and Norwood never started and was injured last year.

Safeties: Craig Dahl is the 3rd best WHITE safety in the league, which puts him somewhere around the bottom 25 of every other safety in the league.  I love Stewart, but he hasn't been a starter and god knows what we can expect from him.  And if Q. Mikell is worse than Atogwe?  Maybe Mikell doesn't prove to be a young 30+ year old safety.

Corners: Everybody love Bartell and Fletcher, but what if they only looked good last year because we had a weak ass schedule?  They have serious opponents to play this year, and they've both had their injury problems.  I dread the thought of Fitz, Crabtree and Rice catching passes all over us because our corners just arent' as good as we think, or they get hurt and we have to depend on King and the aging Harris.

Linebackers: Animal Jr. is beast mode.  This we know.  But he can't do it by himself.  Leber and Poppy are both 30+ years old.  Leber didn't do much for the Vikings last year, and Poppy was only healthy enough to play 6 games for the Packers last year.  Behind them?  I don't even want to talk about it.  Talk up Jabara the hut all you want, he is not ready to start.

D Ends: We picked up Quinn, who is a rookie who didn't even play college ball last year.  Chris Long is good, but James Hall is 34 years old, and last year was the best year he has had since 2004, Chris Long won't be able to do much if he's doubled every game, because all we got other than those 2 is the unproven rookie Quinn along with Selvie and Ah You.

D Tackles: Robbins was a monster last year, but he's also 34 years old.  Can he do it again?  What about Bannan and Muir?  Neither has shown they can consistently pressure the QB, hopefully they can hold up against the run.  And we all saw the limits of Gibson last year.  Scott and Cudjo? Might not even make the final cuts.

Did I miss something?  I dunno, I don't want to think about this crap anymore. I'm depressed now.  Please tell me I'm completely wrong, and these are just paranoid thoughts from the island of crazy I frequently inhabit.

I hope auto-correct served me well today.

Also, bay rap, if you feel like listening :)

E-40 ft Turf Talk: Gasoline (via tweetie35)

Edit: I forgot again, Fuck the 9ers. That is all.