FanPost

Rams' Top 3 Needs Going Into 2015



As most of you know, the 2014 season was a fairly serious disappointment. Despite the defense finishing with a lot of promise, the offensive ineptitude resulted in what I though was an 8-8 team finishing with a 6-10 record. Here are 3 positions that the Rams must address this offseason if they are to be competitive next fall.

1. Interior O-line

I know a lot of you are probably banging the table for QB here, but just hear me out. This season, the interior O-line (specifically C and RG) was absolutely terrible. While there were a few games that were serviceable at best, the majority of the season was pretty brutal, with Pro Football Focus grading Scott Wells 32nd out of 34 eligible centers and Davin Joseph an equally awful 75th out of 78 guards. In my opinion, if the Rams had addressed at least one of these positions in the draft (there was a story that Les Snead was trying to trade back into the first round with the Ravens to pick up Zack Martin until the Cowboys took him...) the run-game would have improved dramatically and we would be going into the offseason talking about our first non-losing season since 2006. Mock drafts have upwards of 5 offensive linemen with first-round grades in this draft, so there should be plenty of opportunities to either draft a guard or even get an elite OT to compete with Robinson for LT with the loser playing guard.

2. Cornerback

Who besides me has vivid flashbacks of games against the Niners, Cardinals and Seahawks where the defense played absolutely lights out only to lose because of one busted coverage? The only reason CB isn't our top need, in my opinion, is because of how well EJ Gaines played. The 2014 draft was not a good one for cornerbacks, however Gaines, despite being a sixth round pick, managed to not only start the most games of any cornerback drafted last year, but was also the top corner on the Rams by a fairly wide margin. Janoris Jenkins and Trumaine Johnson actually played a little better this year than last, but neither had an especially good season. The same goes for Lamarcus Joyner who, despite being drafted fairly high, struggled to see the field. While I can understand Joyner starting off slowly (CB, in my opinion, is the hardest position to transition from college to the pros), the lack of development seen with Jenkins and Johnson is a bit concerning. I think all of the corners would improve with another year under Gregg Williams, but spending a premium draft pick on a CB would be a good idea in case things don't get better with time.

3. Quarterback

At long last, we get to QB, probably the most obvious positional need for the Rams. While Shaun Hill and Austin Davis fared admirably under difficult conditions, it was fairly clear by the end of the season that the Rams needed to bring in someone closer to "average starter" than "career backup" for the team to have a chance in the NFC West in 2015. The reason I have QB all the way down here is because 1) things could have gone a lot worse considering who we had under center, and 2) Sam Bradford is still on the roster and will have had 12.5 months to rehab a torn ACL before starting the regular season. This draft isn't exactly teeming with QB talent outside the top 2, and trading up to draft Jameis Winston or Marcus Mariota will be prohibitively expensive. I think the most likely option for QB insurance in case Sam gets injured again would be to trade for somebody like Kirk Cousins. He has previous experience in a West Coast system, would probably be a better option than most quarterbacks in the draft, and has more upside than anyone available via free agency. While Jeff Fisher probably isn't well-liked by Washington's front office, a team that's starved for draft picks could probably find a way to ship out a player that has made it pretty clear that he'd like to be traded.