With teams sure to load up the box with an assortment of eight-man fronts to clog up Jackson's running lanes on early downs, McMichael should find plenty of room to operate against soft three-deep zones that accompany those looks. And his presence down the middle of the field is the ideal remedy for the double coverage or two-deep zones that teams use to minimize Holt's impact.

If the players are healthy in 2008, there's no reason to believe the Rams won't contend for the NFC West title. Though it's not playoffs-or-else for Linehan this season, another train wreck will get him run out of town on a rail.

Rookie wide receivers Donnie Avery, a second-round draftee, and Keenan Burton, a fourth-round pick, opened eyes during the spring drills. "I’ve never seen two young guys that are as hungry to be as good as they can be but also have the talent to go with it," Linehan said. "Neither one of them does anything but eat, drink, breathe, sleep football."

If St. Louis loses its NFL team after the 2014 season, it can be pinned on the new stadiums being built by the Cowboys and Jets/ Giants. Since these facilities will utilize every sort of revenue-building device available to them, cities such as St. Louis will either have to scramble to find funding to upgrade its football facility or build a new stadium entirely.

The most improved players this spring on offense, in coach Scott Linehan’s estimation, might come as a surprise to some: tight end Joe Klopfenstein and running back Antonio Pittman.

"Both had to adjust to really tough roles last year," Linehan said. "Antonio coming off being released by the team that drafted him and then coming in here and not knowing the offense. And then Joe, he started as a rookie, and then got moved out of a starting spot. It really wasn’t anything he did. We just picked up a guy (Randy McMichael) that we felt that we were going to play in front of him. It was a tough situation. But Joe has had a great offseason."

On the positive side, Avery should start the season as the Rams WR2 behind Torry Holt so he’ll see plenty of playing time...Last year Isaac Bruce finished with stats of 733 receiving yards and 4 receiving TDs as the Rams WR2 and I think that’s the absolute ceiling on what you can expect from Avery this season.

Leonard Little - STL: Last season was a lost season for Little due to injuries. This season sees the addition of Chris Long and a more experienced Adam Carriker. Before last season, Little had a great 6 year run. I expect him to bounce back to his old numbers. Little probably won’t reach that 14 sack plateau again, but 12 sacks is not out of the question.