St. Louis Rams’ Offense Has New Identity

Ever since the end of the Greatest Show On Turf, the St. Louis Rams’ offense has been seen as a big physical offense that doesn’t score a lot of points. With the offense being built around Steven Jackson, that is the way the offense had to run. However, in the last two drafts, the Rams looked to change that identity and bring back the speedy, fluent offense of the Greatest Show On Turf.

Last year the Rams added Chris Givens, Brian Quick, Isaiah Pead, and Daryl Richardson to the offense. What do all of these players have in common? Speed. Givens has only played a year and is known for running past defenders. Fans were just waiting for Daryl Richardson to break a big touchdown run last season as he came so close on many occasions. Isaiah Pead is also a small, speedy running back and, alhough we haven’t seen a lot of Quick, he does have the ability to beat defenders over the top.

The St. Louis Rams continued the trend of adding fast players to the offense by adding WVU’s Tavon Austin and Stedman Bailey. Austin was one of the fastest, most electrifying players in the draft and Bailey, well… he’s known for being the guy playing across from Austin.

Over the past decade the Rams’ offensive plan was to hand the ball off to Steven Jackson and let him wear down the defense. That obviously didn’t work out too well, as the team posted one of the league’s worst records in that time span. The Rams new offensive plan is to give defensive coordinators headaches by creating mismatch after mismatch after mismatch.

Chris Givens is a fast player and can beat anyone over the top. He even burned Seattle’s Richard Sherman over the top last season using his speed. Quick will also be another mismatch. Quick is a 6’5 physical receiver that can win battles and create plays in the red zone. Tavon Austin is another player that can beat anyone with his speed. Get the guy in open space and watch him score. The Rams will be able to fully take advantage of the speed on their offense as they play the majority of their games on turf this season. The Rams also went out in free agency  and got TE Jared Cook who is a mismatch to any linebacker, safety, or cornerback in the slot. The Rams are going to allow their players to win their individual battles by using their strengths and exposing their opponents weaknesses. Don’t expect one player to have a good game week after week. Expect Austin to have a good game one week, and then Cook having a good game the next week. The new Rams offense is all about creating mismatches and exposing weaknesses.

The Rams have finally moved on from having a team built around Steven Jackson, and now have a team built around their quarterback Sam Bradford. Nobody is more happy than Sam Bradford is right now with what the Rams have done thus far in the offseason. The best part is the offseason isn’t over yet. The Rams will look through all of the undrafted free agents and possibly sign another free agent or two if they have enough cap space.

The Rams offense averaged under 20 points per game last season and look to improve greatly on that number this year. The Rams offense will no longer be a liability, but a strength. Bradford will finally be able to open up and show his full potential. St. Louis Rams fans, meet the new St. Louis Rams offense.