Evalutating The Offense So Far

With the season being officially halfway over for the St. Louis Rams, now would be a good time to step back and evaluate how the Rams have fared this season in terms of progress. Lets take a look at each position:

Quarterbacks:

Marc Bulger has played well at times, and has played aweful at other times.  For the most part he has done as much as he can with a group of rotating receivers and tight ends, but it would be nice to see him overachieve for a change.  During the Lions game, Bulger scrambled on a 3rd and 6 play.  It showed great drive, but the only problem was he slid to the ground short of the first.  Bulger doesn’t have to worry about staying healthy, I have a feeling he is going to play hurt for the rest of his career, he may as well get hurt making positive plays.

Kyle Boller provided a great performance in his first appearance, but quickly faded in terms of production.  Turnovers plagued him and made Spags not the least bit hesitant when it came to immediately reinserting Bulger once healthy.

Grade: C+

Running Backs

Steven Jackson has been the only consistent source of offense for the Rams, and he currently is within ten yards of the league lead in the NFL for rushing yards.  Jackson put the entire team on his back against the Lions and ran them to victory via 149 yards and a touchdown.  Samkon Gado and Kenneth Darby have not played much of a role at all this season, but Jackson greatly makes up for them.

Grade: A

Wide Receivers

This group has been the most frustrating part of the Rams.  No one has been a consistent receiving target, specifically because it appears the Rams have a new receiver every week.  The guy everyone picked to lead the Rams passing attack, Donnie Avery, has been injured mainly the whole season.  Keenan Burton is beginning to emerge as a solid target, but we’ll see if he can keep it up.  Danny Amendola has been primarily nothing more than a return man, but he appears that one day he could beceome a nice slot receiver for the Rams.  Rookie Brandon Gibson hasn’t been with the team long, but as he begins to learn the offense he should start becoming one of sure handed targets for Bulger.

Grade: D

Tight Ends:

Daniel Fells has emerged as a solid target, regardless of who is throwing the ball.  Last week the Rams chose him to be on the receiving end of K Josh Brown‘s fake field goal.  Randy McMichael has been quiet for the most part, and TE Billy Bajema has slowly become more involved with the offense.  Blocking wise though, this is a strong group.

Grade: B

Offensive Line:

It truly is the tale of two Jasons.  Jason Brown and Jason Smith have helped solidify an offensive line that struggled for so many years.  This line is slowly becoming one of the better lines in the league, and they are one of the reasons Steven Jackson is having such a huge year.  Richie Incognito began to finally cut down on the penalties, and it is all beginning to come together.

Grade: B+

I’ll be back tomorrow with the defensive breakdown.