Will Tre Mason continue to perform for St Louis Rams in 2015?

There is an old saying that “defence wins championships”. I have never really subscribed to this. To win games, you must have the ability on offence to consistently move the ball downfield and put points on the board. Unless you can score, you will not win. On many occasions this season – particularly the week 15 loss by 12-6 against Arizona and the final game of the year losing 20-6 against the Seahawks – the Rams have demonstrated this point well. Solid performances on defence have kept scorelines looking respectable. Leading figures on opposition offences have been held to some low numbers – Adrian Peterson with just 75 rushing yards in week one, Jeremy Maclin (in a career year with 10 touchdowns and over 1300 yards) with 76 receiving yards in week five, and Marshawn Lynch with only 60 yards on the ground in week seventeen to name a few. However, all too often strong shows on defence have been overshadowed by offensive weakness, resulting in Rams finishing 2014 with double-digit losses.

With poor offensive line play and inconsistency at the quarterback position, one of the outstanding highlights was the emergence of rookie Tre Mason. The 3^rd round pick from Auburn accumulated 4 touchdowns and 765 over the season, impressive considering he did not play a single down in the first four weeks of the season. The Rams have not had a 1000-yard running back since the great Steven Jackson’s final year with the team in 2012, but it is not unreasonable to assume that Mason may well have reached that figure had he featured in the early fixtures – particularly when you consider that period included games against the owners of next year’s number one overall draft pick, Tampa Bay, and the league’s 25^th ranked run defence, Minnesota. In games when Mason had 18 or more carries, the Rams were 4-0. With fewer carries than this (including the four games he spent on the sideline), the team’s record was 2-10.

It is fair to assume, with these kinds of numbers, that Tre Mason will be a huge factor in the Rams offence going into 2015. However, the danger is that we have heard this before. After Steven Jackson departed for Atlanta, the question being asked by many was who could fill those enormous shoes. In 2013, the hope was that Daryl Richardson would build on what was regarded as a promising 2012 rookie season in which he rushed for 475 yards – second only to Jackson himself, and comfortably ahead of the man expected pre-2012 to eventually be SJ39’s successor, Isiah Pead, who reached a dismal 54 yards. As it turned out, Richardson only reached 215 yards in 2013 with no touchdowns, eclipsed by the 5^th round rookie Zac Stacy who finished the year on 973. Richardson was to be cut by the Rams during the following offseason, spending 2014 on the New York Jets practice squad. So it was that expectations were high for Stacy going into 2014, but again, the second season slump struck. In the first four games of the year, Stacy only averaged 56 yards per game and scored just a single touchdown. Mason took over the starting job, and Stacy only managed a further 70 yards in total with zero touchdowns across the remainder of the 2014 schedule.

So what is to say that the woes that befell Daryl Richardson and Zac Stacy will not also affect Tre Mason entering his second year in the NFL? For Richardson and even more so for Stacy, they were on the radar in year two in a way unlike the rookie season, meaning defensive coaches were specifically planning ways to negate their impact. Clearly Tre Mason’s profile has been raised after his 2014 performances, meaning coaches on the other side will be similarly looking to shut him down. I would suggest that, in terms of pure talent, Mason is streets ahead of either Daryl Richardson or Zac Stacy anyway – however the three biggest keys to building and improving in his second year rather than slipping back are as follows: Firstly, a reliable quarterback who can supply a credible passing attack (St Louis were 23^rd in the league in 2014 with exactly 3500 total yards through the air) to force opposing linebackers and safeties to drop back into coverage more often instead of coming up to stop the run; secondly, more creativity in play design to use Mason’s ability to step out either side before going vertical, in contrast to the straight-up-the-middle approach of Zac Stacy which is fine when it works but easily negated by a couple of big-bodied defensive tackles; and thirdly; a vast improvement in the offensive line (minus Scott Wells and Davin Joseph especially, most likely Jake Long as well) to create those holes for Mason to run through.

Looking at each of these factors in turn, the quarterback position and passing game is already one of the most talked-about points among fans on various social media sites. Early indications from Jeff Fisher are that Sam Bradford will be back as the Rams starter in 2015. Can he finally have a healthy year? Even if Bradford’s knee holds up for 16 games, will he be able to post the kind of numbers to justify his that first overall draft pick back in 2010? If his 2013 form prior to the first knee injury is any indication, then it is clearly possible. But even speaking as a huge admirer of Bradford, I have to admit it is by no means a certainty. Moving on to play calling, ‘creativity’ and Brian Schottenheimer are not words that are often used together. However, since the Rams 2014 season ended, Jeff Fisher has publically spoken out in support of his offensive co-ordinator thereby crushing the hopes of large sections of fans who were desperate to see someone, anyone, other than Schottenheimer running the offence. Finally, there is the offensive line. This can be helped in a big way by the draft. Even those calling for a highly drafted quarterback as a replacement for Sam Bradford have to admit that, barring an unlikely trade, the top prospects at the position such as Mariota and Winston will likely be gone by the time the Rams are on the clock. Many of the embryonic mock drafts that are beginning to appear have St Louis going offensive line with the number ten pick. If the Rams can secure the interior of the line, it will have a big impact on Tre Mason’s ability to get to 1000 yards in 2015.

So what’s the conclusion? Will Tre Mason falter in his second season as Stacy and Richardson did before him? Or can the Rams address the quarterback situation, the protection offered by the offensive line and the general scheming on that side of the ball to help Mason out? Time will tell.