St. Louis Rams: Most underrated team in the NFL

Without question, the St. Louis Rams have the most upgraded roster from a year ago heading into 2015.

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St. Louis traded for a franchise caliber quarterback in the offseason in Nick Foles, and drafted their franchise running back with the 10th pick in the draft in Todd Gurley.

The Rams also bolstered their offensive line with four rookies and still control one of the NFL’s top young defenses.

Foles’ 15-10 career record is a far cry better than that of Sam Bradford, formerly of the Rams. Foles had one of the best years in NFL history in 2013, surpassing Tom Brady for the best regular season TD-INT ratio in NFL history, throwing 27 touchdowns to just two interceptions.

Many credit Foles’ success to a great running game in Philadelphia, led by running back LeSean McCoy. Nothing helps out a quarterback more than a great running attack to rely on.

In steps Gurley, arguably the best running back to come out of the draft since Adrian Peterson. Gurley’s stats speak for themselves. To tear an ACL and still be drafted inside the top 10 in the NFL draft shows how special he is. But, if Gurley isn’t ready to lace his cleats up for week one, in steps second year running back Tre Mason, who is more than capable of leading the team in rushing until Gurley is ready to rock and roll.

So, a more than capable quarterback to go with a more than capable running attack. what else do you need? Well, an offensive line to block brings it all together. The Rams may have a brand new engine and a great set of tires, but what good is that without your gasoline?

To make sure the whole package comes together, the Rams drafted four offensive lineman to go along with 2014 first round pick Greg Robinson and Rodger Saffold, while tackle Joe Barksdale is still mulling a return to the Rams’ line as well.

It’s too early to tell on how good the Rams’ offensive line will be in 2015, but on paper, it’s a whole lot better than it was a year ago at this point.

How good is the Rams’ receiving core? They lack a true number one threat, but in today’s game, a number one receiver isn’t needed to win a Superbowl. The Rams will use Tavon Austin as well as Kenny Britt, Brian Quick, Stedman Bailey, Jared Cook and Lance Kendricks as the main targets for Foles. None of these receivers have had a great quarterback to throw their way, so their potential to succeed in the passing game is very high.

On to the defense. What’s not to like about the quality of players on the Rams’ defense? How the talent level is so high in the NFC West as far as defense goes, blows my mind. The NFC South would kill for half of the talent of the West.

Stats aside, the Rams have quality players at every phase of their defense. In the secondary, the Rams hold the rights of T.J. McDonald and Rodney McLeod. This pair of safety’s are more than capable of holding it down in the secondary.

St. Louis also has Janoris Jenkins and E.J. Gaines patrolling in the secondary at corner. These four players might not be the legion of Boom, but whats wrong with being referred to as, the greatest show on turf 2.0? I’ll take the second one.

And if you think the front seven is anything other than good, then you have another thing coming. Alec Ogletree, James Laurinaitis, Aaron Donald, Robert Quinn and Chris Long can compete with the best of them. Not to mention the offseason addition of Nick Fairley.

This Rams’ defense is full of depth, and is built to win a Superbowl sooner, rather than later.

Every team has question marks heading into a season, and after some debating, the Rams have three.

1. Can the offensive line block?

2. will new OC Frank Cignetti propel the Rams’ offense to a high level?

3. Can the Rams compete in the NFC West?

These are very big questions that need to be, and will be answered. There is no denying the talent level in the NFC West. There will likely be two teams to represent the NFC West in the 2015/16 playoffs, so that is good news for the Rams.

Cignetti is going to run the ball, a lot. But, how effective will it be with an offensive line that in full rebuild mode? Only time will tell, and when you play in the NFC West, you will need good offensive line play.

Can the Rams compete in the West? Absolutely. The Rams don’t have to win the West to go to the playoffs in 2015. The South is too weak, the North isn’t very strong and the East has only a pair of good teams.

With the talent the Rams possess, there is no question that they can take one of the two wildcard spots in the 2015 playoffs.

The future is bright for the St. Louis Rams.

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