Hello Rams fans!  Well, at least the 25 of us who still faithfully follow our blue and gold.  Those of us who are fans of the St. Louis Rams have had to endure God-awful management, poor coaching, lackadaisical play from key positions, injuries, and just BAD, BAD, BAD.  But I will be optimistic (hey, it’s just training camp so every team has a shot!) and here at Gear Up For Rams Football we’re going to analyze the moves that have led us to the current team’s state.

Also, I’ll be doing periodic updates regarding training camp and I’m hopeful I’ll get out to Rams Park in Earth City sometime this week to view camp with my own eyes.  (Sorry folks, I don’t think they’ll let me do interviews.)  But expect periodic updates regarding anything Rams (we’ve already said no to Vick, so don’t expect me to say anything about him), but we’ll start from the top.  Coming into this offseason we had one of the oldest rosters in the league, with plenty of inflated contracts and not enough money to go big spending.  We owned the #2 pick in the NFL Draft for the second straight year and won 5 games out of 32 the past 2 years.  The interim head coach, Jim Haslett, was twisting in the wind and the front office was in dire need of a major overhaul.  And so the saga of the Rams begins…

John Shaw, a longtime front office leader, stepped down.  Jay Zygmunt, the man who helped facilitate some of our “great” drafts of recent memory and “impact” free agent acquisitions like Drew Bennett, resigned from being GM and Billy Devaney became the new GM.  Haslett was not retained and Giants defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo was named head coach.

Spags’ regime brought in Ken Flajole from Carolina as his defensive coordinator and Pat Shurmur from Philly as his offensive coordinator.  Kevin Demoff was hired as VP of Football Operations.  The long overdue front office overhaul took place, and now the Rams were ready to move as a unified front, as opposed to the warring, sniping office it had long been. As far as personnel went, Spags was public about wanting to be bigger and stronger where it counted – in the trenches.  Our offensive line was known for being oft-injured and oft-soft.  Our defensive line was tiny and ineffective.  We couldn’t run and we couldn’t stop the run or rush the pass or just get in somebody’s way.  We were also Flintstones old and not very talented.  Donnie Avery showed flashes of potential (as well he should, being the 1st receiver taken in the 2008 NFL Draft), “Big Game” Torry Holt had his worst season since his rookie year (albeit it was not his fault, look at the turmoil around him) and was finally showing signs of age, O.J. (his first name needs its own TinyURL) Atogwe has been THE ballhawk for the secondary and Ron Bartell evolved into one of the top corners in the division.  Oh, and of course “Action” Steven Jackson, when healthy and inspired, is a top-5 back in the NFL.  But Marc Bulger had been getting abused, Orlando Pace, though healthy most of the 2008-2009 season, was also at the end of his top level pass blocking days, Leonard Little hasn’t been healthy since 2006 and is the old man on the team, and as I’d said times before – there wasn’t much talent.

So the roster got scrapped…big time.  Torry Holt?  Released, now a Jaguar.  Orlando Pace?  Released, now a Bear.  Drew Bennett?  Released, now retired.  Corey Chavous?  Released, still looking for employment.  Trent Green?  Released, and retired.  The trend continued and the Rams turned into one of the league’s youngest teams and definitely dipped into the “WTF?!” area code. We released cornerstones of the glory days of the new millenium as well as future Hall of Famers in Holt and Pace (and Isaac Bruce the season before), but it’s time to face facts – The Greatest Show on Turf left with Kurt Warner.  He was the only guy who could run a Martz offense, absorb punishment and still throw accurately and when he left, the turn began.  We have Marshall 2.0 – bigger, stronger and faster (his name is Steven Jackson) and the offense needs to revolve around him.  Our defense has gaping holes but the immediate needs were to get Will Witherspoon out of the MLB spot (look, he’s done great but it’s not where he can maximize his ability) get a new SS and lock up Ron Bartell.  On offense we needed to get bigger, stronger, and meaner (and if possible do something for the wide outs).  With that as the offseason gameplan, the Rams went onto the prowl. During the offseason the Rams did what they set out to do without spending major bucks.  Jason Brown, the C from Baltimore, was the first offseason coup for a rebuilding team.

Re-signing Ron Bartell to shore up what can be considered a solid secondary unit was the next step.

Getting the S who knew Spags’ system, James Butler, meant the defensive backfield was complete.  Keep this in mind – Bartell, Atogwe, Butler and whoever becomes the 2nd corner (pencil in Tye Hill for now) can give the Rams something they haven’t had for awhile; overall solid secondary play.  The acquisitions continued, with the Rams gaining a true FB in Mike Karney, also something this team hasn’t had in awhile. With most of the free agent moves finished, attention turned to what the Rams would do with the 2nd overall pick.  Presumably they wanted to trade out of the pick to get more players, but nobody wanted the pick.  But it was clear that T, WR, MLB and CB were the positions the Rams needed to pick at and they did.  Jason Smith

out of Baylor went 2nd overall, 2nd round pick “Baby Animal” James Laurinaitis was chosen to take over the MLB, and Brooks Foster out of UNC was also drafted, among a few others.  But the Rams weren’t done with offseason moves, as just prior to the NFL Draft they traded for Laurent Robinson out of Atlanta.  A little bit later on, they acquired Ronald Curry from Oakland and just recently added Hollis Thomas for some bulk on the defensive line.  Barring an out of nowhere move, the Rams offseason moves have essentially finished.  Here are what I think are the best ones and why Rams fans should be optimistic -

Protect the Offense:  Jason Smith, Jason Brown, Mike Karney.  These moves show that the new Rams are dedicated to trench warfare and powering the football.  And protecting Marc Bulger.  And pushing Alex Barron.  Right now, as of what I’ve been seeing, Barron’s at LT, Smith at RT, but this is Barron’s contract year.  He’s been known for being a good RT but constantly making stupid mistakes.  At LT, those mistakes can’t happen or it’s bye-bye Bulger.  Either way, this offensive line has been upgraded and if Jacob Bell keeps his weight up this year, this is a solid group that has the potential to be a dynamic, power offensive line.  And that’s saying something.  And lest I forget, Richie Incognito is still the RG and is still a hot head.  If he’s able to keep it under control, he’s going to be a good RG.  The key to this year’s offensive success is this offensive line gelling and gelling fast.

Give 39 the damn ball!: So he gets injured easily.  So he complains about the music in the Edward Jones Dome (though seriously, country music and BS pop doesn’t get me hype for football – rap does.  Race and football matters aside, SJ had a point).  So…what.  He’s a monster.  And he’s gotten what he’s asked for; a blocking FB whose job is to smack somebody.  He also has Sylvester Croom grooming him to make him better, and Croom is a fantastic RB Coach.  Just give him the ball and let him run, seriously.  He’s the best player on the offense and it’s put up or shut up time for the very verbal RB.

D-Backs Got Your Back: I think what I’m most excited for is this secondary.

Bartell has the tools and showed it last season.  Atogwe is a turnover machine.  Butler gives us a SS who can hit, run, and cover, and a confident, injury-free Tye Hill can cover almost anybody.  While the defense is still thin at LB and essentially unproven on the defensive line, the secondary is going to be fun to watch.

The Rams are going the right direction.  The biggest concerns are easily the lack of proven WRs, the depth at LB and lack of a strongside linebacker, and the development of Chris Long, Adam Carriker, and Cliff Ryan as the future of the defensive line.  Spags’, I believe, will be able to get the most out of those 3 young defensive linemen just as he did in New York with Justin Tuck and Osi Umenyiora.  Chris Draft as the starting strongside linebacker isn’t a plus but he’s a solid veteran LB, and in the past 2 years the Rams have let go of their best two WRs possibly ever.  This young receiving corps have enormous shoes to fill, but we also have a lot of speed at WR now.  Let’s see how it plays out…

Go Rams!