Rams Preview - 2008 Season

This was written before the start of the 2008 season where the Rams went 2-14. Oh, well. So much for hope.

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There it is again. That feeling.

The 2008 season is almost upon us. The free agency period is over, the Draft is but a distant memory, training camp has been and gone, and the exercise in pointlessness (sorry, the pre-season) has hidden its ugly head for another year. Next week, the Rams take on the …….. in the first of sixteen (and hopefully more) weeks of seat-edging, roller-coasting fandom. And, somewhere deep down, the niggling has returned.

For the second year running, the off-season has had an unfinished feel to it, a sense of our needs not having been fully addressed. This time, though, there were no major casualties. Only a starting linebacker (Brandon Chillar), a backup quarterback (Gus Frerotte) and a handful of offensive linemen – most of them acquired on short-term contracts during the war of O-line attrition that was last season – would require replacing. So, as long as the Rams made a priority of addressing Steven Jackson’s expiring contract and used their impending second pick wisely, the ghosts of 2007’s 3-13 season could be exorcised.

The Rams decided to approach free agency cautiously, like an inexperienced tourist slowly wading into the sea, unsure of both the temperature and of what lies beneath. Not for them a Redskins-style hunt for the marquee name, but rather a patient analysis of what was available and whether it would provide the team with that all-important value for money. Even the off-season’s first blind-siding surprise – the retirement of long-time kicker Jeff Wilkins – failed to unfaze the franchise, who calmly, and with the approval of the fans, replaced him with Seahawks kicker Josh Brown, thereby killing two birds with the perennial one stone: obtaining an effective kicker and pruning a major thorn in the team’s side. The like-for-slightly-better-than-like swap continued with the acquisition of quarterback Trent Green, an oft-injured but undeniable upgrade over Frerotte should Bulger spend another chunk of this next season in the treatment room. Although some found Green’s contract high, most agreed that the front office seemed to have got off to a good start.

The most important free agency move, however, was going to concern the offensive line. Aware of the urgent need to upgrade Bulger’s protection, it was clear that the Rams were going to make a move for a new guard. While most teams – and Rams fans – focused their wish-lists on Alan Faneca, the front office instead chose to pay scant attention to the former Steeler and concentrate their courting on under-the-radar Jacob Bell, an impressive, up-and-coming lineman from the Tennessee Titans. Once Faneca was officially off the market (choosing to go to the Jets), everyone noticed the Rams’ flanking manoeuvre, by which time it was too late and, shortly before Green’s signing, Bell was declared a Ram. The move was met with tremendous support from fans who recognised that the team had landed a prize catch at a position of great need. With the little-fanfared acquisition of protective tight end Anthony Becht from Tampa Bay, as well as a handful of almost-anonymous cornerbacks and linemen, the Rams seemed to have come out of free agency stronger than they had entered it, an endorsement that few would have made at the same time last year, where impressive signings did not coincide with the team’s main needs.

It was at this time of rare positivism that Jay Zygmunt’s team did their typical impression of that person who turns up to a party armed with bad news about the health of absent family members. The release of crowd favourite Isaac Bruce was met with incredulity both at the fact that it had happened and that we had not seen it coming. Sure, Bruce was aging and his skills diminishing, but he had still proved last season that he was effectively solid at this position, and possessed that rare quality: leadership. When coupled with the fact that next on the depth chart was Butterfingers Bennett, the loss of Bruce was a bitter pill to swallow. That he was picked up by division rivals San Francisco 49ers turned that bitterness to pure rancidity and shifted focus onto the wide receiver position for the draft.

Armed with the highest pick in the draft since Orlando Pace joined the team, the draft gave the Rams an opportunity to pick a cornerstone for the rebuilding of the franchise. Miami helped matters by revealing their choice for Number One pick – Jake Long – days before the draft, effectively giving the Rams the first pick on the actual night. The franchise went with what was perhaps the safest choice, and one which addressed a major need in the pass-rush: Chris Long. Fans seemed happy with Howie’s son, a choice that suddenly turned the defensive line into a seemingly unstoppable force, and the Rams were off to a good start.

The team’s second choice, however, was a bigger surprise. Taking place at the start of the second round (the Patriots’ Commissioner-induced loss of their first round pick effectively making it the first of that round), the Rams ignored the players available at the linebacker position – a gaping need – and selected a wide receiver, the first taken in the whole draft. Donnie Avery, however, was not on most experts’ draft boards within the Top Five at the position – in some cases even the Top Ten! The controversy sent Rams bloggers into overdrive, the YouTube videos showing Avery’s dazzling speed going some way towards assuaging concerns that resurfaced whenever anyone drafted a linebacker. In fact, this position of dire need was not addressed until Round Seven, following two offensive linemen, another wide receiver, and a cornerback. Although some good gains had been made, the consensus in Rams Nation was that the draft had failed to fully deal with the key linebacker issue.

An issue which, at the time of writing (with a week to go to the start of the season), has still not been satisfactorily addressed. The Round Seven drafting of Chris Chamberlain and Mr Irrelevant David Vobora was seen as too little, too late. The Rams had also shown little interest in some big-name free agent linebackers such as Takeo Spikes and !!!! . Instead, the fans had to content themselves with a training camp duel between Chris Draft and barely-known Quinton Culberson to fill an all-important starting spot that has still not been clearly filled.

Training camp was to throw up another one of those nasty situations that seem to follow the Rams everywhere. This time, however, it was far more expected with news of Steven Jackson holding out due to his contract not being extended catching few by surprise. The Mulder-and-Scully-like dance of will-they-won’t-they continued for 27 days, with the Rams’ key player sidelined from training camp all that time. To make matters worse, the issue was not handled with the utmost diplomacy. Jackson’s legitimate demands for a restructuring of his rookie contract was met confrontationally by the front office, with Zygmunt even refusing to negotiate with the running back until he showed up at camp. The war of words was followed by silence from both camps, sending Rams fans into a fury of frustration as they saw their prize asset slip from their grip through management incompetence, rendering the hard work of the past few months useless. Eventually, Jackson signed a new contract, returned to camp, and a collective sigh of relief rang around Rams Nation.

And that is how it stands at the moment, a mere few days before the start of the season. With a stronger offensive line, a fleet of speedy round receiver and a legend’s son at the defensive end position, combined with a more settled Jackson, a point-to-prove Bulger, and a tireless Witherspoon leading an otherwise suspect linebacker corps, this team has the potential to go far. And by far I don’t mean an improvement on last year’s 3-13 record; or the first winning season since I have been following the team; or a one-and-done appearance in the playoffs, trounced by a division champion; or even appearing in, but losing the Super Bowl; no, this team is going to go all the way and lift the Vince Lombardi. One can only hope.

Ah, that is what that niggling feeling is: hope.