Football Outsiders: Wide receiver is Rams’ biggest weakness
By Nick Wagoner
http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-rams/post/_/id/18747/football-outsiders-wide-receiver-is-rams-biggest-weakness
EARTH CITY, Mo. — In the run-up to this year’s NFL draft, it wasn’t hard to see how the mock draft community viewed the St. Louis Rams and their needs.
In most mock drafts, the Rams were pegged to go one of two ways: wide receiver or offensive line. Sure, there were occasional exceptions, but for the most part those two positions were at the fingertips of most reputable draft analysts.
On Tuesday, Vince Verhei, of Football Outsiders unveiled his list of the biggest weaknesses for the teams in the NFC West division. Verhei pointed to the offensive line for the Arizona Cardinals and Seattle Seahawks and linebacker for the San Francisco 49ers. But instead of choosing the offensive line for the Rams, door No. 2 and wide receiver was the choice.
As Verhei pointed out, the Rams don’t have a wide receiver with 50 receptions or 800 receiving yards in their career and only Kenny Britt has really been consistently close to those marks. In fact, Rams receivers were second-worst in the NFL in terms of production last year, trailing only the Kansas City Chiefs. So a reasonable argument can be made that the Rams do indeed still have a big hole at the position.
Of course, one could also logically point to a lack of health and talent at quarterback and the Rams’ run-heavy approach as reasons for the lack of production. Britt returned on a two-year deal and Brian Quick is expected back from a serious shoulder injury. Both flashed big-play ability in 2014 but it remains to be seen if either can stay healthy enough and rise to the level of a true No. 1 receiver. That seems to be what the Rams are still lacking.
But really, when looking closer at the biggest questions on the roster, offensive line still ranks at the top for me. While a top receiver would be more than welcome, it’s important to note that what the Rams want to be offensively doesn’t require a a top receiver as much as it does a powerful offensive line.
Even after a draft in which they used four picks on the offensive line, it’s hard to look at the group the team has in place and feel like it’s a group ready to run over opponents around the league. Even the two returning pieces, left tackle Greg Robinson and guard Rodger Saffold, come with major questions. In Robinson’s case, it’s his undeveloped skills as a pass protector. For Saffold, it’s his lengthy injury history, though in fairness, he made it through last season mostly healthy.
Beyond that duo, the Rams look like they’ll be leaning on completely unproven players at the other three spots. A competition among Barrett Jones, Demetrius Rhaney and Tim Barnes at center along with rookies Rob Havenstein and Jamon Brown at right tackle and guard, respectively.
While a good argument can be made for either receiver or offensive line as the team’s biggest weakness right now, it’s the front five that figures to draw the most scrutiny as the Rams attempt to bring together so many young pieces in the coming months.
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Agamemnon
