NFC West Report: Pre Draft look at the St. Louis Rams

It has been an interesting offseason for the St. Louis Rams so far. They have done very little to upgrade a team that will pick in the top 10 in the draft yet again this year, and instead have made splashy moves that likely won’t add anything to the win column next season.

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The Rams are a trendy pick right now as the NFC’s dark-horse team. If you take a look at their roster moves to this point, it is difficult to understand why. The Rams aren’t significantly better than they were last season.

St. Louis made headlines by trading former first-overall pick Sam Bradford and his ugly contract to the Eagles for Nick Foles and draft picks. They believe that this move made them better, but few outside of their fanbase will agree.

Foles is a slightly above average quarterback with limited upside to improve. The Rams seem to be hoping that he can be an improvement simply because he has a decent chance of staying healthy.

The problem with that theory is that the offensive line is still terrible, and Foles is far from being a mobile QB. Throw in the lack of a running game, mediocre weapons on the outside, and the fact that Foles spent a good part of last season injured, and you have a recipe for another disastrous season for the Rams.

The only other significant roster move is that they replaced Kendal Langford at defensive tackle with Nick Fairly. Fairly is an upgrade when healthy, but he is rarely healthy.

The loss of Jake Long on offense is worrisome as well. The Rams drafted his replacement at LT a year ago, but Greg Robinson did not look good last season. They still lack talent at right tackle, and at center and guard. Long was the best player on a very poor offensive line last season, and now he’s gone.

The offensive line must be the focus of the draft for the Rams again this season. They need to find at least two starters on the line, even if one of them isn’t ready for full time work until the 2016 season.

With the 10th overall pick, the Rams will have some options available for players that will make an instant impact. If Iowa’s Brandon Scherff is still on the board, that pick become a no-brainer. If he’s not, than La’el Collins from LSU will probably be the pick.

Overall, the Rams have too many holes left to fill for them to catch the Seahawks and the Cardinals in 2015. Even if they crush the draft, they simply lack the overall roster talent to consistently win games. Their ultra-talented defensive line will keep them in a lot of games, but if they cannot fix their offense it won’t matter all that much.

Next: NFC West Report: Pre Draft look at the San Francisco 49ers

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