2009 Rams, but what about???..

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The backup running back position?  Samkon Gado?  Really?  Really?  GREAT guy.  Versatile performer.  Nice 5-6 touch a game guy to give Steven Jackson a breather.  But if Steven goes down, like he has the last couple of years, is Gado going to be the centerpiece of the offense?  Can he touch it 30 times a game?  I hope so, but I don't think so.  It used to be in the old days, when Marshall Faulk got hurt the Rams would just get ball into the hands of their wide receivers, but now...

There are only four receivers on the roster.  Mike Martz used to START THE GAME with five wideouts.  I love the fact that the Rams are going to build around Jackson, but at some point they're going to have to go to a three receiver set.  So if Donnie Avery's foot acts up Sunday in Seattle, they'll have three.  Wonder when the last time an NFL team took four receivers into the season was?  They need to recompose the roster, because they need another receiver, because they have to ask...

Do they really have a legitimate return guy?  Derek Stanley is a serviceable punt return man, but appears to have lost some burst with his knee injury late last season.  Kenneth Darby may be a solid kick return man, but he's not explosive.  If you're going to build around the running game, you can't expect to start from your own 20 or 25 all the time and put together long touchdown drives.  Usually a mistake happens.  If you aren't going to have an explosive offense, you need to have an explosive return game.  At this point, the Rams have neither...

The pass rush?  Can the Rams get consistent pressure on the quarterback with the talent on hand?  I have no doubt that Steve Spagnuolo and Ken Flajole will scheme their way into a number of sacks.  But scheme can only get you so far.  To have a really effective defense, you need pressure from the front four.  It looks like Chris Long, Leonard Little and James Hall can deliver some pressure from the edge.  Can the guys up the middle...Clifton Ryan, Gary Gibson, Hollis Thomas and Darell Scott...get pressure up the middle?  We're in the Show Me State...

The cornerback opposite Ron Bartell?  I was in the camp of jettisoning Tye Hill, because his physical stature didn't measure up to what Spags needs.  But I don't think Jonathan Wade has the innate ability to play corner, and we just don't know enough about Justin King, Quincy Butler and Bradley Fletcher.  These guys will get coached up, and I have every confidence that they'll perform well at some point if they have the ability to do so.  Right now, the corner opposite Bartell is going to be targeted heavily by the opposing quarterback...

Is Jason Smith ready?  They have to play him.  I doubt he's ready.  He is learning a new position on the job.  I with it were at his college position, left tackle.  If they thought he was going to play right tackle when they took Smith, they probably should have taken someone else.  Playing the right side will be a waste of his rookie year, because he has to learn a new position whenever they decide to move him to left.  Is Alex Barron really that prolific at left tackle that Smith can't beat him out there?

This is a franchise on the upswing, and I believe Billy Devaney and Spaguolo are the right guys to lead it back to respectability.  But they were left a mess, and it's going to take a while to clean it up.