The Rams are trash. Who voted for them??
I did.
Seattle lost their starting left tackle in George Fant, and they're relying on a bust in Joeckel to replace him. Wilson is one of the best quarterbacks in the league, but can he have enough time to throw when teams are pressuring him from all sides? As for the defense, it's stout.
Palmer and Fitz are another year older, and Palmer has had injury concerns. They have John Brown and J.J. Nelson as other options in the receiving game, but their offensive line is also a concern. And unlike Wilson, Palmer doesn't have the mobility to escape pressure. Their defense is much weaker without Campbell and Jefferson. It's still good, but if I were Cards fans, I'd worry about the secondary - Patrick Peterson aside.
The Forty-Niners are rebuilding under Kyle Shanahan, who is a talented OC. We'll see how he does as a head coach. They have some young pieces on defense in Armstead, Thomas, Buckner, Witherspoon (whom I was really high on in this year's draft), Reid, Ward, and Lynch, but they're switching to a 4-3 when a lot of their pieces were for a 3-4. The offense also looks like a dumpster fire with their quarterbacks especially. It's bad when Colin Kaepernick and Blaine Gabbert were upgrades over the current crop.
As for the Rams? Yes, they have a young head coach. Yes, they went 4-12 last year. Yes, they just switched to a 3-4. But hear me out for a second. They hired Wade Phillips, one of the best defensive coordinators out there, who runs a penetrating 3-4, which has similar roles to a 4-3 (i.e., Donald would still be a 3-tech). They hired the quarterbacks coach of the Atlanta Falcons as an offensive coordinator, who developed Ryan into an MVP, and added on with Greg Olsen, who is respected throughout the league as a quarterbacks coach. That's going to work wonders with Goff. As a matter of fact, it already has: look no further than the preseason game against the Raiders.
And the offensive line is extremely impressive. It's better than it's been in the last ten years. We upgraded Greg Robinson with Andrew Whitworth. We upgraded Tim Barnes with Jon Sullivan. The other offensive linemen are a year older, healthy, and better than they've ever been under the guidance of a top-notch offensive line coach (Aaron Kromer).
The receivers have a new pecking order with the acquisition of Sammy Watkins. He's a true number one receiver, Robert Woods is our number two, Cooper Kupp is dynamite in the slot, as he proved in the preseason game. When Tavon Austin gets healthy, when Josh Reynolds, Pharoh Cooper, and Mike Thomas earn roles as backups, look out.
All of that is going to help Todd Gurley tremendously. Last year, he had nowhere to run. He was the guy that defenses keyed on, daring Case Keenum to beat them without falling to pieces without an offensive line. With wide receivers who can do something, Gurley is going to ball out.
And that's not even mentioning the defense. Once we re-sign Aaron Donald to a contract, we have a lynchpin to our success. We have so much depth in the front seven, it's ridiculous. Michael Brockers is a very underrated nose tackle who will be able to show his pass-rushing skills in this system. The linebacking corps has Alec Ogletree, Mark Barron (who has found a role as a linebacker after failing as a Tampa safety), Robert Quinn (who is fully healthy), and Connor Barwin (who had a ton of success in a 3-4). That's not even mentioning solid subs such as Josh Forrest, Samson Ebukam, and Ejuan Price. The secondary is much improved. Trumaine Johnson is playing under a franchise tag. Kayvon Webster and Nickell Robey-Coleman round out the corners. Lamarcus Joyner and Maurice Alexander are finally in roles that fit them (free safety and strong safety respectively).
Our special teams is the best in the league. There, I said it. Nobody is better than Johnny Hekker. I don't care what Raiders fans say about Marquette King (who is a damn good punter in his own right); Hekker broke several records in punting and only had one touchback all season long. Greg "The Leg" Zuerlein has bounced back in a big way. Jake McQuaide went to the Pro Bowl as a long snapper (which, I know, isn't a good way to judge how good someone is, but sue me.
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I feel that with all of the pieces we have, there's no reason the Rams can't win the division. It's wide open.