2010 NFL Predictions: St. Louis Rams

The St. Louis Rams are coming off a 1-15 campaign

, and they are just 6-42 over the last three seasons. Three straight last place finishes in the NFC West have been tough to take for a football team that finished either first or second in the division every year from 1999-2006.

The NFL is a quarterback's league, and that led the Rams to take Oklahoma's Sam Bradford with the No. 1 overall pick in the draft. Recently, we have seen Matt Ryan, Joe Flacco and Mark Sanchez lead their respective teams to the postseason in their rookie years. Unfortunately, I don't see Bradford having the same success.

He joins the worst scoring offense in all of football, one that averaged just 10.9 points per game last season.

This poor offense is a big reason why NFL odds makers have listed the Rams as a +1500 long shot to win the NFC West.

But it is good news that the books have set the Rams' regular season win total line at over/under 5 wins. If the books did indeed nail this number, it means St. Louis will win four more games than they did last season.

Offense: Bradford has the potential to develop into an elite NFL quarterback, but his first season on the job will be a learning experience to put it nicely. Bradford won't have much time to throw while playing behind a suspect offensive line.

It would be nice to throw A.J. Feeley out there this season to take some lumps while the boys up front continue to mature, but the organization literally can't afford not to play Bradford.

The good news for the rookie signal caller is that he has a stud running back to take some of the pressure off of him. Steven Jackson is clearly one of the best running backs in the entire league. He has put together five straight 1,000-yard rushing campaigns while battling injuries and running behind makeshift lines. What could this guy do behind an elite line?

The Rams don't have what I would call a true No. 1 wide receiver, but Donnie Avery has the potential to be a very good football player. Fourth-round draft pick Mardy Gilyard could also turn out to be a pleasant surprise.

Defense: The Rams gave up 27 or more points in 10 different games last season. Teams were able to do pretty much whatever they wanted against a unit that ranked No. 27 against the run and No. 25 against the pass.

While there weren't a lot of positives to reference on this side of the football, middle linebacker James Laurinaitis was certainly a bright spot. The Ohio State product was an absolute animal, recording 108 solo stops, two interceptions and two sacks in his rookie season.

Cornerback Ron Bartell did not record an interception, but he still played pretty good football. He has eight interceptions and 46 defensed passes over the last four seasons.

Chris Long is yet to live up to the hype he came into the league with, but he started to show glimpses when he recorded five sacks in the final nine games.

I like all three of these young players, but this unit is still lacking in the talent department when you compare it to the elite units across the league.

Prediction: 4th NFC West - While I expect the Rams to improve on their disastrous 2009 season, I have them bringing up the rear in the division for a fourth straight year. The good news is St. Louis plays in the weakest division in the NFC. In fact, the Cardinals were the only winning team in the West last season, and they are expected to take a step back with the retirement of Kurt Warner. This means that St. Louis will be able to contend a lot sooner than it would if it played in any of the other three NFC divisions. Check out my 2010 NFL predictions to see which team I have winning the division.

2010 NFL Predictions: St. Louis Rams

By: Jimmy Boyd

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