"He who exercises no forethought but makes light of his opponents is sure to be captured by them."
Sun Tzu said that-- you know, the guy who wrote "The Art of War." You know, the ultimate guide to crushing competition.
I bring it up because it's about time NFL teams stop making light of the St. Louis Rams and start taking them seriously. A 52-0 shutout victory is pretty eye opening. Who cares if it was against the lowly Oakland Raiders?
Critics could point to St. Louis' 5-7 record as evidence that the Rams aren't a good team. But bad teams don't have wins over Super Bowl contenders like the Seattle Seahawks and Denver Broncos. A bad team wouldn't win a close game on the road against the San Francisco 49ers. (Side Note: St. Louis' point differential of -24 is separated from San Fran's by just 11. Perhaps a few lucky bounces and STL is the third NFC West team still in the playoff hunt).
The Rams lost starting quarterback Sam Bradford during the preseason and have had to piece the signal-caller position together with Austin Davis and Shaun Hill. Sure, Bradford has been a bust as a No. 1 overall pick. But you show me any team that wouldn't struggle after losing their starting QB and I'll show you a flying pig(skin).
What gets overlooked amid St. Louis' QB issues is the collection of young talent the team has amassed. The defensive line is bursting with first-round picks in Robert Quinn, Chris Long, Michael Brockers and Aaron Donald. After a slow start rushing the passer, the Rams have 22 sacks over the last five games. Linebackers Alex Ogletree and 2009 second-round pick James Laurinaitis have made considerable strides and former first-round pick Mark Barron, acquired by trade from Tampa Bay in October, has a shot at living up to his potential at the safety position with this change in scenery.
On offense, the collection of Kenny Britt, Tavon Austin, Brian Quick and Stedman Bailey have combined to form a solid group of pass catchers who can make plays downfield, despite a few injuries along the way. No one is going to confuse this group with The Greatest Show on Turf, but you could certainly do worse. Should second-overall pick Greg Robinson fulfill his potential as a left tackle, St. Louis' offensive line will have its anchor for years to come.
Tre Mason has continually shown everyone why he is the future at the running back position. Fourteen carries for 117 yards and two touchdowns to go along with three catches for 47 yards and one touchdown in Sunday's win did not hurt his case one bit.
All that is missing is a quarterback. A quarterback can gel all of this talent together and turn some of those frustrating close losses into statement wins. The Rams are likely out of the running for a top ten pick and a shot at Oregon's Marcus Mariota or Florida State's Jameis Winston. But maybe the Rams will hit on a less heralded prospect such as UCLA's Brett Hundley. Or maybe the team somehow makes it work with a reclamation project like Robert Griffin III or Mark Sanchez, should they become available.
Either way, it's clear that an upgrade at quarterback would transform this team from a scrappy underachiever with pockets of talent into a legitimate threat in the NFC.
