Steven Jackson is a beast.  Without Jackson, the Rams might be a historically bad team.  I’m talking 0-16 people.  Don’t believe me?

Jackson carried the Rams offense to a win over the New Orleans Saints in Week 7.  Then he ran for over 100 yards again in Week 8, when the Rams should have won against the Arizona Cardinals.  In Week 9 against Cleveland, Jackson again ran for over 100 yards and led the Rams to a win on the road.

Prior to the last three weeks, Jackson has been injured, and the Rams didn’t have a clue on offense.  Sophomore QB Sam Bradford looks dazed and confused, the receiving corps is beat up and short on talent, and the offensive line is terrible.

If the Rams wanted to explore trading Jackson during the offseason, I think they could get a lot in return for him.  If you put Jackson on a good football team, where he wasn’t running against eight and nine man boxes, it would be scary to guess the numbers he might put up.

Honorable Mention: Brandon Lloyd, wide receiver.  Lloyd is a true number one receiver, and even though he has only been with the Rams for a short while, seeing Lloyd run around out there reminds Rams’ fans what an NFL wide receiver is supposed to look like.

There is the quick update of the day.

That’s all for today.

The St. Louis Rams are one of the league’s most popular sleeper teams, and it’s easy to understand why.

The Rams have a young franchise quarterback coming off a 3,500-yard rookie campaign, a stellar offensive line and a solid mix of veteran contributors and young playmakers on defense. Their win total jumped from one to seven between 2009 and 2010, and there’s little reason to believe it won’t keep climbing in 2011.

But the progression of the franchise is closely tied to the progression of that franchise QB. Sam Bradford had a good rookie season on paper, but his 3,512-yard total was inflated by a rookie record 590 attempts (third-most in the NFL). Bradford dinked and dunked his way along in a conservative west coast offense, averaging just 6.0 yards per attempt.

The unit as a whole averaged just 4.6 yards per play (second-lowest in the league) and finished 26th in the league in total offense.

The good news is that quarterback teaching champion Josh McDaniels has arrived to coach the offense. The bad news is that McDaniels is introducing Bradford and Co. to a more nuanced system in a short amount of time. In 2011, this team’s success will likely be tied to how quickly the offense can adapt to McDaniels’ approach.

2010 in a nutshell: Typical of a young team, they perform much better at home than they do on the road. They clearly outplay the rest of the weak NFC West, but falter late and blow the division title with a flat Week-17 loss in Seattle.

Three predictions for 2011:

1. Bradford will continue to progress slowly: I think the future remains bright, but Bradford will experience some growing pains in his sophomore season. He still doesn’t have enough support from the receiving corps or the running game. While Brandon Gibson, Danny Amendola, Mike Sims-Walker and Steven Jackson are good players, none are game-changers at this point. Bradford’s offensive line got better in the offseason with the addition of monster right guard Harvey Dahl, but he’ll have trouble grasping McDaniels’ always-changing offense on a week-to-week basis with so many question marks surrounding him.

2. The defense will be much better: They were mediocre in pretty much every yardage-based category last year, but they still managed to give up only 20.5 points per game thanks in part to a great pass rush (43 sacks). And while O.J. Atogwe will be missed a little, they bolstered the entire D in the offseason by adding Quintin Mikell to the secondary and Justin Bannan, Ben Leber, Zac Diles, Daniel Muir and Brady Poppinga to the front seven. None are superstars, but they’ll add depth and experience to a unit with several cornerstones already in place.

3. Chris Long and James Laurinaitis will become Pro Bowlers: Long and Laurinaitis are those cornerstones, and 2011 first-round pick Robert Quinn is waiting in the wings with a chance to join them. Long finally arrived with a super 2010 season, but expect his sack numbers to climb considerably with the added depth surrounding him. If Quinn can emerge and Bannan can step his game up, opposing offenses won’t have the ability to focus squarely on Long. Laurinaitis is primed to become a star in the middle, and he’ll benefit from the presence of Mikell, who is a great run defender in the next layer.

The final word(s): The offense will struggle in somewhat of a transitional season, but they’re still clearly the most talented team in a weak division. They’ll take the NFC West with eight or nine wins and gain some playoff experience.

What are your opinions.

This offseason the Rams went quantity quantity and…more quantity.

Most teams in the NFL go and find a true number one threat for their quarterback to throw to. The Rams decided against drafting a high upside receiver like Jon Baldwin in the draft this year, but did take Lance Kendricks, Austin Pettis, and Greg Salas in the second, third, and fourth rounds, respectively.

In the first preseason game, Lance Kendricks looked like he might be a slam dunk. The ultra athletic but unpolished tight end could become a dominant pass catcher. Salas and Pettis, however, will most likely take a back seat to the many other wide receivers on the roster for their rookie year.

The Rams have Donnie Avery and Mark Clayton returning from season ending injuries last year, along with Denario Alexander and Danny Amendola.

They’ve brought in Mike-Sims Walker from the Jacksonville Jaquars, to compete against the current incumbents. It was a wise move, considering new Offensive Coordinator Josh McDaniels ability to take average receivers and make them dominant (see Bradon Lloyd). Sims-Walker looked like he had the ability to turn into a number one receiver his sophomore year, but was maddeningly inconsistent last year. 

Sims-Walker could be the answer for the Rams. It is disappointing,however, to see that the Rams did not attempt to make a major acquisition for a truly proven wide out.

Is it enough? It’s definitely a start.   

That’s all for today.

What are your opinions.

If anybody needs tickets to games, remember to click the tickets link at the top.

Rams put top draft pick on injury list

Running low on time today, i’ll be back tomorrow hopefully with some more news.

Not much else going on in the NBA world today.

Read More: Torry Holt (WR – NEP), St. Louis Rams

Former St. Louis Rams great Torry Holt seemed to lean toward retirement after a knee injury ended his 2010 season with the New England Patriots before it began, but now Holt, who is doing some volunteer coaching for the Rams during the NFL lockout phantom-workout, is saying he’ll keep his options open whenever the offseason finally begins, and that he hasn’t officially retired. Question: are the Rams interested in their temporary coach for some more contact-related activity?

Turf Show Times is skeptical. Holt would be a great story, and I’m not sure he would be the worst wide receiver on the Rams roster to get regular targets from Sam Bradford, but after the 2011 NFL Draft the Rams are up to their earholes in questionable wide receivers with both flaws and positives—Danario Alexander, Donnie Avery, and (probably) Mark Clayton with injuries, Mardy Gilyard, Austin Pettis, and Greg Salas with inexperience, Brandon Gibson and Laurent Robinson with, uh, roster spots. Torry Holt could play better than any of those guys, but he’s a tough bet to do something to distinguish himself from them. 

Comment Below!.