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Evan Silva Highlights St. Louis Rams’ Four Greatest Positional Needs

By Patrick Karraker

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Following the Super Bowl, rotoworld.com’s Evan Silva revealed his list of every team in the NFL’s four greatest positional needs heading into the offseason. For the Rams, Silva ranked the offensive line, wide receiver, quarterback, and tight end as the Rams’ four greatest areas of need.

Silva found the Rams’ biggest holes to be on the line, saying:

"The Rams are likely to release C Scott Wells and LT Jake Long, the former for poor on-field performance and the latter because Long can’t stay healthy. Right guard is a glaring need after free agent Davin Joseph flopped there in 2014. St. Louis needs a starting center and potentially a starting right tackle, where Joseph Barksdale’s contract is up."

It’s difficult to argue with this logic, as the Rams could be replacing as much as four-fifths of their opening day offensive line from 2014. While Greg Robinson will settle into the left tackle spot, the Rams could be scrambling to fill the other three spots. Tim Barnes or Barrett Jones could be internal solutions at center, but the Rams don’t really have any candidates on the current roster to replace Barksdale if he leaves, and they’ll definitely need to find a replacement from the outside for Joseph this offseason.

It would be best for the Rams to address these needs through the draft, as offensive linemen very rarely are successful as free agents. The Rams seem to have had particularly bad luck in this area, as big-money free agent additions such as Jacob Bell, Jason Brown, Harvey Dahl, and most recently Jake Long have failed miserably after arriving in St. Louis.

Silva’s next area to address was at wide receiver:

"Assuming Brian Quick heals steadily from his 2014 shoulder injury, wide receiver isn’t quite as big a need for the Rams as it’s been in recent years. Stedman Bailey looks like a future contributor, and Quick flashed legitimate No. 1-wideout chops in a breakout season before going down. St. Louis could solidify its depth by re-signing free agent Kenny Britt. Tavon Austin continues to look like a lost cause."

The Rams do need to add some depth at the receiver position, though it’s a bit of a stretch to say the area is a major need. As Silva mentioned, the Rams have a group of three solid wideouts in Quick, Britt, and Bailey, assuming that Britt is re-signed. The Rams aren’t going to cut Austin, and he’s an impactful punt returner, so he’s going to occupy a roster space regardless.

The team could stand to upgrade over fifth receiver Chris Givens, but replacing a player who’s part of the bottom 25 percent of the roster may not even be noticeable unless injuries affect the receiving corps. It’s unlikely that any of the Rams’ wideouts are going to end up being Pro Bowlers, but there seems to be a consensus that the bigger problem is the guy throwing the passes than the players catching them.

Silva’s third area of need is at the quarterback position:

"Coming off back-to-back ACL tears, Sam Bradford has missed 31 games over the past four seasons. He’s owed a $13 million salary in 2015, which is also a contract year for Bradford. St. Louis will likely use an early- to middle-round draft pick on a quarterback."

Bradford has shown the ability to elevate the players around him and has been a serviceable signal-caller when healthy. With that said, the Rams can’t expect a whole lot out of him now that he’s suffered two ACL tears and his career is literally hanging by a thread.

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Really, the Rams’ biggest need if they want to become a perennial contender is at the quarterback position. We’ve seen how much players like Russell Wilson and Andrew Luck can change the direction of a franchise, and if the Rams were able to find a true difference-maker at quarterback, it could change everything. Perhaps Silva is noticing the lack of availability of an obvious difference-maker this offseason and has the position lower on his list of needs because it is unlikely that the Rams will even find a surefire starter in free agency or the draft.

Silva’s final area of need is at tight end:

"The Rams are paying Jared Cook a lot of money, but he is a one-dimensional tight end who contributes little beyond intermediate seam routes. Free agent Lance Kendricks isn’t a difference maker, but his loss would be felt. The Rams need an in-line tight end who can block and move the sticks in the short passing game."

It’s easy to argue that Cook is among the top third of the league’s tight ends in terms of receiving ability, so he’s not a problem. The Rams may need a second tight end with solid pass-catching skills if Kendricks leaves, but the team should not be too concerned with their depth at the position.

While the Rams could stand to upgrade at tight end, I would assert that there will be a greater need on the defensive line this offseason than there is at tight end. Even if Kendricks departs in free agency, the Rams still will have Cook, Cory Harkey, Alex Bayer, Justice Cunningham, and Brad Smelley on the roster, all of whom were in the program for 2014. While the latter three are unproven as NFL players and unlikely to make too great of an impact considering their draft status, they aren’t too likely to be needed from scrimmage from anyway and should be fine as depth players and special-teamers.

Meanwhile, the Rams may only return two defensive tackles (Michael Brockers and Aaron Donald) in 2015, as Kendall Langford is likely to be released heading into the final year of his contract, while Alex Carrington probably won’t be re-signed after an extremely quiet first year in the Rams’ organization. Considering that defensive line coach Mike Waufle is such a big fan of rotating his defensive linemen, the Rams are going to need to find at least one more defensive tackle who is capable of playing 20 to 30 snaps per game and making an impact.

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