Sam Bradford missed 6 games and was limited in several other games with a high ankle sprain last season and now, almost a year after the initial injury, it is still giving him problems. According to NFL Network’s Jason La Canfora, Bradford could need surgery on the ankle after the season. Bradford, however, doesn’t seem too worried calling it a “non-issue.” He also said “I think it’s as good as it’s going to feel. It’s something that we’re managing right now. I’ve been able to take every snap so far without any setbacks and I think that’s a positive sign.”

Guys get routine surgeries in the offseason all the time and it sounds like this will be the kind of surgery that Bradford would require, if he does in fact need surgery. He’s not a mobile quarterback to begin with so this won’t be a huge issue. He’s walking without a limp and has had a solid preseason, completing 13 of 18 for 159 yards and 2 touchdowns. He won’t be running for his life as much this season in the Rams’ new quick throw west coast offense, which he excelled in as a rookie, leading this team to 7-9. Right tackle and left guard are weak points for the Rams up front, but other than that, they should have an overall decent line, certainly upgraded over the one that allowed 55 sacks last season.

If you’re interested in doing a fantasy football league with me, here’s the link (no draft date set yet, currently standard, with the option to become PPR with group vote). http://msn.foxsports.com/fantasy/football/commissioner/Registration/Private.aspx?league=55086&password=FanSpot2

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The Rams allowed the most sacks in the league last year, 55, in large part because of injuries to both of their starting tackles, Rodger Saffold and Jason Smith. The Rams didn’t add another starter in the offseason because they were hoping that Smith and Saffold, both young, would bounce back. However, the Rams may be regretting that as Smith has struggled this offseason.

Smith has been benched for Barry Richardson, an offseason acquisition. Richardson was only signed to be a backup, however, after he struggled mightily with the Chiefs as their starting right tackle last season. He graded out as ProFootballFocus’ 2^nd worst rated offensive tackle, allowing 8 sacks, 6 quarterback hits, and 36 quarterback pressures, while committing 9 penalties. He also was ProFootballFocus’ worst rated offensive tackle in run blocking, as the Chiefs averaged just 2.6 YPC running off right tackle last season.

Even if Richardson wins the starting job, the 2009 2^nd overall pick won’t be cut because he’s owed a guaranteed 4 million dollars this season, after restructuring his contract down from 10 million earlier this offseason. Either way, right tackle figures to be a liability for the Rams. Rodger Saffold should be able to bounce back on the left side because, before his injury plagued 2011 season, he allowed just 3 sacks, 10 quarterback hits, and 27 quarterback pressures as a mere 2^nd round rookie in 2010, when they ranked 18th in pass blocking efficiency as a team.

They also have proven veterans at right guard and center in Harvey Dahl and Scott Wells. Left guard and right tackle will be liabilities, but with a new quicker throw offense being implemented, the Rams should give up significantly fewer sacks than they did last season. They actually ranked 24^th in pass blocking efficiency, which takes into account quarterback hits and quarterback pressures, last season, so they weren’t quite as bad as their 55 sacks would have suggested.

If you’re interested in doing a fantasy football league with me, here’s the link (no draft date set yet, currently standard, with the option to become PPR with group vote). http://msn.foxsports.com/fantasy/football/commissioner/Registration/Private.aspx?league=55086&password=FanSpot2

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After extending one pillar of their defense recently, Chris Long, the Rams are currently in talks with another, James Laurinaitis, about a long term contract extension, as the 2009 2nd round pick heads into the final year of his rookie deal. He has graded out positively overall on ProFootballFocus in each of the past 3 years as a starter and ranked 14th overall among middle linebackers in 2010. He’s managed 100+ tackles in each of his first 3 years in the league, good for a combined 376 tackles, a whopping 310 of which were solo.

The Rams would be wise to extend him now as the franchise tag is not a realistic option next offseason. The linebacker franchise tag value (8.8 million in 2012) is inflated by the salaries of rush linebackers and thus non-rush linebackers rarely get tagged. After an offseason in which Curtis Lofton, Stephen Tulloch, and David Hawthorne got 27.5 million, 25.5 million, and 19 million respectively over 5 years, the Rams are unlikely to commit 8.8 million to Laurinaitis over just one season.

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MLB James Laurinaitis

Laurinaitis is a good linebacker, but the linebacker franchise tag value (8.8 million in 2012) is inflated by the salaries of rush linebackers and thus non-rush linebackers rarely get tagged. After an offseason in which Curtis Lofton, Stephen Tulloch, and David Hawthorne got 27.5 million, 25.5 million, and 19 million respectively over 5 years, the Rams are unlikely to commit 8.8 million to Laurinaitis over just one season.

Likelihood: Unlikely

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Steven Jackson is now 29 years old and has 2138 career carries. The average member of the top-25 all-time leaders in rushing yards has his last 1000 yard season at age 30 and 2602 career carries (Jackson currently sits at 32^nd all-time and will likely finish his career in the top-25). After that players have a big drop off and they average just 169 carries per season at 3.5 yards per carry and just 5 touchdowns, so they’re really a non-factor as a back. Because of this, the Rams wisely decided to use a 2^nd round pick on a running back, Isaiah Pead, in this past NFL Draft.

Nonetheless, they are still working on an extension with Steven Jackson, as he revealed in an interview with Pro Football Talk this week. Jackson is owed 7 million per year over the final 2 years of his contract, which take him through his age 30 season. Based on history, Jackson cannot be counted on to contribute much in 2014 and beyond and may even break down before that.

An extension would seemingly serve no purpose except as an act of good faith for a player who has been so tough for so many years on an otherwise mediocre team. Still, it probably would not be a wise football decision, unless it was similar to the extension that Adrian Wilson recently signed and cut his base salary over the next 2 seasons and didn’t guarantee any new money. Wilson, in exchange, got his salary for the next 2 seasons guaranteed, albeit at a smaller base salary, and was given incentives that would allow Wilson to “earn back” his old base salary. Jackson did express he wants to retire as a member with the Rams, so maybe a deal like that would make sense for both sides.

Jackson also admitted in the same interview that he would not be happy if the Rams tried to give Pead a large role as a rookie and said he wants to remain a “workhorse” who gets “25 to 30 touches per game.” The Rams would be wisest to allow Pead to prove himself as more than a pure backup as a rookie, which would keep Jackson fresher down the stretch, and deal with the fallout with an aging and no longer indispensable Jackson if there indeed would be any. Pead is the future, likely working in tandem with another power back.

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Robert Quinn, the 14^th pick in the 2011 NFL Draft, is a part of what’s sadly become a large group of players in the NFL, players who have been arrested this offseason. Quinn was arrested for DUI this week and is one of 30 NFL players to get arrested this offseason (including Aaron Berry, who got arrested twice in a 30 day span). Because he has no prior legal history, it’s very unlikely he’ll be suspended. He remains the favorite to start opposite Chris Long at defensive end. Possessing all the talent in the world, Quinn is a candidate to get double digit sacks this season, opposite Long, another fearsome pass rusher.

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The Rams have one of the thinnest and least proven receiving corps in the NFL, but they have no shortage of young guys with upside. One of those young guys is tight end Lance Kendricks, a 2011 2^nd round pick. According to the Rams’ official website, Kendricks figures to have a “prominent” role in the Rams’ offense this year. This makes sense as Dustin Keller, a tight end, led the Jets in targets last year when new Rams offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer was their offensive coordinator. The Rams have been lining up Kendricks all over the offense in practices.

After a strong Preseason led to high expectations heading into his rookie year, Kendricks was absolutely awful as a pass catcher last year. He was 2^nd among tight ends in drops, despite only being targeted 53 times. He managed just 28 catches for 352 yards and didn’t score. He was ProFootballFocus’ worst rated pass catching tight end, though he was pretty good as a blocker. That being said, he’s still got a lot of upside and caught 43 passes for 663 yards and 5 touchdowns in 2010 with Wisconsin. He could be a sleeper this year.

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