A lot seems likely at this point. I simply don't have a tangible feel for this team yet.
In 1999, it took me the first 2-3 regular season games (all wins) before I could clearly see that that team had gotten it! as far as knowing how to win. And I felt confident the rest of the way, even throughout the three losses that year. I knew we would spank the Vikes in the playoffs. I was cautiously optimistic against the Bucs, the only defensive team that could match our offensive team speed. And I liked our chances against the Titans even more, although the O's tendency to fail to close the deal in the red-zone tested my patience early.
This team has a lot of unproven youngsters, many with high upside, who has yet to do it for real. 'Tree has to play under control and avoid those high tackles around the head area. The young safeties gotta prove they belong. I'm looking for Jenks and Tru to up their games. I won't have much problem with Jenks gambling as long as he develops a really good ability to read the veteran QB's - no more careless jumping routes against the likes of Aaron Rodgers. I wanna see The Incredible Brock dominate and Kendall earn a nickname. I want to see The Mighty Quinn fully live up to his moniker and Chris "Clark Kent" Long revert to his alter ego on game days.
On offense we have aging vets in Scott Wells and Harvey Dahl who really need to remain healthy. Of course, both of our tackles, Jake Long and Rodger Saffold, have felt the sting of the injury bug before. The missing man at LG needs to step forward and our backups have to be prepared to stand in as seamlessly as possible if the injury bug rears his ugly head once more.
At the "skill" positions we have a trio of very young veteran wideouts who must be ready to lead. Tavon is expected to start returning on the team's investment on him early and his collegiate teammate, Sted, should be producing in the 2nd half of the season. Jared gets a real opportunity to breakout, and Lance can continue to showcase his outstanding versatility as a blocker/receiver.
An offensive scheme which leans towards a spread offense would seem to be right up Isaiah Pead's alley. However, Isaiah flourished at Cincinnati where his OL wasn't very good, and he lost his trust in them. Unfortunately, he carried that OL distrust with him into the Rams 2012 pre-season, and it showed glaringly. Between freelancing way too much against disciplined NFL defenders and awkwardly running into the backs of his OL blockers due to being behind in his understanding of the blocking schemes, Pead lost ground to the much steadier DRich, despite having greater overall talent. Although he displayed much more discipline later in the latter half of the season, he has to demonstrate he has learned some hard lessons this time around. Rookie Zac Stacy is a solid, mature RB who should be able to contribute this season. Terrance Ganaway will compete with Zac for power back duties. The Rams need to find a way to stash promising UFA RB, Benny Cunningham, on the team---whether on the PUP list or on the 53-man roster, because he will not be left alone on the practice squad by other NFL teams.
Finally, Sam the Ram gets an opportunity to showcase his ability to translate all the high football IQ into field performance in his very first back-to-back season in the same offensive scheme. This will represent the first true measure of his growth as an NFL QB, and I am betting the house on him to shine like a supremely polished diamond. Also on the spot will be Schotty our OC, who gets an opportunity to devise offensive schemes for the most talent he ever had under his command. With his background in the Air Coryell derivatives, I fully expect him to showcase much more imagination than his old man.
We have seen Greg the Turbo Leg put his rare talent on display last season. Now we need to see him grow sharply in consistency. Ditto for his roommate, punter Johnny Hekker, who proved he has a solid leg and very good accuracy but suffered at times from awkwardly placed boots. Mr. Excitement, Tavon Austin, is the front runner for both return jobs, although if he gets too involved in the offense, it may be wise to offload one of those duties to someone else.
If everything goes well with minimal injuries, adequate replacements in the event of injuries, and solid performance across the board we can approach the 1999 record of 13-3. If the young players suffer from stage fright and other young player miscues, if some of our veterans really underperform, we might face another losing season.
