Ramming Into the Future: The 2019 Los Angeles Rams Team Preview

I hate this organization.

There, I said it.  Now you know exactly what kind of preview you’re getting for this team.

The Rams come into the 2019-2020 season on a massive Super Bowl hangover, having been handled easily by the hated New England Patriots in the Super Bowl.  Since teams very rarely lose Super Bowls ad return to gain vengeance (unless they’re the Patriots) the Rams are looking at years of mediocrity, featuring puzzling loses to teams they look better than on paper.

All kidding aside, if any team in the league is built to shake off the disappointment of the enormous, humiliating loss in the Super Bowl, it’s these Rams.  After all, they have trained hard to look past failure.  They have to see both Stan Kroenke’s hair and moustache regularly, something that shows that no matter how rich and successful you are, there are some things everyone sucks at.

(This is the part of the preview where Saints fans scream about the no-call.  Go ahead guys, I’ll wait.)

While a lot of things have to go very right for the Rams to get back to the Super Bowl, they have a ton of pluses in their favor.  Jared Goff turned the corner and became a legitimate NFL quarterback after Jeff Fischer’s attempts to end his career fizzled out.  Todd Gurley is, when healthy, one of the most exciting and talented players in the NFL.  Brandin Cooks can run with anyone, and makes any offense more exciting.

Oh yeah, Aaron Donald is actually in camp, meaning he may not start slowly, which has to be got-dammed terrifying for opposing quarterbacks.

The Rams had some personnel losses, including guard Roger Saffold, Ndamukong Suh, Mark Barron, who was a weird safety/LB hybrid, and Lamarcus Joyner, a fun player to have at safety.  They also added some veterans, including Clay Matthews and Eric Weddle, who are, um, washed up.

However, the most important addition of the offseason?  Blake Freaking Bortles as the new backup QB.

Caution should be noted with this team, however.  They haven’t had a first-round pick in the last 3 drafts and only had 2 second rounders in that time.  The loss of high-end draft picks eventually catches up with any team.

Really, the Rams know that they will get a monster in Donald, no matter who lines up next to him.  The real wild card in all of this is Gurley.

Todd Gurley is supremely talented, but disappeared down the stretch with an injury, then was completely phased out of the gameplan in the playoffs.  If the Gurley from the first half of the season is back, this is a playoff team.  If he’s still hurt or they have lost confidence in him, this team will be dealing with a serious Super Bowl hangover, and the season could be as ugly as whatever’s growing on Stan’s face.