The Rams went 1-15 in 51-year old head coach Steve Spagnuolo’s first year on the job.  They look like a completely different team this year as they are 4-5 right now.  The Rams have improved on both sides of the ball and they believe that they can win any time they suit up.  The Rams are also playing outstanding at home this year where they are 4-1 and they have outscored teams 103-63 at the Edward Jones Dome.  The Rams are now 5-20 (20%) in two years under Steve Spagnuolo. 

You can see why a lot of teams were calling the Rams about Sam Bradford on Draft Day 2010.  The Rams were smart to reject every offer that came their way for him.  Bradford has started all 8 games for the Rams this year and he has completed 171 of 292 passes (58.6%) for 1,674 yards with 11 TD passes and 8 INTs (75.9 QB Rating).  Bradford has also carried the ball 16 times for 22 yards (1.4 ypc) so far this year.  The most amazing thing to me about Bradford is that he doesn’t have much talent in the WR corps and he is still getting production out of the passing game.  Look for the Rams to sign some veteran WRs or use high picks on WRs next April.

24-year old 2nd year WR Danny Amendola is playing at a high level for the Rams once again in 2010.  He burst onto the scene last season when he played in 14 games in which he caught 43 passes for 326 yards (7.6 avg) with 1 TD grab.  Amendola also returned 66 kickoffs for 1,618 yards (24.5 avg) and 31 punts for 360 yards (11.6 avg) last season.  He touched the ball 143 times for 2,302 total yards (164.4 total yards per game) for an average of 16.1 yards per touch.  This year Amendola is being used a lot more offensively so the Rams don’t have him returning kickoffs all of the time.  He has played in 6 games so far this year and he has caught 36 passes for 322 yards (8.9 avg).  He has also returned 3 kickoffs for 68 yards (22.7 avg) and 16 punts for 177 yards (11.1 avg) so far this year.  Amendola has touched the ball 55 times for 567 yards (94.5 total yards per game) as he’s averaging 10.3 yards per touch.  Look for Amendola to continue being busy as Sam Bradford likes throwing the ball to him.

33-year old DE James Hall is really playing great football this year for the Rams.  In the Rams four games this year, Hall has 12 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss, 4 sacks, 1 pass defensed and 3 forced fumbles so far this year.  The Rams hope that Hall can sustain this kind of play for a while because his play is having a huge impact on the whole defense as the younger players are looking up to him.  In Hall’s first three years with the Rams he played in 45 games in which he had 139 tackles, 2 passes defensed and 13.5 sacks.

The plan was to let Sam Bradford learn behind A.J. Feeley for a while.  But that all changed when Feeley was injured in the pre-season.  The Rams had no choice but to throw Bradford to the wolves and he has looked much better than expected.  Bradford has started the first three games of the year for the Rams and he has completed 69 of 117 passes  (59%) for 655 yards with 4 TD passes and 5 INTs (68.1 QB Rating).  Bradford also has carried the ball 1 time for 2 yards this year.  The 22-year old rookie QB doesn’t exactly have a lot of playmakers around him making his play that much more impressive.  I look for Bradford to keep getting better with age especially if the Rams start drafting offensive players to put around him.

28-year old WR Mark Clayton didn’t come to the Rams until the week before the season but he has been outstanding for them so far.  Clayton has caught 12 passes for 143 yards (11.9 avg) with 2 TD grabs in his first two games with the Rams.  He is by far the most polished WR that the Rams have on their roster so look for him to get a lot of looks from Sam Bradford this year.  He has career highs of 67 grabs, 939 yards and 5 TDs and he could smash all of them this year if he can just stay healthy all year.

23-year old inside linebacker James Laurinaitis is quite simply the best defensive player on the Rams.  The 2nd round pick out of Ohio State has played in 13 games for the Rams this season and he has 104 tackles, 3 tackles for a loss, 1 forced fumble, 1 sack, defensed 3 passes and he has 2 interceptions.  Despite the awful season the Rams have had on defense they now have a building block in Laurinaitis. 

24-year old WR/PR/KR Danny Amendola has been quite a find for the Rams this season.  He has played in 9 games in which he has caught 26 passes for 244 yards (9.4 avg) this year.  He has really helped out on special teams for the Rams this season as he has returned 16 punts for 130 yards (8.1 avg) and 39 kickoffs for 951 yards (24.4 avg).  So in his nine games with the Rams this year, Amendola is averaging 147.2 all-purpose yards per game and that’s pretty darn impressive.

The Rams really don’t have any help for Steven Jackson on offense and teams continue to game plan to stop him every week but he continues to rise above it and produce at a high level.  Jackson has played in all 10 games for the Rams this season and he has carried the ball 215 times for 1,031 yards (4.8 ypc) with 3 TD runs.  He has also caught 35 passes for 231 yards  (6.6 avg) so far this season for the Rams.  He is a amazing football player and if the Rams could just pass the ball a little better he would even be more dominating.  Jackson has now played in 79 games for the Rams in his six year NFL career and he has carried the ball 1,439 times for 6,322 yards (4.4 ypc) with 40 TD runs.  Jackson has also caught 265  passes for 2,196 yards in his career.  Jackson is averaging 107.8 yards rushing and receiving per game in his NFL career so far and that is outstanding.  There is no reason to think Jackson will be slowing down any time soon.

Oshiomogho Atogwe is not making game changing plays but he is a solid tackler which is helping out against opposing running games.  The safety has made 53 tackles, defensed 3 passes, he has 1 sack and 1 interception.  With the problems the Rams have had in the front seven it’s good to know that they have Atogwe backing them up.