FanHouse NFL Season Preview: St. Louis Rams -- Protection Lacking

Training camps are underway, the NFL season is right around the corner, and to get you ready for 2008, FanHouse previews all 32 teams, "heat index" style. We'll rate each club in 10 categories on a scale of 1 to 10, high score wins.

Quarterbacks: Marc Bulger is coming off an injury-riddled, subpar at best, season. For the first time in his career he threw more picks than touchdowns, and his yards per attempt were nearly a yard lower than his previous career-low. Much of this can be attributed to the brutal offensive line play in front of him, but that may not change if Orlando Pace isn't completely healthy. Overall, though, Bulger will have a much better season and Trent Green is a fine backup. Heat Index: 6

Running Backs: Steven Jackson is one of the best runners in the league. He's reportedly going to be at full-strength by week one despite a lengthy holdout. There's speculation abound by amateurs who want to compare Jackson's holdout season to that of Larry Johnson last year. A big difference is the ability of the Rams passing game to take men out of the box for SJax. Antonio Pittman, Travis Minor, and Brian Leonard are all good enough to handle occasional carries but not good enough for a reasonable workload. Translation: if SJax goes down, they're screwed. Heat Index: 7

Receivers: Torry Holt suffered through his worst year since he was a rookie in 2007 -- with 93 catches for 1189 yards and seven TDs. Much can be attributed to Bulger's injury woes and overall ineffectiveness, which obviously leads us back to that offensive line. The depth behind Holt, however, is troubling. Drew Bennett once made sweet music with Billy Volek for a month in Nashville, but that was a long time ago. He's just not a good receiver, and neither is Dane Looker. The quicker Donnie Avery gets acclimated into the offense, the better shape it will be for Bulger's passing attack. Randy McMichael adds a solid "over the middle" element, and he should get much more use than last year. Heat Index: 6

Offensive Line: I covered this mess before, and that's precisely what it is: a mess. If Pace isn't fully healthy this is probably the worst line in football. With him, they're a little less than serviceable. Richie Incognito will have to disguise himself as a pro-bowler and others like Alex Barron will have to step up with career years to give the necessary help to the quality skill positions. Heat Index: 2

Defensive Line: The team ranked 20th in rush defense last season and 21st in sacks, so they went out and drafted Chris Long 2nd overall. Also, Leonard Little only played seven games last year, so if they get a full season out of him and Long, the entire complexion of the defense changes. This D-Line, along with La'Roi Glover and Adam Carriker has a chance to be pretty stout. Heat Index: 6

Linebackers: Will Witherspoon is a presence in the middle of the field, and one of the most underrated defensive playmakers in football. He had seven sacks and forced two fumbles last season, in addition to learning a new position and leading the team in tackles. He's going to blossum even more behind the improved defensive line. Witherspoon is flanked by the mediocre Pisa Tinoisamoa and Chris Draft. Heat Index: 5

Secondary: The Rams ranked 21st in pass defense last season, and they have the same personnel. Tye Hill still hasn't shown the abilities that landed him as a first round draft choice, but he hasn't exactly had a full season of health yet, either. The improvement of the defensive line should force passers to be more hasty, and in turn will create more opportunities for the success of the DBs. Still, they aren't exactly stellar. Heat Index: 4

Special Teams: If they have to punt often, and judging from the offensive line that's a distinct possibility, they'll have a good chance of winning the field position battle on a weekly basis. The punt unit was fourth in the NFL last year in net average, and thanks to the powerful leg of Donnie Jones, third in gross average at over 47 yards per punt. On the other hand, the kick coverage sucked. It was the worst in the NFL in terms of average yards allowed per kick, while also giving up two for scores and only mustering an abysmal five touchbacks. The acquisition of kicker Josh Brown from Seattle will alter this course. He had 13 touchbacks himself last year, and comes inside the dome with very impressive credentials on his kicking resume. Dante Hall has return duties, and while he's not among the league's best anymore, he's quite capable of taking it to the house on any given kick or punt. Heat Index: 6

Coaching: I'm not a huge Scott Linehan fan. The franchise has regressed under his watch, though you could argue it was already headed that way in Mike Martz's last two years. Al Saunders was a highly touted offensive coordinator in Kansas City, but he never busted through to stardom in Washington, thus not living up to his paycheck and getting the axe. The offense is a complicated one, but Bulger should be smart enough to grasp it quickly. Jim Haslett is a very good defensive coodinator. Linehan has quality support, but the fact of the matter is that the offensive line woes will hamper the season, and he'll be looking for a new job next season. Heat Index: 5 (thanks to the assistants)

Intangibles: They play in a terrible division, so that's a plus. Steven Jackson ending the holdout had to help team morale, but the distraction and now trying to quickly get everyone on the same page and up to speed has to affect their collective psyche a bit. Yes, the team has to be bitter about falling from 8-8 to 3-13, but they don't have the pieces in place to channel those feelings. We're just sitting right in the middle of the scale here. Heat Index: 5

Total Heat Index: 52
They are better than 3-13, which is the record they finished with last season. Injuries on the line were a major problem, but that problem still lingers. The Al Saunders offensive system will suit Bulger and Jackson well, but Holt needs another receiver to take pressure off him. That likely won't happen until late in the season or next year with Avery. The bottom line is that this is just an averageish team at best. In the NFC West, though, that might be enough to finish second.