When the Rams finish their Alex Barron-for-Bobby Carpenter deal with Dallas, their lineups on offense and defense will have a notable look.
On offense, the offensive line will be Jason Smith, Jacob Bell, Jason Brown, John Greco and either Adam Goldberg or Rodger Saffold. The starting receivers are likely to be Donnie Avery and Laurent Robinson, with Daniel Fells at tight end, Mike Karney at fullback and Steven Jackson at running back. Eventually, of course, Sam Bradford will be the quarterback.
Defensively, it looks like Chris Long and James Hall will start at end, Fred Robbins and Clifton Ryan at tackle, and Carpenter or Na’il Diggs, James Laurainitis and David Vobora at linebacker, and Ron Bartell, Bradley Fletcher, O.J. Atogwe and James Butler in the defensive backfield.
Nearly every vestige of the Scott Linehan regime has been removed, save for Goldberg on the offensive line, Hall and Ryan on the defensive line, and Vobora at linebacker. And the Mike Martz era will be represented by Jackson, Atogwe and Bartell. I don’t count Long and Avery as Linehan picks, because Billy Devaney ran that draft.
Of the 22 projected starters, it’s likely that at least sixteen will have been acquired since Devaney’s arrival. Jackson, Goldberg, Hall, Ryan, Bartell and Atogwe preceded Devaney to St. Louis.
The results of disastrous personnel procurement of the last decade will have been removed. Now, lets see if they can be replaced across the board by GOOD players.