Rams Fantasy Preview

[The Lung]

From: http://fantasy.sportingnews.com/nfl/experts/kyle-veltrop/20090702.html

Rams: More action for Jackson?

WHAT'S NEW

Torry Holt has caught his last pass in a Rams' uniform, and Orlando Pace has thrown his last block with St. Louis.

With their respective releases this offseason, the last ties to the wildly entertaining and productive "Greatest Show on Turf" were cut. With the in-season firing of Scott Linehan in 2008 and the decision not to retain interim coach Jim Haslett, the team ended a different era: A spectacularly bland and unproductive three-year stretch in which the team's wins went from eight to three to two and its overall offensive rank dropped fast and hard, from sixth to 24th to 27th.

The regression has been so sharp that only running back Steven Jackson is viewed as a top-notch fantasy option, and even that comes with a caveat considering he has missed eight games the past two seasons and he often works behind a leaky line.

The coach charged with cleaning up the mess is Steve Spagnuolo, who is coming off a successful run as the Giants' defensive coordinator. Given his background, it's no surprise he's promising an offense built more on smash and less on splash and that the key offseason additions were on defense, the offensive line and at fullback. Even if the Rams make strides in the win-loss column, their fantasy outlook figures to remain rather bleak.

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