As a St.
Louis Rams fan, this season was rough to say the least. After beginning a
season with such high hopes, it took only a few games before it was necessary
to pull out the paper bag with eye holes cut out to hide my face so that no one
would know it was me watching the games. I found myself
so embarrassed to be rooting for such a pathetic team that I sat with
my finger on the channel button of the TV remote, ready to change channels when
watching games alone in my living room. I was afraid of someone walking
in to see where my loyalties lie in the NFL. While I have been humiliated
to associate myself with the St. Louis Rams, I had no problems donning a Steven
Jackson jersey with pride every Sunday. In a year that Jackson further
solidified himself as an all-time great running back by rushing for his seventh
consecutive 1000 yard season, the Rams put together a season where they
finished a neck injury to Peyton Manning away from earning the number 1 draft
pick for the second time in three years. With this track record of
futility, I wonder if the Rams would ever consider trading
their franchise leading rusher in hopes of starting over?
The Argument Against:
The
best option for running back is still Steven Jackson. Because of Jackson's ability to handle so much of the
workload, the Rams have gotten by with retread or rookie back-ups.
Carnell (Cadillac) Williams, although injury prone, represented the
highest upside back-up running back the Rams have had in recent memory, and he
managed only 87 carries on the season despite an early injury which caused
Jackson to miss all of one game and the better parts of two others. There
is no doubt that the loss of Steven Jackson would represent a downgrade for an
offense that is already struggling at the skill positions enough to earn the
second overall draft choice. Would losing the best offensive weapon the
team had really be a solution to the future of a franchise that is in desperate
need for some success? Especially with the weight of a possible
relocation back to Los Angles bearing down on them, the Rams would
like to win and win now.
To
take pressure off the Sam Bradford. After
two seasons as the Rams quarterback, Sam Bradford has experienced two offensive
coordinators with a third on the way next year. He was the sixth most
sacked quarterback in the league despite sitting out six games with an ankle
injury. It is not going out on a limb to say that Sam Bradford has had a
rough start to his career. It would be easy to say that given another
couple years, the immense talent that earned him a number one overall draft
choice will become evident, but Sam Bradford would be far from the first top
picked quarterback to not live up to the hype. To get rid of his best
offensive weapon at this point in Bradford's career would put even more
pressure on an already bruised ego.
Steven
Jackson is building a Hall of Fame like Resume. While the NFL is full of general managers who believe nothing
in nostalgia, the Rams need a face of their franchise, especially now.
While Sam Bradford has the potential to be this face, Steven Jackson
still plays a large part in selling tickets. Running backs like Jackson
do not come around often, and to trade a potential Hall of Famer in the middle
of his streak of 1000 yard seasons could easily be the mistake that makes
already disappointed Rams fans care even less about their team. That
would be a tough sell for any general manager.
The Argument For:
The
shelf life of an NFL running back is short.
While this is a truth that has not been felt by St. Louis football fans, it is
the brutal truth of the NFL. Since 1999, the Rams have had a a pro bowl
representative running back 7 times. The Rams have been able to
transition seamlessly between a Hall of Fame running back in Marshall
Faulk to Steven Jackson. The terrible reality is that this is the
exception and definitely not the rule. This being said, to hope that a
running back entering his 9th season could maintain a high level of play
is ludicrous. Marshall Faulk, LaDainian Tomlinson, Eric Dickerson,
and countless other running backs on the list of all-time rushers never ran for
1000 yards after their 8th seasons. For the Rams to believe that Steven Jackson
will follow the career arc of Emmitt Smith instead of so many other running
backs who have faltered as their bodies took the beatings of the NFL
is just not realistic. To look at the future of the Rams is to look at a
situation that is most likely more than one year away from contending in a weak
division and even further away from being competitive in any playoff match-ups.
The reality of the situation is that Jackson will most likely not be an
effective number one rusher by the time the Rams have a good enough team to
fully benefit from having him in that role.
A
trade could get draft picks to help build a team around Sam Bradford. Trading Steven Jackson in the years to come will
only get less return for his services. Every season that Jackson spends
trying to run through defensive players who are keying on him is another season
that a potential career threatening injury could be just around the corner.
As a team, the Rams a full of holes. With an often porous offensive
line, a complete lack of play-making wide receivers unless
Brandon Lloyd decides to stick around, and a defensive secondary that saw far
too many practice team members suite up, the Rams are in need of so much more
than one talented running back. The market for a guy like Jackson may not
be overwhelming, but for a team that is in need of young talent, this would be
their best asset to trade in hopes of rebuilding with even more young talent.
Steven
Jackson deserves to play for a winning team.
After watching Jackson run against the 49ers, I could not help but feel sorry
for the guy. I have never before seen a man get 1.9 yards per carry and
be amazed at how talented he had to have been to get that much. Too many
times, the lack of play-makers at the wide receiver position
lead to Jackson getting the football only seconds before he needed to lower his
muscular shoulders in hopes of getting back to the line of scrimmage with
defensive lineman hanging on him. Between that and decisions by an
offensive coordinator to look away from Jackson with his team within five yards
of the end-zone, this had to be a frustrating season for the Ram's running
back. In short, this is a guy who deserves better. Is their any
doubt that if he played on a team that could get a lead, Jackson would be
looking at a certain Hall of Fame career? Imagine if he played for a team
that had a quarter back and an offensive line that could stay productive and
healthy. What if he had played for a team like the Packers, Patriots, or
Steelers, a team with other offensive weapons who could use a big bruising
running back without having an defense keying on him on every play?
Jackson has done just about all he can for the Rams for the past eight
years. He has given up the best years of the prime of his life to play
for a franchise which has not repaid him with a good team consistently enough.
It saddens me to see someone with so much talent wasting away on a team
like the Rams.
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