QB

Sam Bradford

(+) Bradford has the perfect stature for an NFL quarterback (6’4”, 236 lbs) and all the intangibles to become one of the greats
(+) Will likely be the starting QB from Week 1… or else very soon thereafter
(+) His receiving corps is not elite by any means, but they all have a ton of potential and will be fighting for their jobs
(+) Sam is extremely accurate, has great balance, is quick on his feet, and is known as a natural leader and born winner
(–) Coming off of shoulder surgery to his throwing arm
(–) Being a rookie QB, defenses will put more pressure on him than he’s ever seen, especially since he sometimes holds onto the ball too long (a la Aaron “It Out” Rodgers)
(–) Throws the ball from a ¾ angle, so he might have more passes swatted away than most other QBs

RB

Steven Jackson

(+) Has the 3rd easiest rush schedule in 2010 and is a nice bonus in PPR leagues
(+) Running backs tend to have really good years when their team starts a rookie QB
(+) Has rushed for 1,000+ yards in each of the past 5 seasons regardless of how many games he has missed
(+) Has finished in the top-5 in fantasy points per game in 3 of the last 4 years
(–) Has a tough time staying healthy (one 16-game season in his 6-year career) and is coming off of offseason back surgery
(–) Is real weak in the TD category
(–) Has too many young, unproven skill-position players around him, thus letting defenses key in on him

Kenneth Darby

(+) Darby is a Steven Jackson (offseason back surgery) injury away from being a starting RB in the NFL
(+) Kenny is well-built for a running back (5’10”, 219 lbs) who fights for every yard he gets
(+) Has basically no wear and tear on his body
(+) Should Darby see time in the backfield, the Rams have the 3rd easiest rush schedule this year – Plus RBs tend to have great seasons when playing with a rookie QB
(–) He’s 27-years old and has just 61 carries so far in the NFL
(–) Despite his lofty 4.9 career YPC, Darby does not possess much speed at all and is more of just an in-between-the-tackles runner
(–) As long as Steven Jackson is healthy, he’ll never see more than 3-4 touches a game

WR

Donnie Avery

(+) Avery is the best WR on this roster and was the 33rd overall pick in 2008
(+) Possesses wicked speed and should be feeling more comfortable with a year playing in OC Pat Shurmur’s offense
(+) A good run game with Steven Jackson should help defenses stay a little bit honest
(+) Word out of St. Louis is that Avery has added 15 pounds of muscle this offseason, which shows his commitment and should help him fight for balls downfield
(–) Donnie’s smaller size has limited his ability to get off the line cleanly and utilize his speed
(–) The Rams will rank down the chain in passing yards and touchdowns as Bradford feels his way into the NFL, but they should be passing the ball often playing from behind
(–) The offensive line is weak (Pyro rank 22nd in Pass Protection) – This spells trouble for an offense relying on a Rookie (Bradford) to make plays

Laurent Robinson

(+) Robinson will start the season as a starter opposite Donnie Avery
(+) Prior to his injury, Laurent caught a team-high 13 passes before breaking his leg in Week 3 last year
(–) The early word on Robinson is that he’s still not 100 percent back from the injury
(–) He will have to fight for production in an anemic offense with a rookie QB behind an O- line that struggles in protection (23rd overall)

Danny Amendola

TE

Daniel Fells

-  The Rams were a team beginning the rebuilding process last year while still using an experienced QB in Mark Bulger
-  The teams only victory during the 2009 season was against the Detriot Lions
-  The Rams finished with a 1-15 and received the first overall pick in the 2010 NFL draft
-  Scored 175 points while allowing 436 points against

2009 Total Points Rank:           28th (73 tot pts)
2009 Average/Game Rank:     37th (4.6 pts/gm)

FR=Fumbles Recoverd, PA=Points Allowed, FP Rank=Fantasy Points Rank, FP/G=Fantasy Points per Game

2010 Rams Defensive Outlook... 

We’ve seen some bad defenses over the years, but this one really sucks.  30^th overall in sacks last year and 29^th in turnovers, there really isn’t much need to go on here.  They are undraftable in the deepest leagues.  Laurinaitis is the glimmering hope for this defense, and it was nice to see him step up in the MLB role last season.   But again, they have zero pass rush. 

-  James Laurinaitis led the team with 120 tackles, Oshiomogho Atogwe had 74
-  The Rams had 25 sacks last season
-  Leading sacker was Leonard Little with 6.5
-  How can the Rams continue to increase their defensive prowess and get better pass rush and also create more turnovers
-  James Butler led the team with 3 INTs
-  Team forced 15 fumbles
-  Team forced a total of 23 turnovers

Team PYRO is hyper about Offensive Lines!  Understanding who will be blocking for the players on your roster is vital to your teams Fantasy success.  We take many factors into account when we rank these units, including weight, height, starts together as a unit, starts per year played, rushing average, sacks allowed, draft position, contract situation, pro bowl/all pro honors, Adjusted Line Yardage (ALY) and Adjusted Sack Rate (stats found at the link below).  O-Line Rank is one more piece of the puzzle that directs us towards delivering you a Fantasy Football Championship. 

The fantasy lifeblood of the players sitting on your roster boils down to one EXTREMELY important stat.  Drum Roll please……………………………  ATTEMPTS!!!!  Ahhhh, there, we said it.  Before you can make a play, you gotta have the pill in your hands.  It’s pretty simple really, in the immortal words of the maligned Keyshawn Johnson… “Just give me the damn ball”.  There is no “I” in the word “team”, but don’t fool yourself, it’s in the word rotisserie twice. 

For the QB, it’s Pass Attempts, for the RB, it’s Carries, and for the WR and TE, it’s Targets.  If you look at the players in the league who are amassing large quantities of points, they are the ones who are seeing the rock come their way the most often.  Sure, you have to be good enough to do something with the p-skin when you get it, but never forget, you can’t make a play until you have the pill in your hands. 

The PYRO Offensive scheme charts aim to deliver you perhaps the most important information you could attain before and after draft day; Will my player get the chances they need to put out or will they be shut out?  It really boils down to what the offensive game plan on Sunday is.  These charts should provide some perspective on which teams are going to live by land and which are going to live by air. 

By Air

-  Sam Bradford was drafted with the first overall to be the franchise QB of the future
-  Bradford is currently being penciled in as the start for the upcoming season but A.J. Feely was signed
         in case he needs more time to develop
-  Last season the team ranked 28th in the league with 2,686 passing yards
-  Donnie Avery, Keenan Burton, and Mardy Gilyard will provide the targets at WR
-  Randy McMichael will be the main target at TE
-  The RBs are also used as receptions in this offense so look for Jackson and Darby to catch passes out of
        the backfield

By Land

-  The Rams had a workhorse back who has been a steady performer when healthy in Steven Jackson
-  St. Louis ranked 20th in the league with 1,784 yards on the ground in 2009
-  Kenneth Darby will serve as the teams primary back up and started one game in place of Jackson due to injury

RZ Touches (Position Rank) = The first number you see is Red Zone Touches (a pass attempt, a carry, or a target inside the 20 yard line).  The number in the parentheses is where this player ranks amongst the rest of the NFL at that position.

% of Teams RZ Touches (Position Rank) = The first number is the players percentage of touches cut out against the total number of the Teams Red Zone plays called.  The number in the parentheses is where this player ranks amongst the rest of the NFL at that position.  So, if Thomas Jones received a touch in 45 percent of the Jets Red Zone calls last year, and Knowshon Moreno received a touch in 38 percent of all the Broncos plays last year, Jones would be ranked higher at his position than Moreno would be.

RZ TD Success Rate (Position Rank) = The first number is the percentage of which an individual player was able to score a TD against his total number of touches.   The number in the parentheses is where this player ranks amongst the rest of the NFL at that position.

Why Should I look at this Chart?

We couldn’t possibly take up a whole minute of your valuable fantasy football research time babbling about the importance of Attempts for your team and then leave out Red Zone Tendencies.

Yep, same drill with these charts, only a lot more important if scoring TD’s is what you’re leagues about.  The PYRO Red Zone Tendencies chart delivers a touchdown focused microcosm of the Offensive Scheme section.

To score a TD, your player needs a touch (pass att, carry, or target), and when they get a touch inside the 20, great things can happen for your Fantasy teams total points line.

It’s really easy, touches are King and converting a touch in the red is Fantasy Gold.

PYRO 2010 Ram Leaders in the Red Zone...

1. Steven Jackson
2. Chris Ogbonnaya
3. Laurent Robinson
4. Donnie Avery
5. Brandon Fells

Grade* = Team PYRO took this number directly from NFL.COM - not a number devised here by us, you know, your friends who don’t sleep?  In other words, proceed with caution knowing the source, but we thought it was at least a worthy effort and could help you gauge just how solid the teams draft was.  We hope it helps, we think it will.

Draft Bits...

Sam Bradford will get every chance to help St. Louis this season.  He has a decent RB, but that’s about where the team help stops.  The line is weak, the WR corps is weaker, and they have the 19th overall pass schedule.  Still, as far as rookies on offense go, he’ll likely lead the class in TD’s.  The kid has some skills and heart, it’s clear, and we like him more than most Rookie Q’s that find the field on opening day.  He’s a back end backup, but might help you on a given week, with bye problems and injuries of course.

Rodger Saffold will open the season as the starting left tackle. He’s an immediate upgrade.  Last years second pick overall Jason Smith has struggled, so let’s hope Saffold can make an impact.

Gilyard will battle to be the 4th WR for the Rams.  He won’t be Fantasy relevant this season.

Team PYRO considers our Strength of Schedule data an essential part of building you a Fantasy Championship.  This data is integral in helping us rank our players each year.  So far, so good.  We go to GREAT lengths to deliver you this PYRO nugget and we know nobody else in the industry is putting forth this type of effort, which puts you at a great advantage if you have been using us as your fantasy football research outlet.  Our SoS considers three factors when determining rankings for schedules for the upcoming year:

1) 75% weight is applied to the strength of defense from the previous season.  This is determined by fantasy points given up (run and pass).  Easy right? Here's where Team Pyro goes deep: before we get to that number, we factor in the quality of teams that these defenses had to face (essentially, a strength-of-schedule for the prior season).

 
2) 20% weight is applied to Free-Agent, Trade, and Injury Returns that will help or hurt the team for the current year.  We rank each players impact to their former team (2008), sum it all up, and then rank each team accordingly.

3) 5% weight is applied to the NFL Drafts incoming rookie impact.  It's a challenge to successfully gauge a rookie's effectiveness (too many Jamarcus Russells out there) which is why we valued it so low.  Some teams not only drafted highly touted defensemen this year, but will be immediately filling deficient positions from '09 with rookies, and usually, anything is an upgrade when you are starting a rookie.

Chart Key =

Ranking:  1=easiest  32=toughest

QB's, WR's, and TE's

(INDY) Peyton Manning, Reggie Wayne, and Dallas Clark have the EASIEST passing schedule in 2010

(BALT) Joe Flacco, Anquan Boldin, and Todd Heap have the HARDEST passing schedule in 2010

RB's

(SF) Frank Gore has the EASIEST rushing schedule in 2010

(MIA) Ronnie Brown has the HARDEST rushing schedule in 2010

June 28, 2010

Signed WR Mardy Gilyard, LB Josh Hull, CB Jerome Murphy, CB Marquis Johnson, DE Hall Davis, DE Eugene Sims, DE George Selvie and TE Michael Hoomanawanui.

June 23, 2010

Signed S Oshiomogho Atogwe to a multi-year contract.

June 10, 2010

Signed DT Chris Hovan.

June 9, 2010

Announced the retirement of WR Isaac Bruce.

June 3, 2010

Named La'Roi Glover director of player programs. Declined to sign S Oshiomogho Atogwe, making him an unrestricted free agent.

May 10, 2010

Traded OT Alex Barron to Dallas for LB Bobby Carpenter.

April 27, 2010

Agreed to terms with DT Jermelle Cudjo, LB Freddie Harris, LB Cardia Jackson, S Jeromy Jones, LB Simoni Lawrence, QB Thaddeus Lewis, FB Jamie McCoy, WR Brandon McRae, WR Roderick Owens, S Darian Stewart, FB Kennedy Tinsley, RB Keith Toston and RB DeMaundray Woolridge.

April 20, 2010

Traded DT Adam Carriker to Washington for an undisclosed draft pick.

April 7, 2010

Signed LB Na'il Diggs.

April 5, 2010

Released QB Marc Bulger.

March 22, 2010

Re-signed DE James Hall.

March 18, 2010

Signed LS Chris Massey and RB Kenneth Darby.

March 11, 2010

Re-signed TE Daniel Fells.

March 8, 2010

Signed DT Fred Robbins.

March 6, 2010

Signed QB A.J. Feeley.

February 10, 2010

Named Nolan Cromwell wide receivers coach.

January 23, 2010

Fired trainer Jim Anderson.