The St. Louis Rams will win the NFC West

C1: Quarterbacks in the NFC West It should be noted that despite leading his division in touchdowns and yards last year, his stats were still far from impressive. Due to a myriad of changes this year in the 49ers, Seahawks, and Cardinals, I believe that the difference in quarterbacking ability will be severely diminished between the Rams and their rivals. In SEA: Tarvaris Jackson: While Jackson may be a worse pocket passer than Sam Bradford, he is far superior in mobility. Jackson (despite never starting all 16 games) has rushed less yards than Bradford only once in a season[1][2]. However, Jackson's deficiencies in passing are much more acceptable on a Seattle team that will live and die by the run. In AZ: Kevin Kolb: In the first two games he started in 2009 (when McNabb was injured), Kolb lead his team to victory with two 300 yard, multi-touchdown games[3]. Next year, the Eagles, who knew the type of talent they had, traded away McNabb and put all their faith in Kolb. Unfortunately, Kolb was knocked out with a concussion early in the game and Vick's subsequent play led to a reversal in the depth chart. However, due to a Vick injury, Kolb got to start weeks 5-7 (and the majority of week 4)[4]. In this 4 week stretch he average over 250 yards, 1.5 touchdowns a game, and only one interception a game[5]. Compare this to Sam Bradford, who averaged only 219 yards/game, about 1.2 touchdowns/game, and about 1 interception/game[6]. My opponent included Kolb's last game of the year (an admittedly poor outing where he threw for one touchdown and three interceptions) where Kolb was coming off a 9 week break. It is hardly fair to assume that he would be able to play at his regular level of skill considering the gap in playing time.In SF: Alex Smith: My opponent states Smith's 16 TD's and 16 interception year as a bad thing. I find this more than a little bit ironic, since Bradford only posted 2 more TD's and 1 less interception in his only full season. Smith could easily be in for a bump in his stat production due to the addition of Jim Harbaugh as their head coach. Last season, Harbaugh coached what was effectively the best passing quarterback in all of college football with Andrew Luck. I see no reason why Harbaugh can't work his magic again on this young but talented quarterback.C2: Running backs in the NFC WestIn StL: Steven Jackson: There is no doubt that in years pass Jackson has been a horse and the only good thing on the Rams team. However, his heavy workload due to the large amount the Rams relied on him has started taking it's toll. Last year, his average yards/rush dropped from 4.4 to 3.8[7]. This average is lower than a whopping 33 of the top 40 backs of last year, including his division rivals Justin Forsett (Sea), Tim Hightwoer (AZ), Marshawn Lynch (Sea), and Frank Gore (SF)[8]. Although Jackson is still on the "right" side of 30, his unusually high workload has led to more wear and tear than the average back.In SF: Frank Gore: I am glad that my opponent acknowledges that Gore is indeed a great runningback. He mentions a lack of versatility and a struggle to run outside, but these attributes are unimportant to Gore's style of running. Gore is a bruising back that specializes in dominating tacklers and busting through gaps between the tackles for big runs (giving his unusual amount of speed). I don't know if an argument can be made that one runner is worse than the other, as they have two completely different styles of play. I will leave it at the fact that both runners are very good and give their teams a great offensive assett.In AZ: Tim Hightower, Beanie Wells, and Ryan Williams: Looking at the 2009 and 2010 seasons respectively: Wells and Hightower gained around 1400 and 1100 yards on the ground. This also got a combined 550 yards and 200 yards receiving[9][10]. The addition of Williams can only help but solve the injury problems at RB for the Cardinals as all will be receiving a lighter workload and the 3 different back will allow a runningback committee that has each RB specalize for better overall results for the team. This RBC (runningback committee) is very similar to other successful RBC's in Carolina (Goodson, Williams, and Stewart) and Dallas (Barber, Jones, Choice). There's a reason more and more teams (to the distraught of fantasy owners like myself) are moving towards a RBC rather than the single-back workhorse. It makes for a more efficient running game, it lowers injury risk, and makes all the RB's last longer.In Sea: Marshawn Lynch, Justin Forsett, Leon Washington: Washington provides pure and unbiased speed, the perfect 3rd down back. He also provides an X-factor at the returning postion. Forsett is poor-man's version of Maurice Jones-Drew at 5' 8", 200 lbs [11]. Finally, anyone who watched the playoffs last year knows Marshawn Lynch. For those of you who didn't, watch this video: http://www.youtube.com.... That was Lynch, taking on the whole Saints defense (he broke 8 attempted tackles) for a 67 yd TD run. I could never put Lynch on the same level that Jackson has played on. However, I believe that the wear and tear Jackson has seen combined with this little-known but none the less effective RBC will prove more than a match the Rams' workhorse.C3: Wide ReceiversIn StL: ???: This is the biggest question on the Rams team. No one single wide receiver stepped last year and the group is just as much as a mess this year. Who will be the #1? Will it be Amendola, Gibson, Avery, Clayton, Alexander, or one of these new draft picks (Austin Pettis, Gregory Salas)[12]? Clearly the WR's from last year were not working out (as my opponent readily admits), so that leaves us with the two rookies. Looking at the top rookie WR's of the last decade, we see names like Greg Jennings, Donnie Avery, Calvin Johnson, and Larry Fitzgerald [13]. So what spectacular stats did these WR's get with their "dominating" rookie years? Jennings: 632 yds and 3 TD's, Avery (who clearly has not panned out for the Rams): 674 yds and 3 TD's, Johnson: 756 yds and 3 TD's, Fitzgerald: 780 yds and 8 TD's. Johnson, Jennings, and Fitzgerald are all elite WR's today, but only Fitzgerald was able to post significant numbers as a rookie (due mainly to the help of Anquan Boldin). In AZ: Larry Fitzgerald: No one argues that Fitzgerald is one of the best (if not the best) WR in the league. Without a good QB (which the Rams supposedly have in Bradford), he still posted better numbers than any Rams WR. With the addition of Kolb, he will go back to the astounding numbers that he had under Kurt Warner.In Sea: Mike Williams, Sidney Rice: Another team that has multipe WR's better than anyone on the Rams' team. Both this wide receivers have displayed their talent and are a more reliable bet than the rookies my opponent wants to rely on.In SF: Davis (TE), Crabtree: Davis is an elite tight end that the Rams have no hope of matching this season. Crabtree (while not exactly the greatest) will still post better numbers than the rookie WR's on the Rams.Conclusion:I have run too low on characters to finish my argument for this round, but I believe I gave a good general assessment. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org...[2] http://espn.go.com... [3] http://espn.go.com... [4] http://www.nfl.com... [5] http://www.nfl.com...[6] http://www.nfl.com... [7] http://www.nfl.com...[8] http://espn.go.com... [9] http://www.nfl.com...[10]http://www.nfl.com... [11] http://www.nfl.com...[12] http://sports.yahoo.com...[13] http://bleacherreport.com...