The St. Louis Rams will win the NFC West

Without further ado… my last stand. Bradford is the best QB in the division: Last year, Sam Bradford threw for more yards and touchdown’s than anyone else in the division . My opponent tried to mitigate this by saying that he had the most playing time, and that if we were to extrapolate Kolb’s statistics, he would have indeed had the better year. So why didn’t Kolb play you ask? He suffered the scariest injury a quarterback (a young one at that) can endure: a concussion. The experts at ESPN agree that with the Cardinals shoddy offensive line, Kolb’s health cannot be guaranteed. [1] Nothing in Tavaris Jackson’s resume suggests that he is anywhere near Sam Bradford’s caliber as a passer. My opponent states that the Seahawks addition of Sydney Rice suddenly makes their receiving corps better. We must remember though that Tavaris Jackson has played extensively with Rice, and that the results were not all that impressive. Remember when the acquisitions of TJ Houshmandzadeh and Dion Branch were supposed to make the team miraculously better? The 49ers quarterback situation is less than desirable. In Alex Smith, you have a quarterback that has never lives up to his number one pick billing. He has been plagued by injuries his entire career and I find it unlikely that he’ll be able to take every offensive snap. The Rams receiving core is healthy and primed for success under Josh McDaniels’ pass heavy scheme: As I have said before the Rams made a huge improvement to their receiving corps by adding Mike Sims-Walker as an outside deep threat. Don’t expect him to run short routes or routes over the middle. He will run primarily vertical routes (streak, fade, wheel) and leave the over the middle work to Danny Amendola and co. Expect Mark Clayton and (a healthy) Donnie Avery to work the sidelines opposite Sims-Walker. My opponent (as one would expect) looked at Sims-Walker’s stats and took them at face value. I will not say that this is bad, I will merely point out that Sims-Walker is leaving a very conservative system and coming to a Rams team that will be a very heavy pass team. Expect his (and every other receiver’s) stats to take a jump this year. Expect Steven Jackson’s workload to go down and his production to increase As my opponent has tirelessly pressed, Steven Jackson’s workload was detrimental to his production. He cited a drop-off in yards per carry production. I would like to submit that since Josh McDaniel’s offensive scheme will be heavily focused on passing the football, the stress that Steven Jackson’s legs have accrued will be alleviated at least partially as he won’t be expected to carry the ball thirty plus times per game this year. We should see Jackson utilized in much the same way we saw the great Marshall Faulk utilized in 1999 when the rams not only won the west, but also the Super Bowl. Frank Gore will have to shoulder the load in San Francisco with the quarterback situation in flux. The Cardinals have released Tim Hightower, so they no longer have the tandem that my opponent so overvalued. Some crucial items we have failed to discuss: Defense: The Rams have addressed a long standing position of need signing Quinton Mikell, a top tier safety. [2] What has the rest of the division done on this front? The Seahawks have released linebacker and defensive signalcaller Lofa Tatupu, who leaves in his stead a gaping hole in defensive leadership production. [3] The Cardinals have trades away Rogers-Cromarte who is arguably one of the best corners in the league. [4] The 49ers have released monster tackler Takeo Spikes to free agency. He has since signed elsewhere. [5] Coaching: Rams GM Billy Devaney has assembled a cast of coaches that have distinctive playcalling styles. Head Coach Steve Spagnuolo, who handles defensive play calling, has surrounded himself with players who do what he knows how to coach, that is blitz and confuse the quarterback. The Rams have signed top draft pick Robert Quinn. In Quinn’s first year he is likely to split time playing right end with the hulking veteran James Hall. [6] Quinn’s speed, and Hall’s size will make the right side of the Rams line very adaptable to various situations. The Rams are built to use many substitution packages and the versatility of their defensive roster in terms of speed guys versus power guys will make the Rams defense eerily similar to the great Giants D (which Spagnuolo coached) that brought a superbowl championship to New York in 2008. Closing Remarks: In terms of choosing a winner in this debate, I urge football minded voters to look at the make-up of every team in the NFC West and think about which team is built for success next year. I had the “burden of proof” in this debate (as much as you can prove things in a speculative debate). I fulfilled my promise to the voters. I gave you numbers. I backed up my numbers with expert analysis. I took you past the numbers with my own analysis. I have proven that the Rams scheme is best set to lead them to success. I showed you that Bradford was the best quarterback last year and showed you that he is the best bet next year. I have used football logic to tell you why Steven Jackson is a better bet than Frank Gore. I have shown cleared up the shroud of questions surrounding the Rams receiving corps to the best of my ability. For those reasons, I ask you to vote in affirmation of this resolution. Thank you. Sources: . http://games.espn.go.com... [1] . http://prod.www.rams.clubs.nfl.com... [2] . http://bleacherreport.com... [3] . http://www.washingtonpost.com... [4] . http://articles.sfgate.com... [5] . http://nbcsports.msnbc.com... [6]