During the month of July, the Last Word On Sports NFL department will determine which three players deserve to be considered the faces of each franchise. For this series, we will only consider active players. In this edition, the St. Louis Rams are the focus.
Faces of the St. Louis Rams
Robert Quinn
Robert Quinn reached his second Pro Bowl after recording 10.5 sacks in 2014. While this number wasn’t nearly as impressive as his 2013 total of 19 sacks, the injury to Chris Long allowed opposing offenses to double team him frequently and he didn’t record a sack during the first five games of the season. Now that Chris Long will be putting up consistent pressure from the opposite side, Quinn should be able to put up huge numbers in 2015 and lead one of the best defensive lines in the league. If the Rams want to return to the playoffs this year, Robert Quinn will need to have another All-Pro season. Quinn is the highest-paid player on the team and he certainly deserves the four-year, $66.575 million contract he signed in 2014.
James Laurinaitis
James Laurinaitis will return as the captain once again in 2015 and he has been a reliable middle linebacker for the Rams since he was drafted in 2009. As he enters his seventh season in the league, he has never missed a game and he has exceeded 100 tackles in three different seasons. The importance of his veteran leadership cannot be understated because the unit is quite young as a whole. In fact, the Rams were the youngest team in the league last season based on average age. The Rams defense has the potential to be one of the best in the league this year and they will need their veteran linebacker to post another quality season. With the addition of Akeem Ayers and the development of Alec Ogletree, the Rams group of linebackers should be even better this season and Laurinaitis will be leading the way.
Chris Long
While Aaron Donald had a tremendous rookie season and established himself as one of the best defensive tackles in the league, I’m giving the slight edge to Chris Long here as the third face of the franchise. Long is entering his eighth season with the Rams, so Donald will need to put up a few more dominant seasons to surpass him. In fact, Long is the longest-tenured Ram on the team, so longevity certainly impacts this decision. His absence was clearly felt last season, as the Rams defense struggled for most of the season until he returned. He forms a lethal edge rushing duo with Robert Quinn and both players thrive when they are on the field together. Like Laurinaitis, Long is also a captain of the defense and his leadership abilities are crucial to the unit’s success. Long should be able to have another double-digit sack season this year because he is healthy and he will be playing next to a few very talented pass rushers who might draw more attention.
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