Why Suh is the logical pick for the Rams, but maybe not the right pick.

If you were unfortunate enough to be a St. Louis Rams fan last year, my heart goes out to you. They may not have been the worst team in the history of the league (the 1976 Bucs and 2008 Lions own that title) but they weren't that far behind. Let me blow your mind with some of these stats here: they lost each game by an average of 16 points. Their lone win came against a 2-14 Lions team that was fresh off an 0-16 season. They allowed 2.75 sacks a game. They were shut out twice this year, the 0-16 Lions were not shut out once. They were the lowest scoring offense (10.9 PPG) that was backed up by a defense that gave up the second most points in the league (27.3 PPG). They allowed the Indianapolis Colts to nearly double their rushing average and average 6 yards a carry on the ground. They were at least competitive in 4 or 5 games and gave two playoff teams (Arizona and New Orleans) a run for their money. Their Quarterbacks combined for 2,970 yards, 12 TDs and 21 INTs. 2% of their passes resulted in TDs while nearly 4% of their passes resulted in an interception. That was most of the bad stuff, but there has to be some good stuff they can build on.

Steven Jackson. That was the lone part of this team that was really really good, and you cannot argue that. Jackson was 2nd in the NFL in rushing yards and averaged a respectable 4.4 yards per carry. He led the team in receptions with 51 and racked up more than 1,700 yards of total offense. Jackson accounted for nearly 39% of the teams total offensive output. So clearly, you have a good piece of an unfinished puzzle in him but after that, there is a severe drop off.

The offensive line actually may be in good shape. They did give up nearly 3 sacks per game, but they also produced the second leading rusher in the league with almost zero threat of a passing game, which has to count for something. They are young and just drafted a guy in Jason Smith who should take the place of long time Rams hero Orlando Pace. The receiving corp is young and kinda talented but Adrian Wilson isn't losing sleep over guarding Donnie Avery. The free agent market is not great for WR's unless you want T.O. or a 37 year old Isaac Bruce. TE's are also a relatively weak position in free agency but Watson from New England would be a nice security blanket for whoever is QB next year. Opposing QB's did not have much to fear last year from fairly horrid defense.

Ndamukong Suh is one of the greatest defensive tackles to come out of college in nearly 20 years. The last time a defensive tackle was in the Heisman race, won the Outland and Lombardi trophy was when Washington Huskies DT Steve Emtman was killing it in the Pac-10 and winning national championships. Suh is a dominant force who will instantly upgrade any defense that he is thrust into. He is too good for any team to pass on and if the Rams do, they will be sorry. Their offense needs some weapons and the Quarterback is arguably the most important position on the field but sometimes the best offense is a good defense. Suh would help the 27th ranked rush defense and his pressure on the QB could help the 25th ranked pass defense as well.

There are pieces in place on the defense that will be good one day and Suh will do nothing but help them. However, the most important position on the field is quarterback. Every team in the league that is successful has a really good quarterback running the offense. Each quarterback in this draft has their fair share of questions, will Sam Bradford recover fully from his shoulder injury? Would it be too much of a stretch for Jimmy Clausen at number 1? Could Colt McCoy be a viable pick? Or should they draft Tebow in the 2nd round? All the questions attached to these quarterbacks make it seem all the more reasonable that Suh be the first pick and help fortify the defense. But to win in the NFL, you need a quarterback.