Preview of Week #3 of the 2009 Season - Ten Most Interesting St. Louis Rams

This week the Green Bay Packers (1-1) hit the road to take on the St. Louis Rams (0-2). I am going to give my top ten players for the St. Louis Rams as of week #3 and some accompanying comments:

St. Louis Rams:
#10 - Chris Long (RE): This is more based on potential since he was the 2nd overall pick in the 2008 NFL Draft. His production thus far has been marginal over his first 18 games: 51 tackles, 4 sacks and 1 forced fumble.

#9 - Donnie Avery (WR): He was the first WR taken in the 2008 NFL Draft, just three spots ahead of current Packer wide receiver Jordy Nelson. Avery has been hobbled by injuries so far this season which has limited his impact to 7 receptions for 50 yards in two games this season.

#8 - Leonard Little (LE): This is his 12 season as a St. Louis Ram. Little's health and production has declined over the last few seasons but he still draws occasional double teams.

#7 - Donnie Jones (P): Jones is averaging 48.3 yards gross and 41.3 yards net per punt this season.

#6: Josh Brown (K): In his second season with the Rams, Brown has converted on 80.8% of his career field goal attempts but is coming off a season where he converted on 86.1% of his field goal attempts.

#5: Oshiomogho Atogwe (FS): He is a turnover machine. Atogwe anchors a secondary that has seen a fair amount of turnover in the last few season.

#4: James Laurinaitis (MLB): Despite spending high draft picks in recent drafts (Adam Carriker in 2007 and Chris Long in 2008) Laurinaitis looks to be the future of the St. Louis defense. In his rookie campaign Laurinaitis leads the team in total tackles with 22.

#3: Jason Brown (C): The Rams gave Brown a huge contract in the off-season (five-year, $37.5 million contract with $20 million guaranteed) to lure him away from the Baltimore Ravens. The Rams are unsettled on the offensive line with an injury to 2009 first round draft pick Jason Smith so the jury is still out on Brown.

#2: Marc Bulger (QB): He has been the leader of the Rams since taking over for Kurt Warner in 2003. After experiencing early success with the Rams, Bulger has been under enormous pressure in recent years. He has failed to eclipse a quarterback rating of 72 since 2006.

#1: Stephen Jackson (RB): One of the most underrated RBs in the NFL, Stephen Jackson has been the jack-of-all-trades for the Rams since joining the team in 2004. Jackson has rushed for over 1,000 yards the last four seasons.