Photo credited to Flickr User John Martinez Pavliga
While his touchdowns are down, that is a product of the Rams constantly being put in a position of bad field position and turnovers. The fact that the Rams have had no sustainable passing game makes the fact that Jackson is averaging a career best 4.8 yds per carry even more incredible. He is doing so even with eight and sometimes nine defensive players stacking the box. That is phenomenal, and seems to be the lone bright spot on the Rams’ 2009 season.
Steven Jackson has averaged nearly 100 yds per game throughout his career, and he is right on top of that through 8 games in 2009. It makes one wonder how many he might have if the Rams had any other real weapons. Gone are the days of Torry Holt, Issac Bruce, and Marshall Faulk lighting up scoreboards across the NFL. Those guys are gone, and Jackson seems to be a man on an island. Marc Bulger was supposed to be his partner in crime, but he has faltered horribly in the past couple of years.
The Rams have Steven Jackson, and little else. It is a good thing they locked him up in 2008, because if he had known how bad things were getting he would have likely bolted for greener pastures. Who knows? Whatever the case, the Rams have to find some way to compliment him. Youngster Donnie Avery showed a ton of promise last year, but has been riddled with injuries in 2009.
The Rams did finally get a win in the plus column against Detroit, so maybe they can build on that. The again, it was Detroit and they did barely eek by. This is going to likely get worse before it gets better. The Rams need to go ahead and get that draft choice, and keep building around Jackson. It might be time to draft a young quarterback as well.
