Steve Spagnuolo Will Get Return on Rams' Defensive Line Investments

The Rams can be a playoff team next year.

That seems ridiculous now, but every year there are teams that we think require multi-year rebuilding efforts, and each year at least one of those teams shocks us all. The Rams have a lot of holes, but they've also got some valuable pieces a smart coach and front office can build around quickly.

Rumor has it that the team thought that Jason Garrett was the best coach to do this, that Steve Spagnuolo was only the top option who fit into their budget, but it doesn't matter whether or not they lucked into the right hire. They made it. While Garrett may succeed with another team, the Rams need to win right away, and Spagnuolo is better equipped to make a bigger immediate impact with the Rams' roster.

And that's important, given that Chip Rosenbloom controls the team more through inheritance than desire, and has been rumored to be willing to shop the team to someone more willing to deal with burden of an impending lease expiration at their current stadium, an indifferent fanbase, and the uphill battle of fighting for a new stadium in this economy. It seems more and more likely that the only way the Rams can remain in St. Louis is if they start selling out again soon, and the only way that's going to happen is to author a quick, Falcons-esque turnaround.

At the same time, the roster isn't going to be overhauled. The Rams are hamstrung by a few big contracts and have too many holes to realistically fill in an offseason. Luckily, they've got some valuable resources on the defensive line who have the potential to lead the team to success.

And, oh, that's also the group that maestro Spagnuolo is most famed for crafting in New York.

Chris Long, Adam Carriker, and Clifton Ryan should expect to be busy this year. They're surely going to be running harder than they have so far in their careers. They've all shown talent so far, but could all benefit from some quality coaching. Spagnuolo can provide that. He might shift their roles. Given the different looks he likes to use, it's likely we can see Long, at 260 pounds, play some at outside linebacker with Carriker and Ryan dropping a few pounds to under 300 and playing all over the line. It's even probable we'll see middle linebacker Will Witherspoon, who has excelled in a rush-only role in the past, play on the line as a blitzer.

If Spagnuolo can get good production out of that unit, this defense, which has talent elsewhere if they can retain O.J. Atogwe and/or Ron Bartell in the secondary, can hold opponents enough that only marginal improvements and additions need to be made on offense, where the team is much worse off. Taking Andre Smith with their first-round pick and adding a reliable backup quarterback and some depth to wide receiver would be enough, and that's certainly doable.

The standard logic is that you hire coaches to attend to your weakness, but the Rams don't have the luxury of waiting for someone to come in and replenish the supply on that side of the ball. The best path to a quick fix in St. Louis is through the defense's front four, and Spagnuolo is the guy to lead the battle in the trenches.