3k lays out his top five reasons he thinks the Rams will have a strong campaign and to what degree he has confidence in them." 2019 Los Angeles Rams Regular Season2019 Los Angeles Rams OffseasonFive reasons to believe the 2019 Los Angeles Rams will be a successNew Jack Youngblood Jersey ,54comments3k lays out his top five reasons he thinks the Rams will have a strong campaign and to what degree he has confidence in them.CDTI was thinking of a doing “5 reasons for confidence/concern” pair of articles before ESPN’s Bill Barnwell including the Los Angeles Rams in his five teams he expects to regress in 2019. So I had to get one of em up today.I’ll start with the optimistic side which, no surprise given how far the 2018 Rams went, looks very, very, very good.With that said, here are my five biggest reasons for confidence in the 2019 Rams:5.) An anti-Super Bowl hangoverYes, the trope is relatively meaningless at worst and an empty game at best, but the idea of a team responding negatively to losing the Super Bowl permeates narratives around NFL media.But what if the Rams experience the opposite? What if the team is more motivated having gotten so close only to come up short? What if the players headed into their final years as Rams and the two vets that came in to close their careers out are more eager to ensure they walk away with a ring?Part of what I mentioned that explains how hollow the “Super Bowl hangover” phrase is is that there’s no conference championship hangover or divisional round hangover. The Rams certainly didn’t suffer from a wild card hangover last year after losing in the first round of the playoffs to the Atlanta Falcons after the 2017 season.Confidence level: 2/104.) Aaron DonaldHe’s my pick, and his peers’ pick, for the best player in the NFL and some people’s pick for the greatest player of all time.This isn’t so much a reason for optimism as it is a reminder that we have Aaron Donald and he is very, very Torry Holt Jersey , very, very, very good.Confidence level: 5/103.) Non-RB skill levelRunning backs remain overvalued in the NFL. I know it’s somewhat ironic to say as a fan of the team that employs the highest-paid running back in the NFL who’s headed into a job share on the day that the Dallas Cowboys contractual feud with RB Ezekiel Elliott escalated into outright furor today. But the bottom line is that even with a very talented back in the right situation, you can get 90% of the production with 50% of the skill at 10% of the cost as the Rams did with C.J. Anderson late last year.So Rams fans shouldn’t put much stock into pieces that call for a regression for the Rams in 2019 based on the well-being of RB Todd Gurley’s knee. It won’t matter as much especially now that the Rams have a talented, young 1B in Darrell Henderson.Instead, Rams fans should be enthralled at the roster quality where it matters: on the offensive line and in the passing game.Last year’s offensive line was probably the best Rams line of my lifetime and three of the five members return. We’ve got two promising prospects coming in for starting work; while they’re yet to prove anything at this level, Offensive Line Coach/Run Game Coordinator/Co-Offensive Coordinator Aaron Kromer has earned the benefit of any doubt that he won’t be able to get them into adequate shape this year.And I’m not sure I need to go into much depth about how good our wide receivers are. PFF ranked them the third-best unit in the NFL, and that doesn’t even acknowledge the fact we’re four-deep.Confidence level: 7.5/102.) Sean McVayMcBae is the best young head coach in the game. Did he get outcoached in the Super Bowl. Yes. By a mile. By the best head coach of the modern era.But don’t let recency bias overwhelm you.McVay has proven his capability since his arrival. I’m not expecting teams to have “figured out McVay” or anything along those lines. If anything, I’m expecting a response from McVay should teams try to employ the quarters defense that the Chicago Bears and New England Patriots used to such success against the Rams last year.We’re talking largely about a single defensive structure. Quarters, or Cover 4, drop four backs deep with each assigned a zone making up a quarter of the field. McVay saw immediately in Super Bowl LIII it was what the Patriots were using and what Chicago had used back in early December:With the Pats’ front seven wreaking havoc on the Rams’ interior line Orlando Pace Jersey , QB Jared Goff wasn’t put in many positions to succeed in getting the offense going.I fully expect McVay to have a response for quarters coverage this year. That he already has guided the Rams’ offense to such ridiculous heights in pretty much every other look suggests he will.And that it’ll be damn good.Confidence level: 9/101.) Jared GoffI’ve been higher on Goff that most since the jump.When people were calling him a bust after a disastrous rookie season, I said he was still too young and inexperienced to make any declarations.When people were suggesting he couldn’t win big games after losing a playoff game or that he couldn’t take over games late after his second year, I said he was still too young and inexperienced to make any declarations.When people suggested he was a system QB...ok, that one I just laughed.So here’s a little hyperbole I think most Rams fans will enjoy getting behind.Jared Goff has the best trajectory of any quarterback in the NFL.That’s not to say he’s the best QB in the NFL or that he’s going to become it this year.It means he has improved more than any quarterback since 2017. And I don’t know why we should expect that improvement to have suddenly stopped at the end of the NFC Championship.That he was given more responsibility and flexibility by McVay was an indication of his growth heading into the season. His performance overall throughout the year showed a heightened ability in situations that required him to make plays outside the structure of the offense and/or playcall. That he was able to do so late in games to get his first late, come-from-behind wins and that he was able to do so in games that mattered so much affirmed what Rams fans had been hoping for (and some had jumped the gun on...): a legitimate top-tier quarterback.I know we’ve seen the rankings that have him outside the top 10, and I know that rankles some fans. But y’all just gotta let it go.They’re arbitrary. They’re biased upon preconceived notions (see: system QB). And they’re a reflection of a larger body of work than 2018. And sometimes, though not always, they’re from pundits or analysts that have watched very few Rams games!Here’s the bottom line. Jared Goff threw for 4,688 passing yards last year, the second-best total in franchise history and the 40th best total in NFL history.In his third year.There’s just not much reason to assume his development has stopped. And if Goff makes a jump as he did from 2016 to 2017 and as he did from 2017 to 2018, then we’re not talking about a top 10 quarterback. We’re talking about a top 5 quarterback in a league with Tom Brady and Drew Brees and Aaron Rodgers.Confidence level: 9.5/10<hr class="p-entry-hr" id="2O98qI">Barnwell’s reasons for a potential decline are legitimate. I’ll have my five reasons for concern up tomorrow. They’re sincere.But so are these five reasons to believe the Rams will be just fine this year. THOUSAND OAKS Deacon Jones Jersey , Calif. (AP) — The Los Angeles Rams traded back three times and moved up twice in the first two days of the NFL draft. The NFC champions came out of all their machinations with a promising safety, a hometown cornerback and a ball carrier to provide a change of pace from Todd Gurley.The Rams traded their first-round pick Thursday and moved back two more times Friday before they finally selected Washington safety Taylor Rapp with the 61st overall pick late in the second round.Los Angeles then used one of the two extra picks acquired during its trades to move up for Memphis running back Darrell Henderson early in the third round. The Rams added Michigan cornerback David Long, a product of LA’s Loyola High School, later in the third, before moving up one last time to grab Oklahoma offensive tackle Bobby Evans shortly before the end of the third.The most eye-catching pick was Henderson, a highly productive ball carrier who finished second in the FBS with 1,446 yards rushing last season despite getting just 158 carries, the 39th-most in the FBS. The explosive runner was among the top handful of running backs in the draft, but slipped to the third round.“Yeah, I thought I was going to go higher,” Henderson said. “But I just kept my faith. When it’s time to put on the pads Eric Dickerson Jersey , I’m going to make everybody that passed over me regret it.”Coach Sean McVay and general manager Les Snead both said they chose Henderson for his particular abilities as a change-of-pace back who could also line up as a receiver. The ever-inventive McVay has ideas about how to use Henderson, comparing him to New England’s James White.“Sean has always felt like his offense would be slightly more explosive when you have a change-of-pace type running back,” Snead said. “We thought about doing it in last year’s draft … (but) it’s something that we’ve been trying to do since Sean walked in.”And while neither McVay nor Snead emphasized it, choosing Henderson likely means the Rams won’t have to rely so heavily on Gurley, whose production slumped after he developed a mysterious left knee injury down the stretch last season.Henderson provides a compelling alternative to overloading Gurley, who got $45 million guaranteed in his new contract before training camp last year. Gurley has been in the top 10 in the NFL in touches during each of his four seasons, and he was fourth last season — despite missing two games in December — after being third in 2017, when he won the NFL Offensive Player of the Year award.Although he insisted his left knee was healthy late last season, the Rams relied heavily on veteran C.J. Anderson, who left for Detroit as a free agent. Gurley had fewer than 50 yards rushing in four of his final five games.“Being able to add a playmaker is the biggest thing,” McVay said. “We had identified (Henderson) as a guy that has a specific skill set that could do some really unique things for us offensively. … The versatility that he provides is what was so enticing for us. You see the explosiveness — over 8 yards a carry. We’re excited for him to get in here and really learn under Todd and (backup running back) Malcolm (Brown).”Rapp is the Rams’ highest-drafted defensive player since 2014. They hadn’t drafted a defensive player higher than 91st overall since then Marshall Faulk Jersey , but Rapp will join returning starter John Johnson and newcomer Eric Weddle in the secondary.Rapp wasn’t surprised to hear from the Rams after making a pre-draft visit to their training complex.“When I first got there, I could tell right away that it’s the perfect place for me,” said Rapp, a second-team AP All-America selection last season for the Pac-12 champion Huskies. “The culture is just so unique, and the way things are done around there is just so unique and so great. I just knew I would be a perfect fit.”Long was excited to land back in Los Angeles after a three-year career with the Wolverines. He also visited with the Rams prior to the draft, getting a productive meeting with cornerbacks coach Aubrey Pleasant.The 6-foot-5 Evans said he “fell in love” with the Rams on his pre-draft visit. He could emerge as an important backup at four positions on an offensive line that lost two starters from its Super Bowl lineup when guard Rodger Saffold signed with Tennessee and center John Sullivan’s contract option wasn’t picked up.