Peyton Manning is on the Colts' PUP list following neck surgery and won't be playing.

We know what to expect from the Rams in this week's inaugural preseason game. But what about those dastardly Colts? Borrowing from fellow Bloguin site 18to88.com, here is a quick scouting report of this week's opponent.

The Rams D-Line could have a field day.

The Colts' offensive line has been a source of woe for years, and this year the team is planning on plugging in two rookies: tackle Robert Costanzo and small-school guard Ben Ijalana. The early returns aren't pleasant. From a Colts' scrimmage report:

While the passing game looked very good, the running game was another story. None of the RB's could find any holes to escape for yardage. This was due mostly to the poor work of the offensive line. The offensive line opened few holes over the course of the scrimmage, and whatever holes were opened were quickly filled by a swarming linebacker. Quite simply, the offensive line in its current form isn't good. At all.

The passing game is being led by Curtis Painter, with Peyton Manning still rehabbing from offseason surgery on a cervical disk in his neck. And as any attendee of Rams camp knows, it's easy for the passing game to look good when QBs are wearing the red jersey. It's another thing entirely when Chris Long, Fred Robbins and Robert Quinn are attacking from three directions.

Tomorrow evening marks the moment we Rams fans have been waiting for since that disappointing loss against Seattle in Week 17 season: the opening of the 2011/12 Rams season. The team opens the preseason schedule against the Indianapolis Colts, a team that doesn’t seem to take the preseason too seriously. There’s a chance that due to the injury to Peyton Manning, they may work a little harder this preseason to see if they can survive without him. 

But that’s enough about the Colts. Let’s get back to the team we all know and love; our beloved Rams. Although this is just a preseason game, there are three things we should look for in this game, which I will highlight below. The numerous changes to the team from the new draftees to the new free agents that were signed were done in an effort to improve this team over last year’s 7-9 record, and push us over the hump into a division title and competing in the playoffs. 


Just to highlight some of these moves:

•  The Rams signed former Eagles safety Quinton Mikell to replace the departed O.J. Atogwe
•  The team went and got one of the top guards on the market in Harvey Dahl to improve the interior line.
•  The team signed three veteran linebackers in Zach Diles, Brady Poppinga, and Ben Leber to compete for OLB spots
• The Rams drafted QB Sam Bradford 3 new targets in Lance Kendricks, Austin Pettis, and Greg Salas, as well as bringing in Mike Sims-Walker.5. The team drafted UNC DE Robert Quinn to do one thing: get to the QB.

Tomorrow evening marks the moment we Rams fans have been waiting for since that disappointing loss against Seattle in Week 17 season: the opening of the 2011/12 Rams season. The team opens the preseason schedule against the Indianapolis Colts, a team that doesn’t seem to take the preseason too seriously. There’s a chance that due to the injury to Peyton Manning, they may work a little harder this preseason to see if they can survive without him. 

But that’s enough about the Colts. Let’s get back to the team we all know and love; our beloved Rams. Although this is just a preseason game, there are three things we should look for in this game, which I will highlight below. The numerous changes to the team from the new draftees to the new free agents that were signed were done in an effort to improve this team over last year’s 7-9 record, and push us over the hump into a division title and competing in the playoffs. 


Just to highlight some of these moves:

•  The Rams signed former Eagles safety Quinton Mikell to replace the departed O.J. Atogwe
•  The team went and got one of the top guards on the market in Harvey Dahl to improve the interior line.
•  The team signed three veteran linebackers in Zach Diles, Brady Poppinga, and Ben Leber to compete for OLB spots
• The Rams drafted QB Sam Bradford 3 new targets in Lance Kendricks, Austin Pettis, and Greg Salas, as well as bringing in Mike Sims-Walker.5. The team drafted UNC DE Robert Quinn to do one thing: get to the QB.

WIth Ben Leber (59), Spagnuolo has a lot of new toys to play with at linebacker. He just needs to figure out what to do with them all.

A lot of people came out to Rams Park, only to be shooed home early as rain and a touch of lightning descended on the area. However, we got to see nearly an hour's worth of work, enough time to form some quick thoughts and impressions.

On defense

I wanted to spend more time watching the defensive side of the ball. And caught my first glimpse of Ben Leber in his new 59 jersey. Unfortunately they weren't doing much, just working on a hands drill that had each backer practicing their interception.

Surprisingly, it was to be the only work of the day that we got to see Leber in.

After practice, Leber said that he hadn't yet been told which position he would be playing. A bit of a problem if you are wanting to line up, unless your name is Mardy Gilyard. (Cheap shot, I know.)

The first team defense was hard to recognize with so many minor dings starting to pile up. (The secondary in particular is hurting with Ron Bartell, Al Harris and Jerome Murphy out with injuries of various severity.) But the easy rule of thumb when watching practice is to look for James Laurinaitis' number 55 in the midddle.

Instead, Josh Hull manned the middle linebacker position for both the first and second teams, getting tons of work on the day and Steve Spagnuolo's full attention. Spags has named Hull the starter for Saturday night's preseason opener, giving the redshirted rookie from Penn State his first real chance to shine.

Flanking Hull with the starters was Nail Diggs (53) and Bryan Kehl (50), presumably standing in for Leber. Zac Diles (54) and Brady Poppinga (51) made up the second team rotation. Kehl did have one nice play in coverage as Steven Jackson was split wide and Kehl was drawn into man coverge. He elevated just enough to bat away the incoming pass, some 30 yards down the sideline. 

After a few days of rampant speculation, including "done deal" reports from ESPN's John Clayton that had fact checkers busy inserting speculative clauses after the fact, Ben Leber is finally a Ram. Leber brings a lot of positives to the team's rapidly improving linebacking unit, including the ability to work well in space. And count David Vobora among those aware of the heightened expectations.

But Leber's signing has a sad note for fans of Mr. Irrelevant: as of this morning, Vobora is no longer in horns. 

With Leber apparently ready to lock down the weak side, and a combination of Zac Diles, Na'il Diggs, Bryan Kehl and Chris Chamberlain competing for reps on the strong side, there was simply no place for Vobora to get snaps, despite his positive ratings in limited play.

By releasing him this early, the Rams are giving him a chance to potentially land and stick on another roster. He'd be a good fit in Tampa Bay or Buffalo, teams that struggled to contain the running game last year and have not significantly upgraded at linebacker. However, like team-hopping Larry Grant, there's a chance that Vobora could wind up in the NFC West. He's had particularly strong games against Seattle, registering 12 tackles against them in 2009, and 11 combined (solo+assisted) in the season finale of 2010. Arizona is also LB-needy, though their 3-4 front may present a scheme challenge.

This is potentially a win-win situation. As the Rams continue to improve their talent level, it means that some "try-hard" fan favorites like Vobora will have to be watching from some other team's sidelines. Here's wishing him the best.

At age 28, how many Pro Bowl seasons does Steven Jackson have left?

Rams running back Steven Jackson enters his eighth season with the Rams in search of his first winning record, his first trip to the playoffs, and something to put on his mantlepiece before the NFL's punishing age curve for running backs catches up with him.

It's rare to get Jackson talking about his legacy, but Bill Coats of the Post-Dispatch used Marshall Faulk's Hall-of-Fame enshrinement as a way to pry open that door.

Now that Jackson has turned 28 years old -- that mythical point when the careers of NFL workhorses tend to reach a cliff and fall off -- the team around him is perhaps finally worthy of his talent. The question in the back of every loyal fan's mind, watching him grind and pound for extra yardage play after play, is how long he will be around to enjoy the team's rennaissance?

It may come as a surprise to those who think 28 is knocking at death's door, but historical comparisons of backs similar to Jackson give him slightly better than 50% odds to maintain or improve his level of production over the next three years. Full analysis after the break.