FanHouse DaneLooker

Because the NFL season never ends, we present our 2009 Offseason Roadmaps for front offices to navigate through the summer.

The 2008 season was an unmitigated disaster for the Rams. They had their star running back hold out, only to be re-signed and get injured -- an injury which lingered far too long. They fired their coach after four embarrassing games, won two straight under his replacement, but then dropped their final 10.

It was hard to find a strength on this team. The offense ranked 27th in the league, while the defense was 28th. Then again, Donnie Jones was one of the best punters in the league. So there's that.

Lets be honest, most charity events ideas aren't really that much fun. Sure, they benefit things and are great and help our society, but nobody really likes watching two professional tennis players playing doubles with the star of "Ugly Betty."

That is why I found it extremely dumb interesting that yesterday afternoon, golf pro Bubba Watson, Rams receiver Dane Looker and punter Donnie Jones tried to drive a golf ball across the mighty Mississippi River during a charity event for Evans Scholars. The goal was to drive the ball, in the air, 560 yards. Let me repeat. The goal of this event was for a human being to fly a golf ball without a jet pack or the ability to disprove gravity the entire length of a solid par-5.

As you move closer to the edge of your seat, I'll go ahead and spoil the ending -- nobody did it. Weak sauce guys, very weak sauce.




Bump [Deadspin]

Here's something I'm getting tired of saying: injuries are killing the Rams. The cliche term "injury bug" actually seems to apply -- it began on the offensive line, then the backfield, then the secondary, and now the receivers.

With Isaac Bruce, Dante Hall, and Dane Looker ruled out for this week's game, Torry Holt and Drew Bennett will start. Problem is, Holt's missed practice with a swollen knee and Bennett is dealing with a nagging quad injury. So that might mean more work for Marques Hagans.

Hagans, a college quarterback converted to receiver, will take over as the team's third receiver, inherit Hall's job as return man, and, because the Rams carry only two quarterbacks, serve as the emergency quarterback in case Gus Frerotte goes down and Marc Bulger's ribs cannot stand up to backup duty. Forget Danny DeVito, Hagans is the real renaissance man.

It's possible, and likely, that Hagans sees a lot of passes his way. Besides the lingering injuries to the two starters, Frerotte and Hagans spent a lot of time together on the second team in the preseason, and the duo had exceptional chemistry. If Frerotte feels comfortable with Hagans, he'll be looking his way often this Sunday.

Welcome to another successful installment of Five Questions with an Enemy Blogger, where each week, via email, I will be exchanging hot questions and [sometimes] answers with a rival blogger about their team and the upcoming matchup.

This week I sat down with Brett Knight of RAMblings, a Most Valuable Network column that covers the St. Louis Rams.

Dan Benton: "For many, the Rams offseason expectations were extremely high. How frustrating has it been to watch your team struggle for the first quarter of the season?"

Brett Knight: "Obviously, with so many pundits picking the Rams as a darkhorse playoff team, it's been difficult to watch the team stumble thus far, with no end in sight. But I don't know what's been harder to deal with: all the forces that have been out of our control or all the blown opportunities. It's one thing to watch your offensive line crumble and your Pro Bowl backfield taken out of games by injury - it's tough, sure, but there's really nothing you can do about it. It's a whole different story, though, to sit through the sloppy play this team has been exhibiting this year: penalties, turnovers, blown coverages, missed tackles, awful play-calling. For all the talk of the talent on this team, it's really been a shock to see such a lack of fundamentals. It's been said that the mark of a good team is how it responds to adversity; with that in mind, I'm not sure how to respond to this team."