FanHouse JacobBell

Training camp is finally here and FanHouse breaks down the most important position battles heading into the season, team by team.

The Rams' offensive line was destroyed by injuries last year. They hope that additions in free agency and the draft will improve the unit's overall talent and depth, but they're pitting two of the players hurt last year -- Brett Romberg and Mark Setterstrom -- against each other at center.

Romberg is a natural center out of the University of Miami who was the starting snapper for nine of his healthy games last year. Setterstrom has never played the position before, starting his career as a left guard, but the team sees a lot of promise in the 24-year-old and wanted to find a spot for him after signing Jacob Bell to fill that spot this year.

Setterstrom is also significantly bigger, with two inches and almost 20 lbs. on Romberg. That's a significant difference in a division with a lot of big-bodied defensive tackles.

After last season, it'll be a nice problem to have two capable centers on the roster. And if this season's anything like last, they'll both be needed. In the end, the Rams need to just let the best man win and hope that guy stays healthy for all 16, depth or no depth. For Marc Bulger's sake.

If the Rams learned anything year it would be: employ many lineman (other pearls of wisdom -- "don't let Marc Bulger develop post-traumatic stress disorder," or, "make sure Steven Jackson doesn't require a body cast" are all branches of this tree).

They tried, and whiffed, on Alan Faneca. But they did manage to snag up-and-coming young guard Jacob Bell from the Titans. Bell's only 27 and a player who is still getting better, and he'll step into the starting left guard position, which was been one of the most maligned on the line.

Scott Linehan claims that Bell was the highest-rated guard on their radar, adding the interest in Faneca was only because of his leadership, but I don't buy that for a second. If they wanted Bell, they wouldn't have waited until the second wave of free agency; he's a consolation prize. Still, this is a big improvement for the Rams, who get a talented young player who can play both guard and tackle spots in case his malleability is needed.

The only knock on Bell is his strength. That might come into play in a division with large defensive tackles like Rocky Bernard, Gabe Watson, Aubrayo Franklin, and Isaac Sopoaga. Still, there's not much line help on the market, and the Rams got some (at a palatable price -- $36 million over six with $13 million guaranteed -- as well). Now they just have to take the right Long at the end of April.