The St. Louis Rams have plenty of potential in Madden 16. While they aren’t necessarily one of the “elite” teams that people will play with initially online, they do have all of the pieces needed to compete at a very high level.
Here is the Madden School team breakdown for the St. Louis Rams in Madden NFL 16.
Team: St. Louis Rams
Offensive Strategy: Get the ball to Todd Gurley, Tavon Austin, and Jared Cook! Nick Foles is good enough to distribute the ball around but Gurley, Austin, and Cook are all matchup nightmares for opponents. There is no way anyone can defend all 3 of them. Spread the ball around evenly and your offense will be very hard to stop.
Defensive Strategy: Let your defensive line get pressure. You shouldn’t blitz too often with the Rams since your defensive line will get good pressure each and every play. The Rams dominant defensive line will allow you to focus more on coverage instead of rushing the quarterback.
Impact Players: QB Nick Foles, HB Todd Gurley, WR Tavon Austin, WR Kenny Britt, TE Jared Cook, The entire defensive line (Robert Quinn, Chris Long, Aaron Donald, Nick Fairley) MLB James Laurinaitis, LOLB Alec Ogletree, CB Janoris Jenkins, CB E.J. Gaines
Key Newcomers: QB Nick Foles, HB Todd Gurley, DT Nick Fairley
Strengths: The Rams defensive line is one of the best in Madden 16. You should be able to easily stop the run and their defensive ends should be able to get after opposing quarterbacks without having to send too many extra guys on a blitz.
The offense has 3 big time Madden playmakers in Todd Gurley, Tavon Austin, and Jared Cook. Nick Foles is good enough to distribute the ball to them. Those 3 should be able to do the rest.
Weaknesses: The Rams don’t have any glaring weaknesses in Madden 16. They could use a guy with speed and hit power over the middle. A guy who you can user control on defense and dominate. All elite Madden teams have a guy like that. The Rams don’t have that yet.
Overview: The Rams are in a great spot. If you are a fan of the St. Louis Rams you will be able to compete at a high level with them. However, they won’t be one of those teams that everyone selects like the Seattle Seahawks.
What did we miss? How will you use the Rams in Madden 16? Contribute to the Madden 16 Rams breakdown by leaving your thoughts in the comments section below.
Rams don’t have hit power over the middle ??? You obviously don’t know Lauranitius
James Laurinaitis’ hit power rating at the end of Madden 15 was in the low 70s. I know he has a reputation for being a big hitter but this is a Madden breakdown and so what matters is how he is in Madden.
Lauranaitis actually kinda sucks. But TJ Macdonald certainly has some hit power – I’d be surprised if the game didn’t translate that.
Great info! Are you doing one for all 32 teams?
Yes we are, Mark. One a day for the next month. Who is your team?
Looking forward to the Eagles write up 🙂
That will be coming in the next week.
Don’t the Rams have Mark Barron and T.J McDonald? If those guys don’t have the speed and hit power in madden, i don’t know any one that does. The Rams have no weaknesses in Madden. The Rams will probably be one of the best teams to use in Madden 16 actually.
If you think the Rams truly have no weaknesses in Madden 16, then you are misinformed. Every team has a weakness. I can think of 10-20 guys over the middle who I’d want instead of anyone the Rams have. That being said, I too think the Rams will be a really good team in Madden 16.
Been using the rams for years as a rams fan, always been a painful experience! I think this season with them will be fun, but the o line is going to be weak especially on the right! But defence will be cool, especially if Donald gets the needed boost in stat’s he so deservingly needs.
The Rams are going to be really nice. I just hope with the ratings, it becomes more spread out. Im tired of running with Tavon and getting caught by LBs. What I mean by that is people with 30 and 40 speed, QBs with 70 throw power. It seems the past couple maddens, if your in a skill position, a player can’t have below an 80 speed and 70 skills. But play MLB the show, nba, and even hockey the skills are much more diverse. There have been countless times I’ve ran with a 90+ speed back and got caught on the edge by a lb with 78-82 speed. With that difference I should be able to turn the corner but it never happens.
As a long time Rams fan and 17yr player of Madden w/ my Rams, I think this year will be our best defensive unit ever on the game! our front 7 is so solid that you are correct, I wont have to control a particular player to get pressure. I can actually control a LB or DB in coverage and lock down top WRs/TEs.
Laurinitis is not a big hitter also. He actually isnt that great a MLB. he is average at best. He is no Patrick Willis or Luke Kuechly or Kiko Alonzo, those MLB who can play the run (behind the L.O.S. and not wait for it to come to them) and who can cover 15+ yds downfield. Laurinitis isno scrub, dont get me wrong. I wouldnt get rid of him at all, just only pay him what he is worth and use the other $$$ to get him a true FS like earl thomas or Eric berry who could cover sideline to sideline behind him!
On offense, it all starts up front with the oline. hopefully the rookies grade out well in both pass and run blocking. Without the oline being solid, Nick foles will be harrassed on the game endlessly. Then Gurley will probably start the year off with a high injury rating so he cant get hit in the backfield to early on a play bc he might go down if the oline doesnt block well.
So cheers to the oline being high ranked with their pass and run blocking and AWARENESS!!!!!
Very good analysis Rodney. I think you nailed it in respect to the Front 7 and the offensive line.
If madden properly implements the pass rush the rams dline can dominate. You could essentially run a 5-2 or 4-3 over and have a constant pressure on the qb and should stop the run. As of now, all of the DBs on the Rams are average with playmaking ability but with the pressure (if forcing qbs to throw on the run our of balance) should be enough to hang with pass first teams.
Offense, defense wins games, if you’re offense can score. So Tavon, Cook, and Gurley. I will throw in Kenny Britt, 6’3 225 runs a 4.47 40. (Sex Bryant 4.5 for comparison) with the aggressive catch, Kenny Britt can finally be used, for his height of course but rams have 4 options.
Gurley, high injury but Ted Mason will be a fine alternative with counters and screens. Even a little quicker I presume.
Weakness is OLINE and Mike. When I use the rams I put Darren Bates #2 MLB and use the package subs on passing downs or when I want to user control the MLB because Bates has like 86 speed and 86 hit power. Rating like 66 but that’s where user input is important.
All in all, as stated, the Rams can have a solid team if Madden has the blocking ai a, mechanics, pass rush, overall if the trenches are correct. Madden 15, long, Quinn, Donald, Sims and Brockers made no impact. Though 3/5 had n
85- 92 ratings, you always have to send a blitz to get pressure.
Go Rams
Dez Bryant sorry
We do have a big hitter Barron love my d-fense but it could be a lot better and I’m a long time ram fan I don’t play with anyone else go rams
Rams have NO oline.
Outside of Robinson, everyone elses strengths are low 80’s
I drafted the Rams in this madden League any suggestions?