Ram-dy Moss?

The Rams have not put in a waiver claim on Randy Moss as of the end of today's practice, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. However, with the deadline still 25 minutes away, the club could still put in a claim if they haven't already.

I personally think putting a claim in for him is a great idea. Is Moss a jerk? Sure. The story that came out about him ripping a team meal right in front of those who prepared it show him to be selfish and inconsiderate. But sometimes in sports, you need jerks to win. Dennis Rodman kicked a camera man in the groin for no real reason, but man, could he rebound. He won five NBA titles and was a key member of those Chicago Bulls and Detroit Pistons teams. Manny Ramirez is a completely self-absorbed brat who only seems to care about himself and displayed this in the way he left Boston. But he helped the Red Sox win two World Series titles before he left.

The fact of the matter is, sometimes jerks win, especially if they're talented jerks, and Moss is both of those things. The Rams offense struggled on Sunday against a terrible, one-win, Carolina Panthers team. If Sam Bradford wasn't nearly perfect (25-32 with at least two of the incompletes being wise and intentional throw aways, passer rating of 112.4), the Rams would not have beaten the Panthers. The reason the offense has been struggling, going back even to last season, is that teams have been able to find success by stacking eight guys in the box to stop Steven Jackson from running. And why shouldn't they? The Rams don't have a single, healthy, deep threat in their receiving corps. Donnie Avery, Mark Clayton, and now Danario Alexander have all been injured. Clayton and Avery won't return and counting on an Alexander return with his history of knee problems would be silly.

The Rams need a wide receiver that can stretch the field. He doesn't even have to catch the ball to be valuable as long as he's a threat in the back of the minds of opposing defensive coordinators. And NFL coaches still do regard Moss as a threat. The proof is in the Vikings' game from last week against Moss' former team, New England. Bill Belichick had a corner lined up against Moss for the entire game, at least from what I saw, while also keeping a safety on him over the top. If teams are required to double cover Moss and want to put eight in the box still, that leaves just one other defender to try and stop Danny Amendola, Brandon Gibson (who played well last week), and the Rams tight ends who have proven themselves to be decent receiving threats. The Rams' opponents obviously can't leave one side of the field that wide open and would have to go with six or seven in the box instead, which would open up the running game for Jackson.

I know that there's some risk with bringing Moss in, but it's in his best interest to come in and be productive. He's already been dumped by two teams in a contract year. If he wants to get paid this offseason, he has no choice but to behave. I'm also pretty sure that if head coach Steve Spagnuolo can manage to win four games in the first half of the season after winning just one all of last year, he can handle Randy Moss.

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