10 NFC predictions for Week 1 of 2018 NFL season

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3. The Rams will be discontent with most of their front seven

There’s little doubt that the 2018 Los Angeles Rams are set to have a great season. They kickoff against the Oakland Raiders, and should be able to take advantage of the weak, old, and brittle Raiders in the matchup. But as they look at the individual play on their defense, the performances at edge-rusher and linebacker are going to leave a lot of room for improvement.

The difficulty of building a well-rounded roster is high. Good teams have high-priced veterans and must draft well to fill the rest of their holes. As well as the Rams have done to re-sign in-house talent and acquire quality stopgap veterans, there’s a few big holes in their front seven.

There’s not a single proven speed-rusher or linebacker on the roster. It may not cost them against the Raiders, but this is a team that could use another acquisition such as Junior Galette to give Aaron Donald and Ndamukong Suh some help. They’ll also need a young linebacker like Micah Kiser, Ramik Wilson, or Corey Littleton to develop into a legitimate starter.

If they don’t, then this season will be over sooner than hoped for the upstart Rams.