They aren't likely to win a lot of games

I'm just hoping to see a team that plays smarter and better together. Something that shows signs of life and a reason to believe, rather than merely blind faith (no false hope! - sorry, Foo Fighter reference), in the future, especially in Goff and McVay. I will be satisfied (with the Rams, not to be confused with my life) if another losing season at least delivers that instead of what they've delivered for the last several years.

I can see 6 or 7 wins if things go reasonably well and, again, the things I mentioned are happening. .500 is probably the absolute ceiling for next year if all the stars align.

I don't think the O-line will be as bad as you do, primarily because of Whitworth. I think they can be okay, good enough for Goff to develop, but not good enough to actually contend with. If Whitworth goes down, though, all bets are off. And because they will be of insufficient quality to win enough games with, I think it's quite likely people are going to look back at this draft and complain out loud; how in the heck did we ever believe this O-line was good enough? And, of course, nothing will be learned and the same mistakes repeated next time. LOL.

I agree the Chargers will probably be better and that's going to create a lot of discomfort for the Rams. The Rams offense will likely be improved by the inability to go down any further as much as anything else, but McVay and this new staff should help. Won't help nearly as much the first season as many think it will, but again, just show marked improvement that can be believed in, baby!

It's the defense that is going to be the most interesting to watch, I think. I expect Phillips to scheme the crap out of it and get decent results his first year, even though he's lacking all the necessary parts. They will be so much more sound fundamentally than they were under Williams. Plus, let's face it, the talent overall is still much better on defense than it is on offense. That's why I think this team could still win 6 or 7 games next year. That and Hekker of course!

Being in the running for the first overall pick next year is certainly a possibility. I'd say a far more probable outcome than a miracle playoff run. But probably picking between 3 and 10 is most likely. If they do end up in the position to get Darnold and it's in part because Goff continued to perform far below expectations, then I really hope we don't repeat the sunk cost fallacy history yet again and pass because they won't give in on the Goff error. My guess is Kroenke would not allow them to give in on a Goff error, like he wouldn't with Bradford, so let's just hope it doesn't come to that. I want to see Goff become the Rams Joe Montana badly. Going through that failure and cycle again just can't happen.

And there you have it, the resident witch doctor classified doom and gloom forecast. Of course, the deficiency wouldn't be manifest in the misdiagnosed classification itself. Absolutely not. That is not an option.