HOW THE RAMS STACK UP : ON DEFENSE

Defensive Ends

* The Starters: Kevin Greene, Bill Hawkins.

* The Challengers: Karl Wilson, Gerald Robinson, Brian Smith.

* The Longshots: Doug Reed, Ben Thomas, Derrick Carr, Mark Steed.

* Comments: Though the starters’ names are familiar, nothing else is. Greene must get used to lining up as an undersized right defensive end against a 300-pound tackle every down instead of as a linebacker from the left side. Hawkins is being moved back outside where he might be able to harass quarterbacks more readily. Wilson and Robinson are Plan B players with real shots at the left side spot. Everybody else is jockeying for spots behind them and to catch the eye of the new defensive staff.

* Status: Transitional.

* Compared to last year: One major reason the defense failed last year was failure at this position--the defensive front had a total of 12 sacks--so everything’s out the window. Defensive coordinator Jeff Fisher’s new scheme demands big-time pressure from the outside, and Greene, at least, should give them that. Reed, a starter last year, is in limbo but almost certainly will not return.

Defensive Tackles

* The Starters: Alvin Wright, Mike Piel.

* The Challengers: Jeff Fields, Karl Wilson.

* The Longshots: Robert Young, Ben Thomas, Bill Goldberg.

* Comments: Another crucial position in the new defense where the Rams are shaky. They need dominating play here, and they’ll have to come up with a make-shift supply. Piel showed some spark late last season with five sacks to lead defensive linemen.

* Status: Searching.

* Compared to last year: The Rams never found a consistent pass-rushing tackle, so all they asked nose tackle Wright to do was stop the run. That’s over now. In the four-man front, the tackles attack upfield, not just sit back and wait for the running back. The coaches hope one of the younger tackles steps up and claims a job.

Outside Linebackers

* The Starters: Fred Strickland, Roman Phifer.

* The Challengers: Mike Wilcher, Brett Faryniarz, Paul Butcher, George Bethune, Vernon Maxwell.

* The Longshots: Terry Crews, Craig Hartsuyker, Michael Lindsey, Sean Mulhearn.

* Comments: The Rams are counting heavily on the talented Strickland to come back from a broken leg and play the important left side, and on either Phifer or Faryniarz to emerge as an attack linebacker from the right side. With the line a little unsettled, the linebackers might be asked to blitz quarterbacks into submission. Someone to watch for: Maxwell, just signed as a free-agent, is the kind of athlete who can play the left side.

* Status: Improving.

* Compared to last year: 1990’s starters were typical 3-4 linebackers, Greene and Wilcher, who weren’t asked to do much more than blitz or sit back in zone coverage. This year, speed is much more vital--Phifer and Strickland and others will have to cover backs and tight ends man-to-man all over the field. No matter what, the linebackers will be faster and more athletic.

Middle Linebacker

* The Starter: Larry Kelm.

* The Challengers: Glennell Sanders, Frank Stams.

* The Longshot: Pat Tyrance.

* Comments: This is the most important position in the new defense, and this is the spot where Rams coaches have their most difficult decision. Do they go for Kelm’s savvy, Stams’ consistency or Sanders’ potential? Whatever they choose, it’s a question mark.

* Status: Up for grabs.

* Compared to last year: It’s a whole new position. Last year, the two inside backers were just run-stoppers. This year, the middle linebacker inherits the Mike Singletary quarterback-of-the-defense role, and the one who best fits that might be Sanders, a Plan B signee from under Singletary’s wing in Chicago.

Cornerbacks

* The Starters: Jerry Gray, Todd Lyght.

* The Challengers: Darryl Henley, Rodney Thomas, Sammy Lilly, Latin Berry, Robert Bailey.

* The Longshot: Alfred Jackson.

* Comments: If Gray is healthy, and Lyght is as good as most people seem to think, the Rams have a solid base around which to build their defense. Plus, the Rams added three talented corners in the draft and Plan B, any one of whom could end up as nickel back. And Henley gives the Rams their deepest position by far.

* Status: Hopeful.

* Compared to last year: Figures to be the Rams’ most-improved position. Gray wasn’t himself last year, and Lyght was a gift from the Draft Gods, having slipped to the No. 5 overall pick. If Bailey or any of the others are decent, the Rams are immensely better. This year, the corners are going to do a lot of man-to-man coverage, so if they’re not better, they’ll get beat.

Safeties

* The Starters: Pat Terrell, Michael Stewart.

* The Challengers: Anthony Newman, Alfred Jackson.

* The Longshots: Robert Benton, Jeff Hammerschmidt.

* Comments: Including the corners, the Rams have a secondary loaded with young talent that hasn’t jelled. Terrell could be a star as a free-lancing safety, and Stewart is an established hard-bopper necessary in the Jeff Fisher defense. If the line is inconsistent, the deep secondary has to be impenetrable.

* Status: Promising.

* Compared to last year: Same people, but the Rams hope moving away from passive zones to aggressive attack schemes will get better results. Including Newman as a swing man, the top three safeties can run and cover, and in the big-play defense will be doing a lot of both. With all the depth at corner, look for Gray to slide over to safety at times in nickel defenses.

Special Teams

* Comment: They’re looking to reload, and, on the way, reinvigorate the special teams with the horde of younger players they have brought to camp. Much more than in the past, the Rams looked at their Plan B and draft players with an eye toward special teams coverage and blocking--players such as Glennell Sanders, Mosi Tatupu and Pat Tyrance. But unless they stumble across one, returning kicks still will be a problem area.

* Compared to last season: Nothing symbolized the depths to which the Rams’ once-vaunted special teams had fallen than the 191 return yards they yielded to the Saints in the final game of the 1990 season. The special teams, you’ve got to assume, can only get better, simply because the Rams won’t be playing older, slower backups but younger, faster up-and-comers.