Steven Jackson arrived in St. Louis as the 24th overall pick in the 2004 Draft out of Oregon State, brought in to eventually replace an aging Marshall Faulk. He showed promise as a rookie with 673 rushing yards in limited duty, then took over as the full-time starter in 2005. From there, he became one of the league’s more consistent runners, posting at least 1,000 rushing yards every season from 2005 through 2012. Two of those years reached the 1,400-yard mark and ranked in the top five in the league.

His peak came in 2006, when Jackson rushed for a career-high 1,528 yards and 13 touchdowns while also catching 90 passes for 806 yards. That combination gave him 2,334 yards from scrimmage, the highest total in the NFL that season, along with the league lead in all-purpose yards. He earned Second-Team All-Pro honors and his first Pro Bowl selection. Jackson was a powerful back who could break tackles between the hashes and also serve as a reliable receiver out of the backfield, which made him hard to defend in a variety of looks.

He stayed productive for years afterward even as the Rams struggled as a team. In 2009, Jackson rushed for 1,416 yards, finishing second in the league, and earned another Pro Bowl and Second-Team All-Pro nod. He returned to the Pro Bowl the following year after another 1,000-yard season. Jackson topped 1,000 rushing yards in 2011 and 2012, showing durability and a willingness to carry a heavy workload on an offense that often lacked balance around him. 

Jackson left the Rams after the 2012 season and signed with the Atlanta Falcons. With St. Louis, he finished as the franchise’s all-time leading rusher with 10,138 yards. He also added 3,324 receiving yards during those nine seasons, giving him more than 13,000 yards from scrimmage in a Rams uniform. 

His three Pro Bowl selections and two All-Pro nods capture the best of his years in St. Louis, while the long streak of 1,000-yard seasons shows the consistency that defined the rest of his time there. Jackson gave the Rams a workhorse back who produced at a high level for nearly a decade.