To date, Isaiah Pead's most important role on the St. Louis Rams has been ruining Steven Jackson's fantasy football value. (Oh, and kick returner.) Sunday, when the Rams take on the Detroit Lions in Week 1, we'll finally get a look at just what it means to be a complementary back in the Rams' new offense, behind their old running back.

The major question on my mind going into Sunday: What does Isaiah Pead do in an offense where tight ends, Danny Amendola, and Jackson himself are already focusing on short gains and relieving the pressure Sam Bradford's offensive line is almost guaranteed to allow?

In the preseason the segregation of the first team from the second makes that sort of interaction almost impossible to discern. (it didn't help that Isaiah Pead was awful for the first three games.) Sunday Pead's actual role in the offense should begin to take shape; although few non-fantasy-football fans expect Steven Jackson to decline immediately, a successful season for Pead would lead to his cutting out a role of his own.