News: Rams' roster-building model is setting a trend

JWeekender said:

https://www.therams.com/news/rams-r...tting-a-trend-why-blueprint-works-what-s-next

What is your opinion? Interesting philosophy of spending high draft picks on proven vets instead of rolling the dice in the draft.

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The rams are a team that can pull this “win now” philosophy and trade draft picks for what they perceive as proven players because of three reasons:

1. They have an outstanding GM in Les Snead who is aggressive and willing to admit mistakes and immediately cut losses. Something the Jones cartel is apparently incapable of. Snead had the wisdom and guts to admit the Todd Gurley contract was a big mistake. He admitted it, cut Gurley and took on the cap hit. They still made the playoffs the next year, then the year after won the SB.
   
   
2. With Sean McVey have an outstanding head coach who is fully in charge of staff, players and discipline. Having an excellent HC who is allowed to be fully in charge is a non-negotiable if you’re serious about winning.
   
3. The rams organization has a clear plan of what kind of team they want to be and build players around that plan. The Cowboys on the other hand get players and then try to plan. It’s backwards. In fact our Cowboys are run more like a frat fantasy football league than a real NFL contender.

The rams are dependent on their strategic plan. The Cowboys are dependent on Lady Luck. That’s the difference between a strong NFL organization and one built around nepotism.

NotForLong said:

?

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Terry Glenn, Roy Williams, Cooper. And others

rocyaice said:

It worked out great for them but at the end of the day they had to draft Aaron Donald and Cooper Kupp. They needed their two best players to show up when it mattered.

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And the REFS.

Works if your team can evaluate nicely.

We have a long list of wideouts we gave first round picks for that never did much for the team.

The key is to do whatever you need to find a QB that can win a superbowl. The next step is to find a methodology that isnt copying the rest of the league. Teams are going to jump on the Rams way of doing things, but all that will result in that is more bidding and driving up the cost of players and devaluing draft picks. If that's the way teams are going to go it almost feels like the right time to go back to the old Patriots model of getting rid of guys a year early.

The NFL is all about trends, but you have to be ahead of the curve not behind it.

The Rams bet their future on winning now and it worked

you follow their model you better hope you win it all or the entire staff all the way up to the president will be looking for new jobs

This model can obviously work if you have a dedicated front office that understands the landscape of the league. Jerry and Stephen have no **** at this formula. They should be looking to add 1-2 high level talents each off-season without moving future draft capital.

Doomsday said:

It is how every team with a franchise QB should be acting in my opinion.

Who cares about the CAP, deal with it when your QB retires and its time to rebuild.

If anything thing they should have learned last season is that you need to have impact players on your roster. We have added none this offseason.

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the teams with the best playmaking WRs win. This year’s regular season and playoffs proved it.

Cooper Kupp, OBJ, Van Jefferson, Tyler Boyd, Tee Higgins, Ja’marr Chase - and that was just the super bowl receivers. Throw in Deebo, Tyreek, Kelce, etc. 8 of the top ten WRs were in the playoffs.

Of the top five rushing teams, three didn’t even make the playoffs and the other two lost their first playoff game.

That model is limited to the available players in FA or via trade.

It also helped that the Rams had the best D player in the game to add players around like Ramsey and Miller.

They also are constantly on the lookout for WR upgrades to go with Kupp. Added Beckham last year, a #1WR in Robinson this year and traded Robert Woods.

The difference between the GM for DAL and LA is that the one in LA never rests or is satisfied there isn't one more thing he can do. The other thing that is different is that LA is all in on their HC and if he calls the GM at the airport admitting he made a mistake in extending Goff and has a target in Stafford, Snead listened and responded.

Booger did not even have that situation with Parcells and forced the last player in the league Parcells would want on his team. The Cowboys act independently of their HC and expect he and his staff to deal with it.

Successful teams on the field realize the team begins with the owner/GM/HC.

If the Rams strategy is to use every option available, drafting, trading, free agency, to build a team then this is not new. But it seems to make the most sense. I have no idea what Jerry Jones is doing but I do know you cannot win without the best players and the best coaches. Sure, it is harder today because of the CAP and that's why some teams go all in for one or 2 years then do what they can to keep up.

JayFord said:

The Rams bet their future on winning now and it worked

you follow their model you better hope you win it all or the entire staff all the way up to the president will be looking for new jobs

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Not in Dallas.

JWeekender said:

https://www.therams.com/news/rams-r...tting-a-trend-why-blueprint-works-what-s-next

What is your opinion? Interesting philosophy of spending high draft picks on proven vets instead of rolling the dice in the draft.

Click to expand...

It worked for them which is the bottom line; however,...
- It does not work for most teams that have tried it.
- It eventually becomes unsustainable due to the cap.
- Draft picks are salary cap management tools. Low cost players while on their rookie contracts.
- Using both draft picks and big cap dollars on a veteran player puts a strain on the cap.

It is the opposite of the Patriots operational model.

In either model, coaching is critical.
- The Rams model requires the coaches to fill in the gaps without premium draft picks.
- The Patriots model requires coaching up the premium picks to allow trading away premium veterans.

I think this will set a trend for a while before it either blows up on them or other teams aren’t able to duplicate it. The Rams are lucky it wasn’t the Chiefs or Bills to make it through after the Bengals fairy tale run.

It really feels like a bit of a fluke that it worked, and then it would look really bad if it hadn’t.

JWeekender said:

https://www.therams.com/news/rams-r...tting-a-trend-why-blueprint-works-what-s-next

What is your opinion? Interesting philosophy of spending high draft picks on proven vets instead of rolling the dice in the draft.

Click to expand...

Washington did that for years and got nothing to show for, it works once for another team and suddenly it’s the new blueprint for success?

Ren said:

Washington did that for years and got nothing to show for, it works once for another team and suddenly it’s the new blueprint for success?

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IMO I think it also depends on how the roster is built as is. The Rams built a contender and had a few pieces left to solidfy and have good coaches.
The Commanders for decades have never had a QB and either had a good defense with a poor offense or was always missing key pieces for a true run.

So, for most teams patching one hole in the boat when there's 4 other holes won't do too much. But when there's only 1 or 2 holes it makes sense to be aggressive.

I really have no idea why the Rams are suddenly held up as the ideal team. They were a 4th seeded team who limped into the playoffs and eventually squeaked out a Super Bowl win over the other 4th seeded team. They got kinda hot at the right time and were fortunately to play the Bengals.

i just wonder when other teams will start copying the jones model?

xwalker said:

It worked for them which is the bottom line; however,...
- It does not work for most teams that have tried it.
- It eventually becomes unsustainable due to the cap.
- Draft picks are salary cap management tools. Low cost players while on their rookie contracts.
- Using both draft picks and big cap dollars on a veteran player puts a strain on the cap.

It is the opposite of the Patriots operational model.

In either model, coaching is critical.
- The Rams model requires the coaches to fill in the gaps without premium draft picks.
- The Patriots model requires coaching up the premium picks to allow trading away premium veterans.

Click to expand...

I am not super educated on the subject...but you seem to shed some worthwhile light on the pro's and con's...

I am only posting because I follow the Mavericks kinda closely and it seems like across most sports these days high draft picks are being moneyballed for proven plug and play vets. Players you dont have to hold their hand for 4 years until they get broken into the league. It makes sense. Obviously if you are a Michael Jordan type prospect it does not apply...in any sport.

Also...the black coach that was just filed the lawsuit against the NFL...either him or one of the black coaches backing him up was claiming that this practice has been around for a while in all sports. Maybe its not used as much in NFL as it is in the NBA...but I watched an interview with one of these black coaches that was fired and he said this is common. So...I dont see how it is trending now. But anyway...

I dont have the time to study the Rams...how are they signing these vet contracts? To one year deals? Because like you said...the cap will eventually kick you in the grapes. Mavericks got to a point where they had a bunch of old vets no one wanted and at contracts considered negative assets. They were left with no young talent to use in trades because they traded all their picks. So...no young players to use in trades and old guys considered negative assets because of their contracts. Its a risky play.

Again...this is huge in the NBA. I dont see how you could do it as a long term plan unless it was very short contracts. But I am not educated on this stuff.

IF that were true, the Egals have set the trend. The Chiefs have set the trend. The Bucs have set the trend.
And Not one got them back-to-back Championships!