The Los Angeles Rams were one of the biggest surprises in the NFL last season. Despite parting ways with a number of high-profile players and most projecting them to be one of the worst teams in the league, Sean McVay led the Rams to a 10-7 record and a playoff berth where they narrowly lost to the Detroit Lions in the Wildcard round.
Now, the franchise has a chance to build on that success this offseason and have many means to do so. Obviously free agency will be a big part and there’s always the chance for trades, but the Rams also have a first round pick for the first time since 2016.
Whether they keep that pick or not is unclear and McVay acknowledged they are currently figuring out the best course of action.
“Oh that’s a big if,” the Rams coach said when asked about possibly having their first round pick this year. “Here’s what I would say, that’s exactly what we’re working through right now. Figuring out the best way to try to be able to use those different avenues to create as competitive of a team as we possibly can and try to improve.
“I think there were a lot of positive steps last year and you do look at it from a scenario of, alright, how do we wisely do that? How do we make sure that we’re identifying the types of players, whether that be via free agency, there are obviously trades as a possibility and then Les and his group do such a great job of being ahead of the curve in regard to what the landscape of the draft looks like.”
The Rams did an amazing job of adding the right players last year, particularly through the draft. Third round picks Kobie Turner and Byron Young led the team in sacks with nine and eight, respectively, and Turner was named a finalist for Defensive Rookie of the Year. In the fifth round, the team took Puka Nacua, who set NFL records for receptions and receiving yards by a rookie.
The work now for the Rams is to find those right players who can continue to improve this team, and now that McVay’s coaching staff is set, that work can begin.
“We’re always a little bit behind coaching wise because you get the coaching staff finalized, you get in here, you evaluate our players first and foremost,” McVay noted. You identify those guys and really we just are in the midst of finalizing and finishing that up. So we’ll do that, then we’ll start to really move our eyes towards the Draft and free agency and it is an exciting thing.
“There are a lot of things that I think will be unfolding and have fluidity to it and those will be things that we’ll have a better idea as we’re able to kind of identify those things and then potentially be able to address some of those with the natural schedule and how it unfolds as it relates to free agency and then leading into the Draft. As we saw last year, sometimes with some patience, some things can work out and come to you. We’ll see if that ends up being the case as well.”
With another strong offseason, McVay has the chance to turn this Rams from an exciting playoff team to a true Super Bowl contender far quicker than anyone could have imagined.
Rams’ Sean McVay ‘humbled’ to be part of NFL Competition Committee
Something else Sean McVay will be doing this offseason is being part of the NFL’s Competition Committee, which each year reviews all of the competitive aspects of the game and proposes new rules or rule changes based on their findings.
In discussing his inclusion this year, McVay said that he was ‘humbled’ and ‘flattered’ to even be asked to be on the committee. The Rams coach added that he has always been intrigued about how he could move the game of football in a positive direction and is looking forward to contributing to that.
