As we now know, the Los Angeles Rams will be sharing the City of Angels with the Chargers going forward. Of course, that’s the least of the franchise’s problems these days. New head coach Sean McVay, most recently the offensive coordinator of the Washington Redskins, looks to reverse the fortunes of a club that has been pretty much a non-factor for more than a decade. The Rams’ last winning season came in 2003, when they won the NFC West with a 12-4 record. The team’s last playoff appearance came in ’04, a year which saw them knock off the division-champion Seattle Seahawks in the wild card round and then fall to the Atlanta Falcons in the NFC Divisional Playoffs.
Since their last postseason appearance, there’s been a combined 60-131-1 the past dozen seasons – seven of those campaigns with 10 or more losses. Finally, McVay inherits a club that lost its final seven contests in 2016.
What the team needs
In each of the past two seasons, this club finished dead last in the league in total yards per game. So it would behoove the Los Angeles Rams to give second-year quarterback Jared Goff some much-needed assistance. They spent this offseason bolstering the offensive line. The club has announced that they won’t pick up the fifth-year option on offensive lineman Greg Robinson, the second overall pick in the 2014 draft. He’ll be moving back from left tackle to left guard in what could be his final season with the franchise.
The Rams signed quality left tackle Andrew Whitworth away from the Cincinnati Bengals. There’s also a new starting center in John Sullivan (Redskins) while former Buffalo Bills’ wideout Robert Woods takes over for Kenny Britt – now a member of the Cleveland Browns.
Top choices
Thanks to last year’s trade with the Tennessee Titans, which enabled the Los Angeles Rams to select Goff with the first overall pick, the team does not have a pick in the first round.
However, general manager Les Snead still has eight overall selecions – including a pair of choices in both the fourth and sixth rounds. The club has been extremely busy in free agency and have added a number of pieces (defensive end/outside linebacker Connor Barwin and cornerbacks Kayvon Webster and Nickell Robey-Coleman) that fit new defensive coordinator Wade Phillips’ 3-4 system.
So look for Snead to get some more weapons for his offensive-minded head coach and a quarterback that has yet to taste victory in his brief career. And that could include not only a game-breaking wideouts but a pass-catching tight end as well.
