The Los Angeles Rams have had a long history. Since their 1936 founding, they have played in 3 different cities, made three Super Bowls, and produced 15 Hall of Famers. However, recently, they have been in a slump. They had missed the playoffs in every year from 2004 to 2016. However, it all changed last year when Sean McVay took over for Jeff Fisher and led the Rams to a playoff spot. McVay, the NFL’s youngest head coach, has built a strong nucleus consisting of the young talents of Jared Goff, Todd Gurley, and Aaron Donald. He has completed the rebuild by acquiring star power such as Ndamukong Suh, Marcus Peters, Aqib Talib, Brandin Cooks and Sam Shields. While there are many potential stumbling blocks ahead, McVay has shown that he is capable of leading the Rams through whatever comes their way.
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One thing that the Rams have going for them is that they are young. They have the 5th youngest average age in the NFL, with Gurley, Goff, and Donald all being first-round draft picks. However, by making many expensive acquisitions this offseason, they have the fifth lowest cap space, which makes the outcome of their new signings more important, because should the team fail, they aren’t in a position to spend more money. McVay also needs to make sure that their existing players keep up performances, because the rest of the team will falter if Goff and Gurley can’t live up to their expectations. Four of the five players they added are defenders, so the offense must continue to produce. Cooks will help to ensure that the offense lives up to the hype. One mistake the Rams made was sacrificing their draft picks. They had no selections in the first two rounds and also lack a 2nd round pick in 2019. The only way to inexpensively gain talent is through the draft, so McVay must make the current roster work.
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Of course, even if McVay leads the team to maximum performance, the Rams won’t have an easy path to a successful season. They play in an extremely difficult division that features one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL, Russell Wilson, and the 49ers, who won their final five games of 2017 behind Jimmy Garoppolo. They also have games against defending Super Bowl champion Eagles, and a showdown with the Saints in New Orleans. The NFC is a highly contested conference. Ten teams won at least half their games, vs 8 from the AFC. NFC teams also won 137 games, while AFC teams only combined for 119. LA believes this is a Super Bowl year, but they will have a lot of competition looking to prevent that.
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The bottom line is that big things are expected for the Rams. After a disappointing home loss in the Wild Card game, McVay has loaded up on talent to strengthen their chances of winning the Super Bowl. Their existing young talent has taken them to a division title, and adding four former Pro Bowlers should only help. However, the road will be tough. They play eight games against teams with winning records in 2018. The four Pro Bowlers were all defenders, which should support the top scoring offense in the NFL, which added a 1,000 yard receiver. McVay has the franchise headed in the right direction, and his efforts should translate to a Super Bowl.
