Bernie Bytes: Snead a good fit at Rams Park....

Bernie Bytes: Snead a good fit at Rams Park
BY BERNIE MIKLASZ, Post-Dispatch Sports Columnist Feb 13, 2012 (0)
Les Snead named new Rams GM
Former Atlanta Falcons director of player personnel Les Snead (right) was named the St. Louis Rams new general manager on Saturday. (Photo by Curtis Compton, Atlanta Journal Constitution)
[www.stltoday.com]

* I like the Rams' hiring of Les Snead as GM for a simple reason: as personnel director he had a good record of finding players for the Atlanta Falcons. And that's what the Rams need more than anything. Players. Lots and lots of quality players. Atlanta had 21 picks in the last three drafts (2009-2011) and 19 are still with the team, including seven starters. The 2007 and 2008 drafts produced several starters including QB Matt Ryan, LB Curtis Lofton, OT Sam Baker, G Justin Blaylock, and S Thomas DeCoud.

By contrast the Rams have had an almost unbelievable strikeout rate with their draft picks going back to 2006. More than anything the team's 15-65 collapse from 2007-2011 was the result of the organization's inability to identify and select difference-making talent. The Rams have drafted more busts than impact players.

* Does Snead work for head coach Jeff Fisher, or is Fisher working for Snead? When Snead made a reference to working "for" Fisher it set off some clucking among those who are hung up on titles. Here's your answer: Fisher and Snead work for team owner Stan Kroenke. Fisher didn't ask for total roster control as part of his contract with the Rams, but he does want to have a say, and he expects to have influence, and I don't think anyone at Rams Park will push the coach out of the way when it comes time to make big decisions. But Fisher is a football coach. He doesn't have time to scout and grind tape. Fisher wanted to bring in someone who could oversee the vitally important scouting work and then help the Rams make smart personnel decisions in the draft and free agency. And Fisher wanted someone he can trust. Snead is a workaholic that wears out DVD players with long hours spent studying video of players. And in Atlanta he had an eye for talent.

* By saying he looked forward to working "for" Fisher, here's what Snead meant: he wants to get busy supplying as many good players for this coach and staff to help them win football games. Nothing more.

* As long as Fisher and Snead have a comfortable working relationship, I'm not sure why everyone is so worried about where the lines of authority are drawn. If Fisher tramples Snead, that's a problem. But let's wait and see how it plays out before we presume that Fisher is on some sort of power-tripping flexing that will roll over Snead.

* Obviously Fisher isn't a normal coach in this setup; obviously he has juice. He has power. We knew this already. So yes, I would think that Fisher will break all ties when there's a stalemate on personnel decisions. But Fisher insists that he wants to build a consensus, and that he doesn't have time to scout and arrange draft boards, so he will lean heavily on the GM for draft/scouting expertise. That's his vow, and we'll see if he follows through on that.

* This isn't the traditional GM/coach setup. But again: didn't you know that already? Given Kroenke's aggressive recruitment of Fisher, did anyone of sound mind really expect that Fisher was going to come to St. Louis for the Rams' job and twiddle his moustache in the dark while the GM makes all of the decisions? Really?

* Snead apparently has some fire to his personality and will stand up for what he believes in. "He's not a pushover. He's not silly putty," said D. Orlando Ledbetter, a St. Louis native who covers the Falcons for the Atlanta Journal Constitution. "He has strong opinions on what should be done in making personnel decisions."

This jibes with what Fisher has told me on multiple occasions: he didn't want a yes-man GM.

* Here's an opinion from Peter King of Sports Illustrated: "The Rams were smart to hire a hardworking scout like Les Snead as general manager. All he wants to do is find players. I know Snead, and I know his work ethic, and he's going to mesh with Jeff Fisher just fine."

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Best,
Laram