I'm not about to anoint Snead as the new Ted Thompson.
But as fans we either believe that Snead is responsible for stocking the Rams roster for the past 5 years or he's not. His title and job description says he is. I've never heard a well-connected sports journalist say that wasn't the case.
There were arguments galore here over who actually made the draft picks: Snead or Fisher. They both claimed it was "mutual" but with Snead doing the evaluating and of course Fisher being the tie breaker. But to me that means that Fisher could overrule Snead and the scouting department and no doubt did on some ocassions; which ones we'll never know for sure.
But one thing is for sure; the Rams didn't acquire this talented roster by accident. And it sure wasn't Fisher who orchestrated the trade to get Goff. Did he push for it? No doubt. To suggest that Snead was simply a bystander in the process defies logic. And it defies Demoff and Kroenke continuing with Snead after firing Fisher. And while I do understand that maybe they kept him otherwise the draft process could have been harmed this year; on the other hand why would you hand the draft process for a new HC to a guy you felt had done a poor job? So, I don't buy that the Rams brain trust thought Snead was no good at his job.
McVay said outright in this past draft that his role was nothing more than to thoroughly specify exactly the parameters of what he was looking for, for every position. Then Snead went out and drafted them. McVay said so unequivocally. And Snead himself said that under Fisher his job was to find the type of guys that Fisher specified. Again; Snead has ALWAYS said that he views his job NOT as building the team in his image, but rather finding the guys that builds the team in the image that the HC defines.
There is simply no way that Fisher had much to do with talent evaluation; being a HC is the equivalent of two full time jobs. There was no way he was scouting talent except near the draft when the season was over (always early under Fisher) and so he'd go to some of the beauty show bowls to look at some top prospects along with Snead.
And, I have little doubt it'll be the same for McVay.
In fact, I suspect that whatever role Fisher played in the process, it will be less for McVay because the hiring circumstances were entirely different. Fisher either hired, or had much say (depending on what you believe) about the hiring of Snead. Snead more or less hired McVay (understanding of course that Kroenke and Demoff no doubt were the true powers behind that decision). But McVay doesn't have the hold over Snead that Fisher did.
Bottom line: Snead gets the credit for building the roster (also stipulating that no GM works in a vacuum).
What we're seeing is what I was ranting about since 2015: the Rams had more talent on the roster than their record indicated. The problem was that Fisher and his staff did not (because they could not) develop the talent they had. And especially so at QB.
Kinda funny that both of the Rams QB "failures" last year are lights out this year under different regimes.
Then look at this year's draft. 3 starters already and some promising guys that are being developed. And that without a 1st round pick.
Snead was never the issue; Fisher was. The only way one could question that is if they weren't on this planet the past 5 years or if for some reason they just have a love affair with Fisher.
And as an announcer mentioned a couple of days ago: Fisher has the 2nd most losses in the history of NFL coaching and is a lifetime sub .500 coach. Guys and gals, that's just the emotionless record.
