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dzrams
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zn
McVay changed the offense.
They could have done a lot more, both short and long term, with the pick.
Subtract Watkins from 2017 and IMO nothing changes that much. If anything it might have been better.
There is still time for them to do a lot, short and long term, with the Watkins pick since they haven't used it yet.
It's only a difference of about 30 picks. And the reality is, Snead's 2nd and 3rd round hit percentages are about equal.
You may be right that without Watkins nothing changes but I tend to trust the coach on this one. He said it was a must for his offense to have a guy who handled the Watkins role. Who would that have been if not for Watkins?
I would have preferred the 2nd rounder last year to the 3rd rounder this year. The 2nd rounder last year would be contributing now. Imagine for example if they had taken another lineman. That would have put them further ahead.
Either way, I don't trust the coach on that particular one. I am a big McVay guy and like I said, this is just truth-telling warts and all, though about a good coach obviously. IMO his instinct in 2017 was to reproduce Washington. He looked for a Chris Thimpson (remember Dunbar?) and he tried to get Reed in Everett (Everett may yet work out though I was skeptical at first). He looked for a Jackson in Watkins.
I think he would have been better off taking the plunge and learning how to make the most (sooner) of what he had, instead of trying to re-do the Washington offense in LA in 2017. I think not having a Watkins/Jackson (and not every good offense DOES have someone in that rough category) might had pushed McV sooner into learning how to use his personnel instead of trying to impose a system. It wasn't 100% "trying to impose a system" but there was some of that.
Watkins basically didn't come through anyway.
In fact I think they learned from that and I think the days of trading high picks for players who will very soon be up for their 2nd contract are over for the Rams. Having to face quick turnarounds to 2nd contract with Watkins, Cooks, and Peters kind of negates the advantage you get from just drafting the players and keeping them 4 years before you face contract issues.
Now, btw, I consider this mild, balanced, nuanced criticism and it comes from someone who is known to be a fan of the regime (I've defended Goff, McVay, AND Snead) That kind of criticism also has its place in the mix. Though to be fair not everyone agrees on every bit of criticism, and not everyone agrees on every bit of praise. So just put my vote on Watkins down as "against" and then probably next topic it's "thumbs up."
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Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 04/21/2019 01:47PM by zn.
