What every coach-less NFL team offers and needs

What every coach-less NFL team offers and needs
By Bill Barnwell
ESPN.com

The NFL's coaching carousel, at least for a moment, has ground to a temporary halt.

Including the Jacksonville job, which is being filled on an interim basis by Doug Marrone, the tumult after Week 17 left us with six NFL head-coaching openings. Five of those came after firings, while the sixth came in Denver, where Gary Kubiak was forced into retirement by health concerns just one year after winning a Super Bowl.

None of the firings were particularly stunning; if anything, it's more of a surprise the list isn't longer. Todd Bowles and John Fox kept their jobs in New York and Chicago, respectively. One win was enough to keep Hue Jackson on board in Cleveland. Marvin Lewis is still around after a disappointing season in Cincinnati. Chuck Pagano even conducted a news conference on Monday, although it's unclear whether Colts owner Jim Irsay intends to fire Pagano or even address the situation. And rumors still link Saints coach Sean Payton with a move away, possibly to the Rams' opening in Los Angeles, which would swap one empty spot for another.

The fired coaches might not have succeeded in the way they dreamt upon taking their respective jobs, but it's foolish to suggest they failed in every single way. There are positives and building blocks to each of the open opportunities -- just as there are areas that need improvement. The strengths and weaknesses of each roster will be useful in informing the decisions these teams make as they hire their next head coach, so let's run through them here (in alphabetical order) ...


Los Angeles Rams

Strength: front four. It was tempting to list Johnny Hekker as the team's biggest strength, given that the Rams lapped the field on punting and punt coverage this year. It's still fair to list Los Angeles' defensive line as its best weapon, but even that has faded with time. Aaron Donald is arguably the most disruptive defender in the league when J.J. Watt is injured, but he's about to get incredibly expensive. Injuries and double-teams have limited Robert Quinn to 19.5 sacks over three seasons after his 19-sack campaign in 2013. Nobody on the vaunted Los Angeles line besides Donald produced more than five sacks this season. And this is the strength of the team!

Weakness: the entire offense. The Rams' offense was like the reverse of the Broncos' defense. It was 32nd in passing DVOA, rushing DVOA and overall offensive DVOA. The Rams averaged 14 points per game in a league in which teams averaged 22.8, the fifth-highest rate in NFL history. Using standardized score, the Rams had the 16th-worst offense since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger and the worst since the Jimmy Clausen-led Panthers of 2010.

Those Panthers drafted Cam Newton the following year, but Los Angeles' first-round pick (No. 5 overall) will be in Tennessee's hands after the Rams traded up to pick Jared Goff. Goff's half-season in the lineup was distressingly bad, highlighted by an unreal sack rate of 11.3 percent. Using the adjusted net yards per attempt stat and adjusting it for era (ANY/A+), Goff posted the worst season since the merger for a passer with 200 attempts or more. It's too early to dismiss Goff, but the Rams need to throw what few resources they have at giving him help.

Coaching emphasis: offensive line. In a season in which several teams have turned around their fortunes behind dominant offensive lines, the Rams should focus on rebuilding theirs to give both Goff and struggling running back Todd Gurley a chance. This has been an issue for the better part of 15 years, having seen both expensive free agents (Jason Brown, Scott Wells) and first-round picks (Alex Barron, Jason Smith, Greg Robinson) fail to develop into even competent players.

An emphasis on offensive line play could lead the Rams to former Raiders head coach Tom Cable, although his work with Seattle's offensive line hasn't exactly received glowing praise over the past couple of seasons. Steelers offensive line coach Mike Munchak has done a great job with Pittsburgh's unit and was a respectable 22-26 as the head coach of a flawed team in Tennessee, albeit while struggling to improve its offensive line. If the Jaguars do let go of Marrone, he could be in play. The best offensive line coach in the league is likely Washington's Bill Callahan, who may profile more as an offensive coordinator than a head coach at this point in his career.

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