Rams to put emphasis on fixing offense through free agency, draft

Rams to put emphasis on fixing offense through free agency, draft

By VINCENT BONSIGNORE / STAFF COLUMNIST

INDIANAPOLIS – Like the super smart kid in class who teachers sometimes neglect in order to tend to their less-gifted students, new Rams defensive coordinator Wade Phillips is probably feeling a bit overlooked these days.

It's one of the double-edged swords of taking over a unit that, frankly, is already playoff caliber

Especially when the group it has been lining up against every day in practice is, well, challenged.

As the Rams work through free agency and draft preparations – including this week in Indianapolis at the NFL draft combine – so much of the focus and talk and concentration is on lifting an offense that ranks dead last in nearly every category that Phillips sometimes feels invisible.

To the point of speaking up.

“And as any good coach will do, (he'll say) ‘Hey, don't forget about us over here. We're playing defense too,’” is how Rams general manager Les Snead put it.

Good luck with all that, Wade.

No matter how many times he raises his hand or jumps up and down or tries to bring attention to himself, the Rams need to ignore him as much as possible.

Nothing personal, good sir.

The Rams won't completely shun Phillips this offseason – the change to his 3-4 scheme preference creates a natural need for specific additions – but let's not get things twisted.

They arrived here in Indianapolis with a particular game plan. And it's one they'll carry into free agency next week and the draft seven weeks later in Philadelphia.

It's time to pull the offense into the 21st century, once and for all.

That was the driving force behind firing Jeff Fisher last November.

And it was the motivation in identifying the offensive minded Sean McVay as Fisher's replacement, and then locking him up almost immediately after first meeting with him.

“We've got to improve the offense,” Snead said, rather obviously.

Step one in that direction was taken care of when they hired McVay, a 30-year-old ball of energy and enthusiasm who spent the last three years as Washington’s offensive coordinator and whose entire coaching roots are planted exclusively on that side of the ball.

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