Les Snead: 2 years of success

Les Snead

Can't believe how far things have come.

I'm bypassing the hiring of the coach
Skip straight to 2017 and Roster overhaul

Free agent Aquisitions
Andrew Whitworth
This is an insane sea change for the Rams. After years of disasters, this is an instant culture change as much as mountain of a left tackle. This signing might be the entire key to shift of loser to winner. You can't play football if your passer is flat on his back, and the RB is slammed in the backfield. However they got Andrew to come to Los Angeles with a very suspect future was immense. Pass go, collect the George S. Halas Trophy.
Robert Woods
admit to being a LA homer, and so many USC/UCLA players have vanished, particularly WRs from USC. Resurrection or just allowing to blossom, bringing Woods in was a great addition, but who knew what this guy was capable of? Sure seen it in college, but holy smokes.....look at him now.
John Sullivan
Is center the most neglected but key spot on a football team? Maybe. Touch the ball every down. Make every line call. Most of the time you don't even want to hear their names mentioned. For the second year, one of the only football teams to keep their starting 5 on the field. Sounds small sometimes, but it's huge, and played the largest of all roles in these two playoff games.
Nickell Robey-Coleman
Playing slot. Playing large for one of the smallest guys on the roster. Don't care about the noise to the contrary, he's a huge asset, and expect him to play Edelman tough. Nevertheless, Snead collects a guy who plays a high number of plays in situational downs. He's one of those guys that I hope to celebrate at the gun come nightfall Feb 3.
Sammy Watkins
The guy I wanted in the first place. Ended up not being quite the player I'd seen in college. But what a move to grab this guy. This is aggressive, and as a GM you have some real guts to make all these moves in a season. Wow. All I remember is how big the guy played in Monday nighter against the 9ers. k

Draft 2017
The top 5 selections are all starters or key rotation players
Gerald Everett
If we didn't notice, he's a key reason we're playing Feb 3rd. One "off-schedule" play by Goff rolling right and finding Everett late in the Saints game might have been his biggest play since being drafted.
Cooper Kupp
Crazy selection. While both Everett and Kupp surely have the hand of Coach on them, the results are staggering from his presence. Combine fail, game day win.
John Johnson
Perhaps the best defensive draft selection thus far by the new regime. Just goes to show. The Combine isn't everything.
Josh Reynolds
His college tape is so fun to watch. Unlike the duck in water Kupp, he did need to season some. With E. Washington star WR sidelined, the highlights from this last game for #83 just sings. Another great find, and another reason why the NFL is filled with 3-5 round picks that are stars on Sundays.
Samson Ebukam
Chances of 2 players getting drafted from E. Washington? I"m thinking very, very low. And if there's a success story to enjoy, it might these type of finds for Snead. Ebukam is probably more of JAG than a future star, but then again, ask the Chiefs. Add that the kid was around the ball plenty in this last game.

What do you ask from your draft?
That you hope that 3 to 4 of your picks can get on the field and help your team. If you get one starter, you doing pretty well.
Well, Les Snead, you can take a bow

2018 and Les Snead

While the 2018 draft didn't produce the 2017 success, free agency was as nearly as dramatic as the prior year
Using the scalpel and working wildly with draft picks as money right through the Senior Bowl, and the offseason Snead goes BIG. Pushes his chips to middle of table, imo

Gone
WR Sammy Watkins,
WR Tavon Austin,
DE Robert Quinn
ILB Alec Ogletree
CB Trumaine Johnson

Acquired
WR Brandin Cooks
DT Ndamukong Suh
CB Marcus Peters
CB Aqib Talib

Just what these 4 guys meant to the team probably can't be expressed in a paragraph.
But Les Snead wasn't just acting conservatively throughout the process of improving the team
Startling moves, major player around the NFL as a GM.
If you wanted to look for a guy that won't be wearing a uniform, and isn't wearing a headset to celebrate.
Standing Ovation

Les Snead