An initial look at the potential roster for next year looks promising. Yes there are some holes that will need to be filled on the Offensive Line and CB positions and some depth issues but at this stage name a team with less question marks.
Most people do not think the Snead/McVay Model for roster building is sustainable and expect a roster disaster to happen some time in the near future. Depending on how things fall in terms of the "luck factor" like injuries or early retirements It seems reasonable to expect this roster building model to continue to be successful for a few more years.
McVay is already a great coach but what I love about him is that he is still dedicated to growing and learning and he will improve. I am sure he knows that his game management can improve and I while I think he has gotten better at making in game adjustments I think there is a lot more room for improvement in that area.
The other concern is how many great coaches we lose every year. I however think it is one of the unique strengths that the Rams have. The best and brightest young coaches want to come to the Rams because they know they will improve and gain knowledge and be able to advance their careers.
The other strength the Rams have that is unique is that players want to come and play for the Rams. This strength results from the type of people the Rams look to acquire. People who love football and are natural leaders. This allows the coaching staff to place great trust in the players to self discipline but also to have ownership and contribute to the game plan and offensive and defensive schemes. They look for specific skill sets and you have to imagine they inspire potential FA or UDFA by helping the see how they can be successful in their system.
Is this model sustainable? 5 years in a row with a winning record. Have overcome some big time obstacles like Gurley and Goff contracts. Have lost an tons of talent that they developed in house yet they keep developing new talent. Traded away lots of draft picks but still had the 6th youngest roster in the league. They were pretty much caped out but made some key acquisitions in Michel, Miller, OBJ and the FA PR.
As long as we have McVay and Snead I think we are going to have sustainable success. The organizational model they have put together has evolved and they will continue to evolve it. Yes we may hit a few bumps in the road and eventually have to reload but who would you trust to reload quickly?
I think we have a sustainable organizational model that is unique the the Rams and the true test will be when the stars get old and we have to reload. If McSnead is still there the reload won't take that long IMO and certainty won't be like the last time when we had to reload after the Warner, Faulk, Bruce, Holt, etc. days. At 65 I am not sure I can take 15 years of ineptitude while we reload to become competitive.
