This can lead to disaster without the right environment

The Rams approach of going all in only makes sense if you are in a position to have a likely outcome of winning it all. First you have to start there. Going all in, where perhaps you "over pay" for a player that you think can get you over the top doesn't work if you are not in a position to at least go far in the playoffs.

Exception: Franchise QB. These guys are really had to find. The Rams went from Warner to Stafford without having a franchise QB which is a long time. You can't consistently compete without a really good QB and your chances of winning the Superbowl without a franchise QB, yes there is the Dilfer exception, are quite low. So if the opportunity arises to get one of these guys you have to go for it.

Why it works for the Rams: Snead gets a lot of deserved credit for his river boat gambling style of player acquisition but he and McVay are in lock step on understanding the roster needs down to specific skill sets and leadership aspects. The type of players they get have qualities of leadership, self starters, coachable, and a desire to play football and win. Some of these guys my be looked at as troublemakers but when put in the right environment they excel. The all in types are usually a big deal type of guy and if that guy is an all about me type of ass you end up with a big problem. Think about it you just used up a bunch of draft and/or player capital for a problem that is going to hit you cap hard. This is high risk and if you screw this up it can take years to fix.

Rams cut their losses overcome the mistakes: The draft is a crap shoot and lots of players don't work out even if they are chosen in the first round. The value of draft picks is that they are cheap against the cap. If a drafted player doesn't work out you usually don't end up with a lot of dead money. So performance wise you risk is high but cap wise your risk is low, especially once you get to the 2nd round and beyond. If you make an all in decision for a proven player your performance risk is low but your cap risk in high. That is the trade off you are making but you can still make a mistake and when you do you need to cut your losses as soon as possible. Peters and Cooks are examples of cutting your losses quickly where we gave up draft capital. Bad contracts examples of cutting your losses include Gurley and Goff. When the Rams make a mistake they cut the losses. Note IMO they rushed to Goff contract when their were clear signs that he wasn't all that they wanted in a QB.

Players locker room, teaching and learning organization: The Rams increase their probability of success when going all in because they have such strong players in their locker room. Suh didn't screw them up, neither did Peters and those guys I would rate as talented knuckleheads. McVay also does a great job of putting players in position so that their skills can be featured in the right context of the offense or defense. This improves the probability of success. Plus all of our coaches are great teachers and they get the "all ins" ready to go quickly.

Summary: There are a lot of reasons why the all in approach works for the Rams but most of all it is a total organizational approach with total buy in and execution between Snead and McVay where they have layers of plans and alternatives that we as fans can only guess about, which BTW is a lot of fun. The "all in approach" is probably going to be quite costly and it will be interesting to see the results in Denver, Cleveland and Miami. At least Denver and Cleveland went for the Franchise QB though they took risks in Age with Denver and Availability in Cleveland. I am just glad we have Snead and McVay who are daring and willing to take the risks where the probability and the rewards are lined up for overall success.