Rams Becoming Power Players in Los Angeles

The Los Angeles Rams have not been in their new home for long.  In fact, if you were to approach the moving vans, you might find that the engines were still warm.

Despite being relatively new residents in the Southern California area, it has not taken the Rams long to begin integrating themselves into the Los Angeles sports scene.

As first reported by the Daily News, the Southern California New Group has started releasing their list of the fifty most powerful sports personalities in Los Angeles.

The group has yet to release information on the top ten, but picks fifty through twenty already include three members of the Los Angeles Rams.

Coming in at number forty-five, is Los Angeles Rams running back Todd Gurley.  This shouldn’t come as a big surprise, when considering the dynamic playmaker is coming off of an Offensive Rookie of the Year season and was recently named by the NFPA as number one on the list of top-selling future stars in the NFL.  Most would agree that Gurley is a prime candidate to benefit greatly from the move to Los Angeles.

Next on the list, coming in at thirty-seven, is Los Angeles Rams GM Les Snead.  Many fans might look at Les Snead’s performance thus far as being mixed at best.  While he has helped to build a strong defensive unit that is one of the more talented groups in the NFL, the organization has consistently failed to address key shortcomings on the offensive side of the ball.

That being said, his willingness to roll the dice and go after the number one pick in the draft, as well as the decision to use that pick to fill the Rams’ biggest need in the form of quarterback Jared Goff, has made him a major player in the Los Angeles sports world.

At seventeen on the list, is Rams Head Coach Jeff Fisher.  This might be the most surprising name of all to long-time Rams fans.  Jeff Fisher has often been criticized for being consistently average.  Winning either six of seven games in each of his seasons since joining the Rams has done nothing to change this perception.  As Fisher and Snead have worked very closely together to build the current team, many of the criticisms directed at Snead regarding the shortcomings of the personnel on the roster apply to Fisher as well.

The criticism of Fisher is not limited to personnel moves, however.  Many have been frustrated by reoccurring problems on the field, such as a high volume of penalties and the team often being too slow to make necessary player changes or play call adjustments.

Despite these issues, it can’t be denied that the combination of Fisher’s head coaching duties and the large influence he has in making player decisions justify his position in the top fifty.  When you combine this with the fact that Fisher is a Southern California native that played on a National Championship-winning University of Southern California football team, it becomes a little easier to understand why he ranks so high on the list.

While having three names on the list after only being in Los Angeles a few months is impressive, it is very likely that this number will grow by at least one more.  The top ten are expected to be revealed before the end of the week and there is little doubt the Los Angeles Rams Owner Stan Kroenke will make this list as well.  Just the act of moving the Rams to Los Angeles was likely enough to get him on the list.  But with a new stadium scheduled for an opening in 2019, and word that the NFL is likely to announce that Los Angeles will be hosting a Super Bowl soon, there is little doubt that Kroenke will find his name on this list as well.

At the end of the day, the Rams will only be accepted as true power players in the Los Angeles sports scene long-term if they find success on the field.  But these initial rankings show that there is genuine excitement in Los Angeles for the return of football and the return of the Rams.