Losing Olson to Raiders would be crushing, but Rams will be just fine

With Jon Gruden taking the head coaching job with the Oakland Raiders, it looks like Los Angeles Rams quarterbacks coach Greg Olson could soon be joining him.

Last offseason, one of the main reasons why the Los Angeles Rams were so excited to bring Sean McVay on board was due to his history of developing quarterback, mainly his previous two years working with Kirk Cousins on the Washington Redskins. If McVay was able to get the best out of Cousins, the Rams felt confident enough he would be able to do the same with Jared Goff, and based off what fans saw from the former California star this season, there’s no doubt that gamble ended up paying off big time.

While McVay received most of the credit for the success of the offense this season, the rest of his coaching staff deserves just as much credit, including quarterbacks coach Greg Olson. Even though the Jacksonville Jaguars weren’t anything to brag about up until this year, Olson received praise for the work he did in developing Blake Bortles at quarterback in the two years prior to 2017. And if Olson was able to help with a quarterback like Bortles, it was easy to see why McVay and the Rams were excited to see what the quarterbacks coach would be able to accomplish working with a top pick in Goff.

When seeing how much a different one year made for Goff after elevating his game to a whole new level while helping Los Angeles win the NFC West title before their elimination to the Atlanta Falcons during the Wild Card Round, it’s safe to say the decision to bring Olson on board certainly paid off big time for McVay and the rest of the offense. But unfortunately for the Rams, it looks like the team may soon need to consider a replacement for their beloved quarterbacks coach since Olson is drawing interest from Jon Gruden and the Oakland Raiders, which shouldn’t come as a surprise.

From Olson’s perspective, it would be easy to understand his interest in taking the offensive coordinator position with a team like the Raiders since that would be an upgrade from his current position with the Rams. Not to mention, just like Los Angeles, Oakland is loaded with talent on the offensive side of the football, and Olson would have the opportunity to work with a quarterback that looked like a MVP a year ago in Derek Carr.

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If his work with Goff this season is any indication of what the Raiders should expect, Carr and the rest of the offense would be in good hands with someone like Olson as part of the staff. Once Gruden is officially introduced as the new head coach for Oakland, this will certainly be a potential move for Los Angeles to monitor since they will have to act fast to find Olson’s replacement. And as tough as seeing Olson leave would be after all of the success from this season, keep in mind the Rams will be just fine overall since everyone knows McVay is an offensive mastermind, meaning the head coach will make the necessary adjustments to make sure Goff and the offense remains in great shape for 2018.