LA Rams revisit 2016 NFL Draft blockbuster Jared Goff trade

Success finds well run teams, eventually

Yes Derrick Henry is turning heads in the AFC playoffs.. But could the Tennessee Titans find so much success without signing left guard Rodger Safford in 2019 NFL free agency?  Safford was one of the key offensive linemen who helped the LA Rams dominate for years.  Coincidentally, he signs with the Titans, and now they are the offensive line which now dominates in the playoffs.

Does this same Titans team succeed without Ryan Tannehill under center?  He languished with the Miami Dolphins. So much so that the Dolphins traded QB Tannehill and a 6th round pick for a 4th and a 7th round pick. That’s the NFL equivalent to a case of beer and a bag of chips.

It took years for the Titans to reach the AFC Playoffs, and succeed to the point of playing in the AFC Championship game against and offensive juggernaut in the Kansas City Chiefs. This is a team effort, one of stalwart defensive play and an offensive line capable of opening holes to place Derrick Henry center stage in the national spotlight.

In the end, the Tennessee Titans are succeeding years after that trade with the LA Rams. Their wins do not come at the expense of what “might have been” had the LA Rams kept their picks, but in spite of it.  The LA Rams benefited immediately.  Despite the hoopla and lookback scenarios, it is the LA Rams who truly found the “magic beans” from that trade.  The Tennessee Titans simply took the scenic route to the NFL Playoffs.  In the process, they’ve now earned their right to play in the AFC Championship.