LA Rams are scrambling for mobile QBs to develop in Training camp

Rams QB room

Suddenly, the Rams quarterback room is filled with two drop-back and two dual-threat quarterbacks. That’s a curious development, isn’t it?  This is happening on a team with a reputation for leadership from a “system quarterback”. Until 2020, the LA Rams offense was virtually all upon the shoulders of head coach Sean McVay, and the Rams’ head coach poured almost all of himself into the offense.

But 2019 has filled the skies with dark storm clouds that now have some silver linings.  The team suffered on offense, had to retool the secondary, and were helpless as the special teams plummeted to the bottom rankings of the NFL. Head coach Sean McVay discovered that he could no longer be the part-time head coach and remain the full-time offensive coordinator. What a critical lesson to learn!  McVay learned it finally and is responding to the situation both rapidly and comprehensively.

Three amigos

As soon as the 2019 season ended, McVay accepted the responsibility for a less-than-expected season where the Rams did not make the playoffs. Then, he immediately set about to surround himself with the right coordinators who could take over at each of the three main areas of the team’s onfield efforts: offense, defense, and special teams. That would free him up from authoring so much, and allow him to edit and tweek more.

The special teams’ coordinator, John Bonamego, is the most autonomous of the bunch. He had a very specific set of priorities for this year. In descending order: (1) Find a kicker who can boot 40+ yards FGs (2) Improve the return game to the upper 50 percent of the NFL (3) Improve coffin kicking of All-Pro Johnny Hekker (4) Try to ensure opponents field position is no better than the 25-yard line on kickoffs. For the defensive coordinator, McVay needed innovative ways to defend the run, while dominating pass defense. And then, he had a special assignment for his new offensive coordinator: