LA Rams ‘All In’ on Stafford dictates clear track for 2021 strategy

The LA Rams have been building upon and assembling a winning roster for the Super Bowl It’s not an easy task, as it involves great strategy, overwhelming talent, a bit of luck, and a sense of incredible timing.  It’s all about timing, you see. And Rams head coach Sean McVay is convinced that the time is now.

He may be correct.

The words mean nothing, and yet the same words mean everything. After all, an NFL team is a huge organization. Each team is filled with dozens of executives, dozens of coaches, scores of players, and a myriad of fans. Each person associated with the organization has a different perspective, a different pace, a different sense of urgency about the LA Rams, and the team’s proximity to winning it all. Head coach Sean McVay claims that the time is now.

He may be correct.

But more importantly, he has just sounded the alarm. It’s red alert time. The organization must now man the battle stations. Strategies become tactics. Playing the long game is no longer the top priority. Now. everyone associated with the LA Rams must play the short game. That can mean many things to the Rams. Here’s how that will impact the Rams strategy this year:

The Rams will deploy both their franchise tag and submit qualifying offers to retain key players. Winning now forces the Rams to hold onto talented players as long as possible. That means one more year for outbound free agents. That’s all it will take to determine if the Rams are indeed knocking on the doorstep of the Super Bowl next year.

Speaking of Super Bowls, Super Bowl LVI will be played at SoFi Stadium. You can bet that the Rams entire organization wants to represent the NFC in that game. That means that the team is under tremendous pressure to show up and compete in the next SB.  To do so, the organization practically has a blank check. That’s how McVay was able to get the team’s owner to buy in on upping the offer for QB Matthew Stafford. It’s now, or never.

That means that the Rams will need to be active in free agency. To do that, they will need to clear salary-cap space. Scary stuff? Of course. That’s why the Rams will be rather judicious over re-signing their own players. |

How active? The Rams must find some star veteran players.

On offense, the Rams need to shore up the center position, need a deep threat at the receiver position, a huge fullback, and perhaps an offensive tackle to anchor the offensive line. On defense, the Rams need a solid edge veteran, a thumper at interior linebacker, and secondary depth. The Rams need an upgrade at the return position and should consider an economical upgrade at punter.

Tactics. A short-term shopping list to put the Rams over the hump and into the winner’s circle on Super Bowl Sunday. The Rams keep getting close, keep reloading, and keep coming back for more. But the Rams are doing so on the backs of some incredibly talented players, who get another year older each season. They can’t keep laying down bunts. It’s time to swing for the fences. After all, head coach Sean McVay claims that the time is now.

He may be correct. After all, who would be more qualified to know?