LA Rams: Is veteran leadership truly necessary to win it all?

Up, down. Left, right. Rich, poor. For many, the relevance of one quality is defined by the absence of the other quality.  If someone tells you that something was expensive, you will likely think “not cheap”. And so it goes. For anyone who was raised among a family of modest means, poverty is a state of mind. Water may be bucketed from a well. Clothes may be hand-me-downs. But until you encounter the excesses of a car for every family member, a television in every room, and smartphone/notepad/laptop/desktop computers apiece, you truly do not notice. Are the LA Rams caught in that ‘never noticed’ limbo?

The LA Rams are a very young team, the youngest in the NFL. But the reason that the roster has skewed towards a noticeable youth movement may not exactly be a deliberate decision, but one of necessity. Ever since the 2011 NFL-NFLPA contract was ratified, rookie contracts have fallen into a tight range of dollars. The Rams have gone one step further, and have practically eliminated the more expensive rookies from the first round of the draft altogether.

Rather than compensate rookies heavily for what they may do, the LA Rams pay elite veterans for what they will do. A handful of elite veterans, that is. The remainder of the roster is made up of players on rookie contracts. Dozens of players in years 1-4 of their NFL careers. And so, the team ends up as the youngest in the league.

We are one of the many websites that scans the NFL free agency market, and when we find a player who may fit the roster needs of the organization, we share our findings. Unfortunately, the LA Rams seem to have specific criteria when considering roster additions. First, the player must have been recently waived by another team. Two, that player must be a late draft choice or undrafted signing by their previous team. Three, that player must possess enough athleticism and raw talent to pique the Rams’ interest.

Los Angeles Rams

Young players will be added. Young players will find their way into the rotation and perhaps may lay claim to starting roles. The LA Rams, with young players contributing to all three phases of the games, are expected to compete for the NFC West Division Championship. So the question becomes: Is veteran truly necessary to win it all?

Well, the short answer is… yeah. Most likely. Yep.

Veterans have been in the NFL long enough to know that heroic moments will come to them. They remain calm cool and collected, a bastion of stability throughout an NFL game with momentum changes, emotional highs, and lows.  They understand that until the final score shows, nothing is won. So they devote the same focus to each play, each snap of the football.

Younger players get swept up at the moment. Emotions and momentum play a much larger part in their performance. That is why younger players are inconsistent. They buckle under pressure. They sometimes get lost in big moments of the game. And that is the stuff that loses games in win-or-go-home situations.

No, the LA Rams are not exactly seeking advice on this team. Running backs, linebackers, and a majority of the team’s secondary is fairly young. Talented? Yes. Starter caliber? That too. But when the pads go on and it all is real, will they have the stuff to make a game-saving stop, or find it somewhere within themselves to score the game-winning touchdown? Maybe.

Veterans don’t leave that up for debate. They close the deal. Hopefully, this LA Rams depth chart grows up quickly in training camp.