Colin Cowherd ranks LA Rams as top NFL team after week one

Young roster = NFL success?

Cowherd brought up the Rams GM Les Snead fielding one of the youngest rosters in the NFL. That is due to the fact that the team acquires and pays some of the top talents in the NFL.  The Rams are then forced to backfill the roster with drafted and undrafted players who have the right skillsets and talents, but who lack experience. The Rams, to balance the payroll, take on those ‘interns’ to learn and grow on the Rams roster.

That’s how the Rams have been able to land pleasant surprises like Darious Williams, Jordan Fuller, AJ Jackson, and the like. The Rams allow talented players with less experience to have the opportunity to play in the NFL. That means that the LA Rams must work harder to find the right guys to fit the Rams scheme, roster, and culture.  They’ve had the need to do so. Necessity is the mother of invention.

This LA Rams team has been forced into doing more with less. At least when it comes to drafting players, the Rams have done a lot on day three of the draft. How does this team find the hidden gems? Well, if I had the answer to that, NFL teams would be knocking on my door and offering me opportunities to work in their personnel department.  But I can say this. The one thing that the LA Rams do so much better is to take talented players at face value. They don’t dismiss players automatically due to the size of the school, the success of the football program, nor the amount of experience of the player.

Snead doesn’t get much credit from some. But for all of the Rams’ success under head coach Sean McVay, it was general manager Les Snead who built those rosters. It was Snead that signed critical players to multi-year contracts. Then, after the Rams coaching staff decided to go in different directions, he worked the deals to part paths, clear cap space, and reload the Rams’ roster.

The LA Rams offense appears to be more potent this year. And despite losing more than a handful of crucial veterans from the defense, the Rams defense allowed just 14 points despite this being the first game for the Rams defense to use the new Raheem Morris scheme. Do the Rams deserve the top spot?

Well, this team will get better. Running back Sony Michel hasn’t come online yet. A number of young offensive players didn’t see any action in the first game. This team will get better.  Debate the top ranking after week one all you want. But if the LA Rams emerge 3-0 at the end of September 2021, there won’t be any debate.