It’s now or never for LA Rams ‘All Star’ additions to step up

The LA Rams have done a pretty persistent job of adding veteran standouts to the team’s roster, but that is a far cry from incorporating them effectively. So far, the Rams coaching staff has struggled in one of two ways over the infusion of new football talent to the team’s roster. Either the player is added, but the coaches responsible are not seeing how they can use that player.

Or worse yet, they are unable to work with them quickly enough to make a difference.

It’s a growing concern about this team nowadays. Call it a bad vibe, a hunch, a disturbance in the force, but the team has struggled all season to convert rostered talent into on-field production. That is something that is quite alarming and hits the LA Rams where it hurts.

For example, the last game where injured tight end Johnny Mundt saw action was mid-October 2021. But the LA Rams do not yet have a suitable replacement for a blocking tight end yet. That same statement can be made about the LA Rams search for a feature running back, a versatile wide receiver, a punt returner, a kick returner, and more.

It’s not that the LA Rams have not added what appears to be suitable talent. It’s just that the coaches no longer seem to be in lock-step with the front office, as though the personnel department is missing the mark somehow on the caliber of player necessary or envisioned by coaches. But typically the coaching staff gives the specs and the final say-so on the players signed or traded for. Do coaches change their minds? Does the front office miss the mark? Or is this a matter of prolonged miscommunication?

It is difficult to imagine the LA Rams personnel department depleting their future draft picks on a whim on the random chance to add a player who may or may not be someone of interest by the coaching staff. The more likely scenario is the fact that the coaches are walked through various players who could be targeted, and their level of interest and enthusiasm is the catalyst for the trades or signings.

So why is it that some of the team’s coaches seem to be caught flatfooted when it comes to making use of the new talent?