Out of Gas? GM Les Snead Addresses Rams Lack of Assets
In sports, winning cures everything. When you're winning games, glaring flaws can be ignored or glossed over.
However, once that winning stops, ignoring those flaws becomes nearly impossible. The Los Angeles Rams learned that lesson the hard way, as their lack of depth was exposed en route to a 5-12 season following their lifting of the Lombardi Trophy.
Now, though, they must retool if they want to get back to competing in the NFC. Of course, that won't be easy this year seeing as they've traded away premium picks for high-end talent in recent years.
“When you get in a situation where you’re now relying more on players on their rookie contracts to actually be key contributors, key starters, (then) getting back to having some first-rounders, getting back to having second- and third-rounders will be advantageous,” Snead said.
Not having a first-round pick this year definitely hurts the Rams' rebuilding efforts, but that pain can be eased knowing they have a Super Bowl trophy for their efforts. Moving forward, however, Snead believes a change in philosophy is necessary.
“We’re probably going to have to not press the gas as much, pay a little bit of the debt that we’ve accumulated,” Snead said. “As you do some of the things that we’ve done, you’re going to push some of that down the road."
When everyone is healthy, the Rams have one of the NFC's best rosters.
From Matthew Stafford and Cooper Kupp on offense to Aaron Donald, Bobby Wagner and Jalen Ramsey on defense, not many rosters compete with that talent.
However, when guys like Stafford go down with an injury, or the entire offensive line is constantly shuffled around, it puts you in a corner.
If the Rams want to compete for another Super Bowl, the top-end talent is undeniably there. Without the depth, though, all it takes is one key injury to derail their entire season.
You can find Connor Zimmerlee on Twitter @Connorjz98
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