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https://sports.yahoo.com/2018-nfl-preview-dream-team-rams-load-win-super-bowl-133348251.html
2018 NFL Preview: Dream team? Rams load up to win a Super Bowl
Frank Schwab
Yahoo SportsJul 31, 2018 6:33
It’s amazing how one throwaway comment from Vince Young stuck.
The 2011 Philadelphia Eagles spent big in free agency, Young called them a “dream team,” and every team from now on that gets aggressive in the offseason gets that label. Go search how many articles on the 2018 Los Angeles Rams use the term “dream team.”
Of course, those Eagles flopped so every future “dream team” will be met with skepticism. But good luck finding a major flaw for these Rams on paper.
The Rams had a remarkable 2017 season. Todd Gurley, Aaron Donald and Sean McVay swept the offensive, defensive and coach of the year awards. Jared Goff, freed from a horrendous coaching staff, blossomed. The Rams were a strong team across the board. Even though the season ended with a playoff upset to the Atlanta Falcons, it was a fine season.
And if the Rams decided to run it back with basically the same young core, that would have been fine. That’s what most teams would have done. Instead, the Rams had one of the most aggressive offseasons in history.
They traded for cornerback Marcus Peters. Then they traded for cornerback Aqib Talib. That’s seven Pro Bowls combined. They traded for receiver Brandin Cooks, who has three straight 1,000-yard seasons. And then they signed defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh to a one-year, $14 million contract. Five more Pro Bowls.
Dream team it is.
Will it work? I’m not going to take the example of one Eagles team that failed and say it’s a bad idea to add four blue-chip players. Football Perspective found that the last team to add four players with a career approximate value of 12 or more (approximate value is a stat used by Pro-Football-Reference, like WAR for baseball) was the 1994 San Francisco 49ers. They won a Super Bowl. Another good example of a team hitting free agency hard and having it pay off is the Denver Broncos, who spent big under general manager John Elway and won four division titles and a Super Bowl with Peyton Manning. The Seattle Seahawks, like the Rams with Goff, took advantage of Russell Wilson’s rookie contract and loaded up for two straight Super Bowl appearances and one title.
Just because the Eagles failed doesn’t mean spending big in free agency is a bad thing. It doesn’t guarantee the Rams a Super Bowl, but it’s not accurate to invoke the 2011 Eagles, derisively stick “dream team” to them and drop the mic. The Rams have played this the right way: They saw an opportunity to chase a Super Bowl, and they didn’t wait to see what happened. They attacked.
Maybe it doesn’t work out. The Rams had a tremendous amount of injury luck last season and that might not repeat. Their schedule is tougher. Goff could regress after a tremendous breakout, and it’ll be hard for Gurley to repeat as well. Regression could even hit McVay, especially since the league had an offseason to scout his work with the Rams. The Aaron Donald holdout is troubling, and there’s no guarantee all the shiny new pieces fit. The Rams took on a few players who aren’t the easiest to deal with in the locker room.
If the Rams fail, it won’t be because they had a bad plan and it definitely won’t be from lack of trying. They’ve done everything they possibly could to maximize their chances of winning a championship, and that’s all you can do. The results will be fascinating to watch.
2018 NFL Preview: Dream team? Rams load up to win a Super Bowl
Frank Schwab
Yahoo SportsJul 31, 2018 6:33
It’s amazing how one throwaway comment from Vince Young stuck.
The 2011 Philadelphia Eagles spent big in free agency, Young called them a “dream team,” and every team from now on that gets aggressive in the offseason gets that label. Go search how many articles on the 2018 Los Angeles Rams use the term “dream team.”
Of course, those Eagles flopped so every future “dream team” will be met with skepticism. But good luck finding a major flaw for these Rams on paper.
The Rams had a remarkable 2017 season. Todd Gurley, Aaron Donald and Sean McVay swept the offensive, defensive and coach of the year awards. Jared Goff, freed from a horrendous coaching staff, blossomed. The Rams were a strong team across the board. Even though the season ended with a playoff upset to the Atlanta Falcons, it was a fine season.
And if the Rams decided to run it back with basically the same young core, that would have been fine. That’s what most teams would have done. Instead, the Rams had one of the most aggressive offseasons in history.
They traded for cornerback Marcus Peters. Then they traded for cornerback Aqib Talib. That’s seven Pro Bowls combined. They traded for receiver Brandin Cooks, who has three straight 1,000-yard seasons. And then they signed defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh to a one-year, $14 million contract. Five more Pro Bowls.
Dream team it is.
Will it work? I’m not going to take the example of one Eagles team that failed and say it’s a bad idea to add four blue-chip players. Football Perspective found that the last team to add four players with a career approximate value of 12 or more (approximate value is a stat used by Pro-Football-Reference, like WAR for baseball) was the 1994 San Francisco 49ers. They won a Super Bowl. Another good example of a team hitting free agency hard and having it pay off is the Denver Broncos, who spent big under general manager John Elway and won four division titles and a Super Bowl with Peyton Manning. The Seattle Seahawks, like the Rams with Goff, took advantage of Russell Wilson’s rookie contract and loaded up for two straight Super Bowl appearances and one title.
Just because the Eagles failed doesn’t mean spending big in free agency is a bad thing. It doesn’t guarantee the Rams a Super Bowl, but it’s not accurate to invoke the 2011 Eagles, derisively stick “dream team” to them and drop the mic. The Rams have played this the right way: They saw an opportunity to chase a Super Bowl, and they didn’t wait to see what happened. They attacked.
Maybe it doesn’t work out. The Rams had a tremendous amount of injury luck last season and that might not repeat. Their schedule is tougher. Goff could regress after a tremendous breakout, and it’ll be hard for Gurley to repeat as well. Regression could even hit McVay, especially since the league had an offseason to scout his work with the Rams. The Aaron Donald holdout is troubling, and there’s no guarantee all the shiny new pieces fit. The Rams took on a few players who aren’t the easiest to deal with in the locker room.
If the Rams fail, it won’t be because they had a bad plan and it definitely won’t be from lack of trying. They’ve done everything they possibly could to maximize their chances of winning a championship, and that’s all you can do. The results will be fascinating to watch.
