When did the NFC West become this scary? Within the space of two or three years, the division has become the best in the NFL, top-to-bottom, when healthy. Between the Arizona Cardinals, San Fransisco 49ers, Seattle Seahawks, and LA Rams, each team in the NFC West have at least one undeniable thing that they are legitimately great at. Moreover, each one of them has a true franchise quarterback under center, or in the case of San Fransisco, have two solid cracks at one with Jimmy Garoppolo and the third pick in this year's NFL draft.
Outside of Seattle's weakness on the defensive end, there are no glaring weaknesses in any of these four teams, which means each season and offseason is a veritable arms race of assets. All four teams are legitimate playoff contenders for the foreseeable future and are built to win now, which makes each offseason precious.
The Rams really got their money's worth this offseason.
Before free agency even started, the team swung for the fences to upgrade at quarterback, from Jared Goff to Matt Stafford. Now, Goff is arguably a legitimate franchise signal-caller in his own right: the perfect game manager, who, under the right coaching, is a player capable of playing his way to (and possibly winning) a Super Bowl. That said, this is a credit to coach Sean McVay and the rest of the Rams' front office that they are able to identify the franchise's best opportunity to win big in two decades, and commit to any opportunity to win now. Anything less would be equivalent to them surrendering to the rest of the mighty NFC West.
To follow on the theme of aggression, the team stayed committed to the now and opted to bring back prime edge rusher Leonard Floyd and Darious Williams, keeping their incredible defense from this past season relatively intact. They also found great value later on, reinforcing their passing attack by signing veteran DeSean Jackson to a 1-year deal worth $4.5 million guaranteed. They might be overpaying a bit, but Jackson is still a viable deep threat when healthy, which enables to Rams to take advantage of Matt Stafford's prodigious talent with the deep ball.
The Rams are getting one insanely tough QB in Matthew Stafford. A legendary mic’d up moment. 😤
(🎥: @FourVerticals_, @NFLFilms) pic.twitter.com/oCpemOX2JF
— theScore (@theScore) February 1, 2021
So, that begs the question: what could the Rams be going for, now that the free agency surge has died a little? They are arguably the most complete roster in the NFL, and so don't have any truly glaring needs. Their secondary has a strong core, their receiving corps remains solid with Jackson replacing Josh Reynolds. Aaron Donald is possibly the best player in the NFL, and Matt Stafford unlocks a lot of potential in their offense.
Now, the Rams can't afford to spend much in free agency as they are already strapped for cap space. They will be best served by either finding value among the lower-ranking free agents or in the middle rounds of this year's draft. Luckily for them, their needs fulfill just that. They struggled a bit last year at linebacker, are weaker at cornerback now with the loss of Troy Hill, and could use a blindside rusher to pair with Leonard Floyd, but they have an answer to all of these minor problems. David Long, Jr. is poised to fill in the shoes of Hill, and while their linebackers aren't great, they are perfectly serviceable. If everything else fails, they have Donald, who, as an interior lineman, is still arguably the best player in the NFL, and commands double to triple coverage wherever he plays.
The Rams Biggest Need
No, the greatest need for the Rams is at the center position. With the departure of Austin Blythe in free agency, they have a glaring hole in the middle of their offensive line, and they must commit even further to Matt Stafford by opting to protect him at all costs. Aside from that, Stafford is already an injury risk, which brings a lot of fear into replacing Blythe. Even worse is the fact that they simply don't have an easy solution in free agency, as Austin Reiter is obviously tempted to go back to the Kansas City Chiefs. No doubt it will take a pretty penny to lead him away from the most important OL job in football.
Luckily for LA, this year's draft is relatively deep in prospects for the interior of the offensive line. No doubt they will be able to find solid value on Day 2 or even 3 of the draft, but they should avoid the temptation of building a future prospect, and go immediately for an investment that will pay dividends in the form of pocket time for Stafford.
Stafford is the Rams' biggest investment this offseason. Their next biggest should be in an effort to protect him at all costs.
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