(11-03-2021, 05:22 AM)Bullseye Wrote:

(11-02-2021, 05:04 PM)Mikey Wrote: It's an interesting model. They focus on late picks, and fill specific roles with them. So, you still have the task of hitting on the picks (and FA), but the risk is a lot lower when most of your work is being done on day 3 picks or leftover FA. Nobody else is doing that, and it's worked for them thusfar.

The Rams approach is far from novel or original.  If you are focusing on the acquiring veteran aspect of it, Washington did that a lot in the 70s and 1980s.

But I think focusing on veterans alone misses a huge part of the analysis.

The Rams, like many other successful teams dating back to the 1980s, took chances on insanely talented guys lesser teams deemed too cancerous to retain.

[many good examples removed for space]

Why is it these so called cancers and malcontents were incompatible with their original teams winning but were able to help subsequent teams to championships?  If they were that caustic, that damaging to a team's psyche, why didn't they derail these teams from winning championships?  Why do these lesser teams who purge their rosters of these talented cancers almost never in a position to prosper after these guys leave?

The fact is, the lesser teams almost always make a mistake getting rid of talented players who have no substance abuse issues but who are otherwise deemed nuisances or cancers.  The better teams almost always exploit these teams and thier mistakes to their benefit.

I think in almost every example you gave, though, the malcontent/troublemaker was shipped off to a winner, often with a franchise QB or long-standing coach at the helm who wasn't going to tolerate the BS along the way. The teams for the most part were capable of winning with or without that new player, and the rest of the culture in that locker room is focused solely on the postseason. 

We've argued this point in the past, though. If you have a guy like Ramsey or Yan who simply refuse to take the field or try to drag the rest of the locker room down to their level of discontent, what other choice do you have but to ship them off? Usually the only teams willing to take on those challenges are the ones that are stable, built to win now, and are focused on maximizing present results in lieu of mortgaging future prospects in the form of picks needed to acquire the talented, yet disgruntled players.

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