The Los Angeles Rams are most of the most entertaining and exciting franchises in the NFL, especially since head coach Sean McVay joined the team in 2017. LA is at the cutting edge in terms of how they build out their roster, develop players, and promote health and safety.

We’ve seen general manager Les Snead and McVay do away with old traditions like attending the NFL scouting combine in person. The annual trip to Indianapolis is important for free agency planning in addition to any draft knowledge that can be gleaned. But by staying in Los Angeles, the Rams instead allocate the time they’d normally spend at the combine building chemistry amongst their coaching staff and putting together the offensive and defensive playbooks. The Rams especially value this relationship building phase because of the volume in which other teams pilfer McVay’s assistant coaches on an annual basis.

This is just one way in which the Rams started to approach age-old issues from new angles.

The Bootleg Football podcast, hosted by Brett Kollman and EJ Snyder, previewed the Rams’ upcoming season as part of their series that touches on all 32 NFL teams. LA’s installment was titled “The Rams are the model American sports franchise”.

That’s lofty praise, but to Kollman’s and Snyder’s point, it’s one thing to approach problems differently than everyone else but it’s another to have the level of success the Rams franchise has enjoyed since 2017.

This episode is worth a listen ahead of training camp kicking off on July 25th as the hosts review:

• The 2023 season and how the Rams grew into a surprise contender
• Competitive advantages LA has found in roster construction
• Fantasy football value options on the roster
• How Kyren Williams, Blake Corum will split RB workload
• Why Matthew Stafford is a better real life QB than fantasy option
• Analysis on the coaching staff, including new members
• Did the Rams improve over the 2024 offseason?