The Rams are Tanking for the #1 Pick; BOOK IT!

[Welshers2]

The Rams are tanking for the #1 pick.

McVay knows when to hold 'em and when to fold 'em. He needs a franchise QB to turn things around quickly, with how they sold the farm and overextended for a good half decade. It worked and got them a SuperBowl.

But then last season happened, they all got injured and fell apart. He recognized immediately there is no point in continuing down that path and pivoted to this new plan. Blow it up, move pieces, tank for the #1 pick.

It is usually unwise to tank in the NFL. However this is a rare exception. Caleb Williams is the best QB prospect I've ever seen in my many years of studying QB prospects, easily the best since Andrew Luck which was a long time ago at this point believe it or not.

Even if you come up short for the #1 pick, Drake Maye will be on the board who would be the #1 Pick in most NFL Drafts over the last 10 years if not for Caleb Williams. Both of these guys would go ahead of Bryce Young in this last draft.

Once the season plays out more QBs will emerge. I love KJ Jefferson, and he's a mid-round guy currently. He's Cam Newton, but more accurate, and actually a leader instead of a space cadet. This is the best QB class in 20 years.

We're looking at a lopsided year in the NFL, because the Rams aren't the only team that will be tanking for Williams. Add the Cardinals, Buccs, and whoever else gets off to a slow start to the list.

This is not a normal draft upcoming, it is stacked. The first year of NIL money had a lot of underclassmen returning to school that normally would've come out this year. It created a void in '23, they will now be in '24.

Due to this, teams around the league are going to be much quicker to throw in the towel than you're used to seeing. Again, this is not a normal draft coming up, and is why most teams usually wouldn't think of doing it.

How to tank and not make it look like your tanking?

Hold guys out if they have a hangnail, be quicker to put guys on IR. The guys on the field are trying to win, their careers are on the line. You just don't give them the horses to win. Injuries will be an epidemic this year, like you've never seen before, to mask the tanking. The Rams are at the head of the list. Book it.

P.S. Those Rams vs. Cardinals games are going to be hella interesting this year.

I can't believe you wrote that much just to be that wrong... your takes are just so bad so consistently.

 

[Palmegranite]

I don't know. If the Rams were in the AFC North they would be in a battle for last place .

It's not their fault that the Seahawks and Cardinals aren't cooperating..

 

[SoulfishHawk]

Still super funny.

 

[Cyrus12]

I keep seeing this bumped up thinking someone is still posting on how the Rams are tanking for the 1 pick....I can't resist clicking on it..

 

[SoulfishHawk]

Book it!

 

[SoulfishHawk]

.............still funny

 

[flv2]

I don't know. If the Rams were in the AFC North they would be in a battle for last place .

It's not their fault that the Seahawks and Cardinals aren't cooperating..

Battle for 3rd? Sure. It's only a battle for last if you're trying to out-tank another team.

 

[SoulfishHawk]

There has been zero tanking going on, zero.

 

[Weadoption]

if you guys keep posting this thread will never die

 

[SoulfishHawk]

That's the point. It needs to NEVER die. It's pure gold

 

[Cyrus12]

Rams tanking still...

 

[Fade]

In hindsight it is bad.

But before the season even started.

-They had the cheapest defense in the NFL. In both picks, and cash.

- Their #1 WR out and injured.

-Their QB old, injured, could retire at any time.

-They are in the middle of a reset, from mortgaging the future with a lack of picks, and huge dead money charges.

It was very logical to expect them to be one of the worst teams in the NFL this year.

I have been nothing but impressed with McVay and what he has managed to pull off with such a flawed roster.

 

[Weadoption]

In hindsight it is bad.

But before the season even started.

-They had the cheapest defense in the NFL. In both picks, and cash.

- Their #1 WR out and injured.

-Their QB old, injured, could retire at any time.

-They are in the middle of a reset, from mortgaging the future with a lack of picks, and huge dead money charges.

It was very logical to expect them to be one of the worst teams in the NFL this year.

I have been nothing but impressed with McVay and what he has managed to pull off with such a flawed roster.

dude hit on Puka and 4 legit D starters on the cheap.
it isn’t being talked about enough imo.
Stafford stayed relatively healthy and Donald.

 

[Maelstrom787]

In hindsight it is bad.

But before the season even started.

-They had the cheapest defense in the NFL. In both picks, and cash.

- Their #1 WR out and injured.

-Their QB old, injured, could retire at any time.

-They are in the middle of a reset, from mortgaging the future with a lack of picks, and huge dead money charges.

It was very logical to expect them to be one of the worst teams in the NFL this year.

I have been nothing but impressed with McVay and what he has managed to pull off with such a flawed roster.

You don't get a cookie for being less wrong.

 

[NINEster]

In hindsight it is bad.

But before the season even started.

-They had the cheapest defense in the NFL. In both picks, and cash.

- Their #1 WR out and injured.

-Their QB old, injured, could retire at any time.

-They are in the middle of a reset, from mortgaging the future with a lack of picks, and huge dead money charges.

It was very logical to expect them to be one of the worst teams in the NFL this year.

I have been nothing but impressed with McVay and what he has managed to pull off with such a flawed roster.

Not sure you've ever seen what a #1 pick type of team actually looks like up close.

It's a good thing you haven't because it isn't fun. 2016 49ers was a rough season....

To suggest the Rams were #1 pick bad because of roster and QB not being so good is also missing the bigger picture of culture and past success.

Yeah, the Rams won't always be a top team......absolutely true. What they did precluded them from having a long run.....but to be a terrible team, haha.

By similar logic the Seahawks should've been worse than they've been the last few years and haven't dropped anywhere near that bad.

 

[SoulfishHawk]

TANKING ALL THE WAY TO THE PLAYOFFS!!

 

[Ramfan128]

Even a lot of Rams fans were predicting 5 wins. I was steadfast and I felt like the logic was sound:

The Rams defense last year with Wagner, Ramsey, Floyd and role players who started in the Super Bowl VASTLY underachieved. We blew 4th quarter leads and the defensive rankings were lower half of the league. Outside of the truly dominant units, defenses are volatile and random year to year.

On offense last year, we had historic (literally) OL injuries.

So the thinking was pretty straight forward:

If the defense isn't the worst in the league and is "just" below average like last season AND the OL injuries regress to the mean, McVay has proven he can make an offensive line greater than the sum of the parts.

That's exactly what happened. Puka played the role of Kupp and Williams was far better than anyone on the planet could have anticipated - but that's exactly what happened.

And the wild thing is that to date we've only played four teams that have a losing record this year. Five are 8-8, so that number will likely go up - but the point is, it's not like we've done this with the Lions schedule.

 

[Scout]

Most people thought the Rams would win 5 games and the Bucs would do like 4-6. Both teams have defied expectations because what is viewed as a flawed roster is actually a misunderstanding of what these respective organizations are trying to do.

The Cardinals are another example in that no one expected them to have 4 wins or even play so many teams in close games. The Cardinals could have easily had 3-4 more wins.

Also, the Cardinals were viewed to have the most flawed roster on both sides of the ball but it goes to show you that coaching matters in this league.

Once the Cardinals are able to add real talent to their roster in 2024 they will be a very competitive team.

 

[flv2]

Most people thought the Rams would win 5 games...

...The Cardinals are another example in that no one expected them to have 4 wins or even play so many teams in close games...

I saw a lot of this analysis in preseason but it didn't mesh with statistical modeling. The teams play each other twice so there are 2 wins. They each have another 15 games and it's difficult to find 2 teams combining to win just 20% of games. 6-24 in those other games was an absolute floor and 8-22 was most probable. 10 wins between the 2 should have been the expectation with upside more likely than downside.

 

[HawkIndio]

Did the Rams get the number one pick? did the tanking job work?