The Most Important Thing For The Los Angeles Rams In The 2017 NFL Draft Has Nothing To Do With The Draft Or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love Sean McVay

From Bleacher Report, Sean Mcvay Is The Bold Aggressive Hire The Los Angeles Rams Desperately Need:

It didn't take long for McVay to rise through the ranks, and when Jay Gruden took the reins in D.C. back in 2014, he named McVay his offensive coordinator. Over the past three years, McVay garnered a reputation as one of the brighter young offensive minds in the NFL, guiding an offense that was third in the NFL offensively in 2016, averaging just over 403 yards a game.

That's a number that no doubt appealed to a Rams team that's finished dead last in offense the last two seasons.

McVay has also received quite a bit of praise for his development of Kirk Cousins, who went from fourth-round draft pick to afterthought to franchise quarterback who set team records in passing yardage in successive seasons under McVay's tutelage.

If you think that didn't resonate in a big way with the Rams brass, then you didn't see Jared Goff play in 2016.

From MMQB, He’s the NFL’s Best Head Coaching Candidate. And He’s 30:

In 2015, Gruden quietly handed play-calling duties to McVay. Kirk Cousins was the new starting QB after spending the entire offseason working behind Griffin. (A lot of wasted practice reps those turned out to be.) In the second half of the season, Cousins threw for 2,212 yards, 19 touchdowns and two interceptions (passer rating: 126.1). Washington surged to an NFC East title.

What stood out again and again on film was how few plays the quarterback himself had to actually create. Washington’s system, with its array of formations, intertwined route combinations and zone running game married to play-action, was often defining the plays for him. Schematically, there may not have been a better-designed offense in football. Cousins, to his credit, allowed it to function and prospered under the circumstances.

Since the Los Angeles Rams hired Sean McVay to be their next head coach, we’ve seen a common refrain repeated regarding his offensive aptitude and flexibility to mold his system to his players and, vice versa, that same adaptability to get players to fit his scheme. Kirk Cousins. Jordan Reed. DeSean Jackson and Pierre Garcon. It’s been an unending stream of unequivocal praise, praise that McVay has undoubtedly earned.

The question is how much you truly believe in his ability to do the same in Los Angeles, because if you truly do, there’s no reason you shouldn’t be able to get behind the idea of the Rams’ class coming out of the 2017 NFL Draft leaning heavily on defensive investments.

A defense-heavy draft similar to the five-round mock we saw from NFL Media’s Chad Reuter shouldn’t pose a problem to those who have full confidence in McVay’s abilities to coach up offense players. QB Jared Goff, RB Todd Gurley, TE Tyler Higbee and WR Tavon Austin should all benefit from his arrival, no? With the Rams’ official offseason activities beginning in one week, McVay will be able to transform the NFL’s worst offense into a competent unit regardless of personnel moves per this logic.

There’s a universal buy-in on McVay’s capabilities right now, on his ability to save the Fisher-era roster disappointments. If the Rams have as much faith as many Rams fans seem to, they could well use most of their limited draft capital on the defensive side.

The most important factor driving the Rams’ draft strategy doesn’t have anything to do with the draft.

It’s simply a question of faith.