When the Rams formally introduced Sean McVay as their head coach, the 31-year-old announced he would call his own plays. You wouldn’t expect anything less from the guy who turned Kirk Cousins into a stud quarterback.
McVay, a disciple of Jay and Jon Gruden, was in charge of all aspects of game planning and play-calling for the past two seasons in Washington. The Redskins finished third in total yards last year and averaged over 24 points per game in the last two years.
“He’s a phenomenal coach, a big part of our success as an offense, probably the biggest part the last few years,” Cousins told CBS Sports earlier this offseason. “Sean did a good job of creating a scheme where we could throw the ball but we still spread it around. He got a lot of guys involved, had two 1,000-yard receivers and a Pro Bowl tight end and still was able to run the ball. I thought we did a good job mixing it up, and that’s a big credit to Sean.”
McVay was a high school quarterback, a collegiate receiver at Miami University (Ohio) and a tight ends coach with the Florida Tuskers of the USFL and with the Redskins.
Thus, you won’t be surprised to learn that McVay loves to throw the ball.
Last year was particularly nuts for Washington as the Redskins threw 61 percent of the time!
“You play to the personnel,” Cousins explained when describing McVay’s tendencies. “If you have Pro Bowl receivers and tight ends then you’re going to throw the football. We had a lot of Pro Bowl players on the outside, so we would be silly not to put that to use.”
Don’t count on the Rams being quite as aggressive in 2017 -- not with Todd Gurley in the backfield and Jared Goff under center. Perhaps they’ll be around where McVay’s Redskins were two seasons ago -- 56 pass, 44 run.
McVay found a way to still run the ball a decent amount even though he ordered up 35-plus passes per game. The results weren’t pretty, but he still found carries for his running backs.
If Cousins was honest about McVay, and if McVay is honest about the offense he’s inherited, he’ll give Todd Gurley plenty of work. And he got plenty of work last season -- 278 carries for a depressing 885 yards -- despite the Rams leaning on running backs just 19.8 times per game in 2016.
That, my friends, is low. Woefully low.
Man, the Rams really stunk last season. Their run game can’t possibly be any worse under McVay.
Cousins will tell you tight ends played a big role in Washington because the team had Jordan Reed and Vernon Davis. Those guys deserve big opportunities. But at the very least it suggests McVay is not shy at all about using tight ends, something to remember when checking out deep sleeper Tyler Higbee.
It’s also noticeable just how low the receiver receptions percentage is. Very few coaches calling plays now entered their current jobs with a percentage as low as McVay’s. It suggests McVay will be keen on spreading the ball around, which makes sense in general but is especially necessary given the Rams’ lack of receiving threats. FYI, last year’s Rams flock of receivers accounted for 60 percent of all catches.
Bottom line
McVay is in a tough spot. The Rams don’t have first- or third-round picks this year and their quarterbacks, receivers, tight ends and offensive line all need some serious attention. Other than that, they’re great!
Outside of Gurley, no one playing Fantasy should take the Rams offense too seriously. So for Gurley to redeem some value, we need to see the Rams improve their O-line. New O-line coach Aaron Kromer is a veteran who did a great job with the Bills line the past two seasons. He’ll help, but if the Rams don’t upgrade there then the offense, and Gurley, will have another tough year even with kid genius McVay running things.
