Los Angeles Rams: Sean McVay’s true talent will shine in year three

Sean McVay has been the head coach of the Los Angeles Rams for just two seasons and a lot of fans already consider him one of the best coaches in the NFL.

The Los Angeles Rams had one of the quickest turnarounds from being a mediocre team to being one of the best teams in the National Football League. After a 13-year playoff drought, the Rams went from 4-12 to 11-5 to win the NFC West.

While the front office did add some pieces prior to the 2017 season, the team was not vastly different from the team that returned to LA the year before. The biggest difference was at head coach, as Sean McVay took the job over from Jeff Fisher.

McVay became the youngest head coach in NFL history after serving in the Washington Redskins staff in various roles for seven seasons. Not many knew what to expect when McVay was hired, but whatever it was, he blew it out of the water.

More from LA Sports Hub

• Lakers: 5 Players to Target Through Trades to make another championship run
• LA Chargers: Week 8 against Denver Broncos is a must-win
• LA Rams: Jared Goff wants to keep the Los Angeles title streak going
• Lakers Rumors: Los Angeles Clippers interested in Rajon Rondo
• LA Chargers: Justin Herbert wins AFC Rookie of the Month

Second-year quarterback Jared Goff was exceptional under McVay, dusting off any rookie-year cobwebs that led some to think there was bust potential there. The Rams’ offense became one of the most entertaining in the league and the defense, under Wade Phillips, did enough to win games.

The success continued into 2018, where the Rams were the most dominant team in the league for most of the year, finishing with a 13-3 record and representing the NFC in the Super Bowl. Although the Rams did not win the big game, their success cemented McVay as one of the best head coaches in the NFL.

McVay has become so highly respected in the NFL that it has become a running joke that anyone associated with him is assumed to be a genius, which has been the Bill Belichick effect. Cameron DaSilva of The Rams Wire did a great job of breaking down the McVay effect here.

And while McVay certainly deserves the praise he has received thus far, his third season as head coach will tell us whether or not that praise has been a bit overblown.

This is not to say that McVay is a bad head coach, not in the slightest. McVay has already done enough to prove that he is a great head coach and it would take a lot to take that away from him.

However, he did enter his first head coaching gig with offensive pieces that were ready to explode. Goff had the natural talent and needed the direction, Todd Gurley exploded for over 2,000 yards from scrimmage and Aaron Donald cemented himself as the best defensive player in the league.

He was then gifted more pieces in his second season to give the Los Angeles Rams one of the most stacked rosters in the league.

This year is different. While the Rams still have one of the best rosters in the league, they are missing some key pieces. Ndamukong Suh is gone, the offensive line got worse and is getting older and Todd Gurley is not 100 percent.

Just that last thing could have a huge impact on the team. Gurley is the engine that drives the offense and it is why the Rams were the best team in play action last season. Without Gurley, who knows how this offense responds. Albeit it is a small sample size, just look at how lost the offense looked during Super Bowl LIII.

That was a bad showing for McVay that is not indicative of his coaching ability but it is strange that he did not adjust when the going got tough. He had a bit of stubbornness to his coaching that “this will eventually work” and it never did.

It felt like when you finally play someone who is better than you at Madden and the same plays that you are used to working every single time don’t work. McVay had not yet faced that challenge and seemingly didn’t know what to do to overcome it.

That was a learning experience and it will undoubtedly make McVay a better coach. And heck, if he does as good, if not better than the Los Angeles Rams did last season then it will undoubtedly prove that he is one of the best head coaches in the league.

However, if he shows that same stubbornness at times in 2019 and this year is more of a headache, then it definitely will slow down the breaks on McVay’s hype, at least for the time being.