Les Snead has had a rough go of it in these last five years with the Rams. He started off his tenure on a high note by suckering Washington out of a bounty of picks and did manage to land Robert Quinn, Todd Gurley, Aaron Donald, and Alec Ogletree.
However, he also was the same guy that drafted Greg Robinson over Khalil Mack, traded up for Tavon Austin, and kept Jeff Fisher way too long setting the offense back to the stone age.
Rotoworld published their list of the worst GM’s in the league and Les Snead came in at #28 which is technically second worst in the league because three of the GM’s last season were in their first year. The assessment is pretty brutal with Rotoworld writing:
28. Les Snead, Rams
Last Year’s Ranking: 18
Les Snead still has his job, but he no longer has his alibi. With Jeff Fisher gone, there’s no one to hide behind. Snead has to own a roster that’s been historically inept on offense and riddled with underachievers on defense. To his credit, Snead has approached 2017 with a sense of urgency. He replaced Fisher with his polar opposite, making offensive-minded Sean McVay the youngest head coach in NFL history.
Next, he lured LT Andrew Whitworth from the Bengals, filling a hole the Rams have had since Orlando Pace left St. Louis. Letting Kenny Britt walk in favor of Robert Woods was questionable, but clearly at the behest of his new head coach.
Snead’s biggest problems as he untangles the headphone cords of the Fisher era are directly related. He doesn’t have a first-round pick. He flushed it down the toilet in last year’s calamitous trade for Jared Goff. With no signal caller or first-rounder, it’s going to be hard to get this gas guzzler out of neutral. It will likely end up a job for another man.
The Jared Goff trade will continue to dog Snead unless Goff develops into a pro quarterback and to Snead’s credit he has made an effort to turn things around. He finally realized that Fisher was not the guy to coach this team much less one that exists in the 21st century.
He brought in Sean McVay who thus far seems like the next great young coach and brought in Wade Phillips to unlock the potential on defense.
He is in the process of remodeling the scouting department, and he’s done all he can to shore up as many holes as he could in free agency so that the majority of the draft resources can go towards fixing the offense.
If he nails a pick or two and the Rams can make a run at the playoffs his job will be safe. He signed a two year extension and its clear that he’s seen the error in his ways and knows that without Fisher this roster falls squarely on him. Being ranked 2nd to last is rough but judging by the moves he’s made this season he won’t be at the bottom much longer.
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