It’s unusual—if not unprecedented—for its timing, but the Los Angeles Rams scouting shakeup on Monday may have been overdue.
The Rams dismissed four scouts over the weekend just a couple of weeks before the 2017 NFL Draft, according to Pro Football Talk.
The list included Ran Carthon, as first reported by CBSSports.com’s Jason La Canfora, who served as the Rams director of pro personnel the past five seasons. He previously worked with Rams general manager Les Snead in Atlanta.
The others included area scouts Evan Ardoin, Danton Barto and Sean Gustus.
Most teams’ scouting shakeups don’t take place until after the draft, Pro Football Talk reported. But most of the preparation leading up to the draft has been completed, making the Rams scouting shakeup more logical.
“Much of a club’s legwork for the draft is already done,” Pro Football Talk explained. “Pro days are over. Draft boards are all but set.
“Moving on from these scouts now may assist their job search, although most jobs elsewhere won’t become officially available until May.”
PFT added that the Cleveland Browns executed a similar scouting shakeup last year before the draft, parting ways with six scouts.
The three other scouts fired also had sample time vested in the Rams. Ardoin, whom Turf Show Times reported was the Rams’ midwestern region scout, had been with the franchise for eight seasons. Barto, a southern region scout, had four years with the Rams and Gustus was a southeast region scout for five years for the club.
The Rams have drafted only three impact players in the last five years that are still on the team, as chronicled in an earlier Rams Headquarters story: defensive end Robert Quinn, defensive tackle Aaron Donald and running back Todd Gurley.
Given the fact that the franchise never produced a winning record during Carthon’s tenure, going in a new direction seems to be a good idea.
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