Seahawks NFC West preview: 5 questions about the Rams offseason

Two final questions

12th Man Rising: The Seahawks now have Shane Waldron as offensive coordinator and he coached with the Rams for several seasons before. Does losing Waldron at all? Or is Sean McVay simply the guy who pulls all the strings?

Bret Stuter: I think for all intents and purposes, this was the time for the LA Rams and Waldron to part ways. Shane Waldron served as the Rams tight-end coach and as the passing game coordinator for the team.

While coaches hire one elsewhere all the time, the Rams coaching carousel heated up dramatically at the end of the 2020 season, as both defensive and offensive positional coaches jumped ship. In Waldron’s case, it’s no stretch to connect his move to the Seahawks with the Rams’ eventual decision to part ways with QB Jared Goff.

Waldron was effective enough, but the team feels that Wes Phillips in the role this year will align more closely with what the Rams want to do offensively. It’s certainly a side narrative to keep tabs on this year.

One move Rams should have made

12th Man Rising: What is one move that you wish the Rams had made this offseason but didn’t and why do you wish they had?

Bret Stuter: That’s a tough one because it falls into the woulda coulda shoulda realm, and that is hard to argue either way. The Rams moved aggressively to add offensive weapons, but I’m struggling to respect the value of drafting Tutu Atwell in round two. I saw his value two rounds later, and the Rams passed on any number of talented offensive linemen who, even if they didn’t start in 2021, would be huge on the depth chart for 2022.

The Rams have so far resisted the attempts of Jalen Ramsey to recruit WR Julio Jones and CB Stephen Gilmore, and I’m okay with that. I think that the Rams are saturated with ‘big’ moves. But even now, I’m not convinced that the depth at some critical positions is sufficient for a 17-game regular season.