The NFL world looked down at the Los Angeles Rams in disbelief just over one year ago.
The Rams, finally free of Jeff Fisher's mediocre reign, rejected conventional thinking and a slew of worthy veteran candidates to hire Sean McVay - then a 30-year-old with just three years of experience as an NFL offensive coordinator - making him the youngest head coach in league history.
Yes, McVay was a rising star thanks to his impressive work developing Washington Redskins quarterback Kirk Cousins from a backup into a legitimate starter, but his jump up to head coach seemed years too soon. The move appeared to be a huge risk for the Rams, who'd flopped in their first season in L.A. and watched helplessly as No. 1 overall pick Jared Goff produced one of the worst seasons ever by a rookie quarterback.
But fortune favors the bold, and just one year into the McVay era, the Rams look to have the NFL's next great head coach on their hands - and the heavy favorite to take home 2017 Coach of the Year honors.
McVay isn't the only strong candidate, as Doug Pederson, Bill Belichick, and Mike Zimmer all deserve to be in the conversation. But it should be a short one that ultimately rewards the Rams' wunderkind thanks to the team's drastic improvement from its final year under Fisher.
And when it comes to the Rams' offense, "drastic" might even be underselling the first-year progress under McVay. Here's a visual representation of just how much he transformed the overall unit in 2017:
biggest year to year offensive jump i can find is 2016 rams to 2017 rams. completely different teams. pic.twitter.com/yNE42BDr0K
— charles mcdonald (@FourVerts) January 27, 2018
McVay's impact was blindingly obvious in more traditional offensive stats, too:
| Points per game | Rank | Rushing YPG | Rank | Passing YPG | Rank | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 14 | 32nd | 78.2 | 31st | 184.4 | 31st |
| 2017 | 29.9 | 1st | 122.1 | 8th | 239.4 | 10th |
If taking a team from worst to first in points per game isn't enough to just give McVay the award and call it a day, let's take a closer look at just how much he rejuvenated two of the three franchise cornerstones - Jared Goff and Todd Gurley.
As mentioned, Goff was horrendous in his rookie season, sitting behind Case Keenum for nine games before closing out the campaign as the starter. Meanwhile, Gurley regressed severely in his sophomore year. While the running back's issues were largely chalked up to bad play-calling and a poor offensive line, there were questions about whether he was a true game-changer on the level of David Johnson and Le'Veon Bell.
Well, what a difference a year (and a competent coach) makes.
| Goff | Year | GP | Passing yards | TDs | INTs | Comp % | YPA | Passer rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 7 | 1089 | 5 | 7 | 54.6 | 5.3 | 63.6 | |
| 2017 | 15 | 3804 | 28 | 7 | 62.1 | 8.0 | 100.5 |
| Gurley | Year | GP | Rushing Yards | YPC | Receiving yards | Catches | Total TDs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 16 | 885 | 3.2 | 327 | 43 | 6 | |
| 2017 | 15 | 1305 | 4.7 | 788 | 64 | 19 |
Goff's passer-rating improvement - a mind-boggling 36.9-point positive swing - was the third-largest jump over a player's previous season in league history.
Gurley is likely to finish second in MVP voting behind Tom Brady and is a strong contender to be named Offensive Player of the Year thanks to his league-leading scoring output and outstanding versatility.
Overall, McVay deserves plaudits for hiring Wade Phillips as defensive coordinator and giving the 70-year-old full control of the unit, for his masterful handling of Aaron Donald's holdout, and for his seamless integration of free agents like Andrew Whitworth and Robert Woods.
But more than anything, McVay's outstanding work with Goff, Gurley, and the offense overall gave the franchise new life and is the biggest reason he should easily take home the silverware at Saturday's NFL Honors.
