One of the ways the LA Rams football team shares unique experiences about the team itself is the way that they are willing to lend a behind-the-curtain view of the efforts and emotions of coaches, staff, and executives to all of the work that goes on behind the scenes leading up to draft day.
And the latest Rams Behind the Grind series is a priceless gift to fans in that category.
Of course, what we see about the team, the personalities, that drive the effort are still subject to the edit room cutting floor, so fans will only and always see those moments that the team, and the persons filmed, are comfortable sharing with the general public at large. While it’s common sense, we must agree to this storytelling amidst the art of story telling, a guiding hand of video footage that guides the overall message being told by the team.
But it does not make the willingness to share that unique perspective any less valuable. It does not somehow make the on-the-spot footage of Rams GM Les Snead, HC Sean McVay, or countless appearances of scouts and support staff any less magical.
Perhaps it makes it all even moreso.
The Rams celebrated and shared their Behind the Grind views in 2023. This entire four-part series was such a success that the football organization opted to repeat the process for 2024. What I appreciate most about this year’s BTG series is how so many diverse topics have been addressed quickly already.
The recap of all offseason issues in episode one paves the way for fans to focus on the 2024 NFL Draft in episode two, the team’s training camp in episode three (future episode), and the players themselves in episode four (future episode).
Behind the Grind: Chapter I
This year’s Behind the Grind series is a masterpiece so far with just two episodes under the bridge. The model of how the team restocked their 2023 Rams roster, not just with young talented players, but with young players who embodied a passion for the game of football that buried the needle, has become the template for any and every NFL team that paid attention
But solving the challenges of any given NFL off-season merely ensures that the front office and coaching staff will be met with an entirely new set of challenges the following year, and the LA Rams football team is no exception to that cycle. In episode one, the Rams recap the off-season events and issues that this team faces as everyone pivots from last season to the road ahead.
Here’s what you can expect from this episode (per Youtube video description).
(2:44) – Aaron Donald’s Retirement
(8:23) – Puka Nacua’s Offseason
(15:00) – Ernest Jones Malbon Golf
(18:12) – Tyler Higbee ACL Rehab
(22:53) – Chris Shula as New Rams DC
(26:07) – Rams Team Meeting
Now, here is the video (it’s nearly 30 minutes, and well worth the time to view in its entirety.
The beauty of this video is that it truly captures the depth and breath of the challenges facing the team. But this is more than a 30,000 foot view of the team, but rather there are a number of exposes that reveal a bit more of individual players.
While we, as fans, often gloss over the human impact of the players’ lives impacted by their NFL football careers, I embrace opportunities to reveal and share those emotional elements of players and players’ families lives. After all, when we are cheering for players, we are also cheering their family, friends, former coaches, and everyone that player has touched and been supported by throughout their life and football career.
The video is a microcosm of possibilities that every professional athlete faces in every season of their career. The first BTG episode takes a look at the lives of players and concludes with a team meeting that touches them all. It’s an emotional roller coaster, touching the sorrow generated by the retirement of All-Pro DT Aaron Donald, to the thrill of Chis Shula’s hiring as this team’s new defensive coordinator.
Now, armed with what was, the series prepares fans for episode two, and what will be.
Behind the Grind: Chapter II
The LA Rams entered the 2024 NFL Draft with another huge shopping list and a need for cosmic intervention to pull off the perfect draft. Let’s not kid ourselves. Even after a very impressive 2023 NFL season, the team continued to face shortcomings in depth. And the transition from 2023 to 2024 continued to expose the team to a lack of quality talent at key positions.
But this was not a typical draft for the LA Rams. This was the first draft since the team hired HC Sean McVay that the team was armed with a pick in Round 1, the 19th overall pick, and the speculation was running wild over how this team would ultimately use that selection. Prior to the draft the Rams confirmed that all options were on the table: Trading up, standing pat, or trading back.
In episode two, the Behind the Grind series covers the 2024 NFL Draft from the LA Rams perspective. Here are the topics covered in episode two:
(2:15) – Behind the Draft
(6:04) – UCLA Pro Day
(9:00) – First round pick
(11:30) – Rams draft headquarters
(16:24) – Package deal from Seminoles defensive front
(19:00) – Trading up for Fiske
(21:45) – The call
(24:20) – Round 3
(28:30) – NFL Draft Day 3
(33:00) – OTAs preview
What is perhaps the most unique aspect of this episode is the manner in which you can see the Rams brain trust active brainstorm strategies over the 2024 NFL Draft, and the reasons behind the team’s almost obsessive interest in trading up for the second Florida State Seminoles defender, DT Braden Fiske.
It’s a thrill to see the footage of how Snead and McVay exhibit the enthusiasm of reuniting Jared Verse and Braden Fiske on the Rams roster, and the unedited expression of that enthusiasm when the team pulls off that almost miraculous maneuvering to do so. This episode is loaded with fine details that certainly set up the fans for the final two episodes in this series.
Behind the Grind: Future Episodes
After the team’s first two episodes of the 2024 Behind the Grind, fans have a solid sense of the Rams roster for 2024, or at least the 90-man training camp roster that will grind it out over the summer months. Of course, that serves to segue this team into OTAs and training camp with expertise in teasing and foreshadowing that will give fans a sense of who is competing and for which roles on the team.
If the 2024 BTG series follows the 2023 template, episode three will dive a bit more in-depth with some of the key personnel who will lead the team in 2024. That will likely include not just players, but key coaches as well. The producers of the series have plenty of options to choose from, as the team has once again restocked the roster as well as restaffed the coaches. Last year, this episode included OTAs, and that is almost certainly one of the chapters to be included in episode three for 2024 as well.
Episode four of the series will unveil the Rams 2024 training camp, and every aspect of competition that accompanies the annual event for the team. This episode will likely feature the interactions between players. There will be the heated competition among rookies who are vying for a roster spot. Contrasting that will be the opportunities for veteran players to mentor younger players throughout training camp.
There will be a lot of starting positions, roster spots, and playing time at stake throughout training camp, and that always makes compelling viewing for fans. Best of all, it’s not something that is dependant upon someone else to point out. Rather, the episodes themselves can be viewed in part or in their entirety, at a fan’s leisure. And, throughout the season, fans can return to these episodes to recapture the emotions of the moment.
After the final two episodes are available, we will revisit this series once more. Not to tell you what to view, but to summarize the videos, highlight the key chapters of each, and perhaps facilitate conversations among fans over their contents. In the end, these videos have take a lot of time and energy to compile. But having seen the first two, I can attest without hesitation that they are certainly worth it.
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