Was Nick Caley Responsible For Rams' Post-Super Bowl Success?

Caley, a longtime New England Patriots assistant, served the franchise from 2015-2022, winning two Super Bowls including Super Bowl LIII over Los Angeles. He then joined the Rams in 2023 as the tight ends coach before getting his first coordinator job this offseason.

A promotion well deserved, as NFL analyst Brett Kollmann broke down how Caley revolutionized the Rams offense.

"From what I understand, he was one of the guys that McVay brought in from the Patriots to help streamline the Rams' transition away from being an outside zone heavy team (the Gurley era) into being arguably *the* gap scheme team in the NFL," wrote Kollmann. "Which is always what the Pats were back in the day."

"McVay was already trying to make that transition, but Caley is who helped solidify and perfect it. Per Pro Football Focus from 2022 to 2023, the Rams jumped from 25% man blocking scheme usage (5th) to 42% (1st), and at the same time dropped from 10th to 20th in OZ."

It's also important to note that since Gurley's departure, the Rams haven't had a running back who could turn the corner like he used to and while Cam Akers did look promising, injuries derailed that venture.

Kyren Williams is much more suited for a man-blocking scheme, running between the tackles.

"With Caley's influence they changed their whole identity as an offense, and even changed what kinds of body types they prioritized in the run game."

"A lot of folks expect the Texans offense to look Sean McVay-ish this year, but I think it's more likely that it will look Josh McDaniels-ish, but with sprinkles of McVay in there."

"CJ saying that he has "full control" pre-snap now just feels so Erhardt-Perkins to me. Giving the QB control is kind of the point of that entire offense."

The Rams need to watch out, as they won't have much film on Houston before the opener. Expect the Texans to attack the inside with Nico Collins while we could see a career revival for Damien Pierce.