The team with the most victories in the NFL over the past three seasons -- Seattle, with 42 -- is not about to crash; few teams are as stable or capable in terms of ownership, management, coaching, personnel and playing philosophy. That's why it came as a surprise to me earlier this offseason when an NFL personnel evaluator suggested over lunch that his roster model gave the St. Louis Rams a slight edge over Seattle in terms of overall depth.
"Better depth does not necessarily translate to more wins, because the quarterback can make such a difference," this evaluator said. "But what was clear by the end of last season was how Seattle's depth was falling off, and it cost them in the Super Bowl."
I didn't buy his thinking entirely -- after all, the Seahawks were 1 yard away from winning the Super Bowl -- but our conversation came to mind Thursday night when the Rams added Georgia running back Todd Gurley with the 10th overall pick in the draft.
The consensus that running backs have been devalued can obscure the fact that game-changing ones remain of great value, especially for teams without prolific passing attacks. Gurley, by all accounts, has that kind of game-changing ability. It's one reason St. Louis could pose the biggest threat to Seattle in the NFC West, especially long term.