Paton Pulls Out; Snead Slides In

By Anthony Bafaro

Left to Right:  COO-Kevin Demoff, GM-Les Snead,
and HC-Jeff Fisher

With Fisher in charge of roster personnel and Demoff taking care of the contracts, the Rams were looking for a GM that could run a scouting department and meld well with the front-office personalities already in place.  Those parameters eventually cut a field of many down to two: Falcons’ Head of Player Personnel, Les Snead, and Vikings Head of Player Personnel, George Paton.  Snead was the first candidate contacted when the elongated interview process began and was called back for a second interview after the Rams hired Fisher.  Paton was a late addition to the list and interviewed after Fisher became involved. 

On the morning of February 11^th, Jim Thomas reported that the job was “Paton’s to lose.”  Within 24 hours, Paton announced that he was pulling out of the running and accepting a promotion with the Vikings to Assistant GM.  That is how Les Snead became GM of the Rams.

Is this unsettling to anyone else?  Paton was hand-picked by Fisher, right?  The Rams already had a legion of candidates when they hired Fisher.  Then he came in, looked at the list, and said, “Yeah, that’s nice, but let's interview George Paton.”  Then they cut it down to two finalists as if it was some realty show finale or presidential primary, and just as they were about to announce the winner, Paton pulls out.  So not only did we lose out on our top pick to an Assistant GM job, but our de facto GM has to come in knowing that he was a backup-plan, mostly by request of the head coach.

Snead has spent the last thirteen years in the Falcons’ personnel department, surviving an ownership change, eight coaching changes, and the incarceration of former number one overall pick Michael Vick.  He was promoted to Head of Player Personnel (HPP) prior to the 2009 season, one year after the Falcons hired Thomas Dimitroff as GM.  Of the 21 players drafted during Snead’s three years as HPP, 20 are still on the roster and 7 are starters.  That’s amazing, especially to Rams fans, who have endured four years of Devaney’s dismal retention rate.

There was a lot of second-guessing surrounding the 2011, draft-day-trade to acquire Julio Jones.  The Falcons moved up to the 6^th pick by trading their 1^st round pick (27), 2^nd round pick (59), and 4^th round pick (124), plus an additional 1^st and 4^th in 2012 to the Browns.  Dimitroff was the GM, so he owns the move, but Snead would have been a big part of deciding how much Jones was worth.  That’s a lot to give up for the 2^nd wide-receiver taken—too much maybe—but when you hit on nearly every pick for two years in a row, you have picks to spare.  When you’re efficient and effective on draft-day, you can afford to take risks and “overpay” for a player like Jones, who, by the way, had 1,015 yards from scrimmage and 8 touchdowns in his rookie year.

Snead may not have been the first choice, but he looks to be a sound one.  His entire career has centered on talent evaluation, and he’s proven to be skilled and/or congenial enough to adapt with different coaching demands.  He was part of an expedited, post-Vick rebuild and has had unprecedented draft success since becoming HPP.  Only time will tell whether his successful history as a personnel-man will translate to success as the Rams GM, but at onset, it appears that the franchise may have found a winner by default.