National Football League

Schrager's Cheat Sheet: Rams' Dream Team model working just fine

Updated Jan. 9, 2022 5:15 p.m. ET

By Peter Schrager
FOX Sports NFL Analyst

Welcome to the Week 18 edition of the Schrager Cheat Sheet.

Each week, I take a look at several things you need to know heading into the NFL weekend. This week, we evaluate the Rams' Dream Team concept, track the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year chase and more.

1. Who needs future draft picks anyway?

Odell Beckham Jr.'s first game as a Los Angeles Ram didn't go so well. The 49ers walloped Los Angeles on national TV in a 31-10 bashing on Monday Night Football. Beckham caught two balls for 18 yards that night. After weeks of speculation about where he'd end up after he was let go by the Cleveland Browns, the Twitter jokesters and Internet memes reveled in the fun.

It only got worse after the bye week, when in a nationally televised game on FOX, the Packers beat L.A. 36-28. Matthew Stafford struggled, throwing a pick-six in his third straight game. The Rams fell a few games back of Arizona in the NFC West standings, and the whole concept of the L.A. Dream Team was parodied by football observers far and wide.

Well, a little more than a month later, the Rams have won five straight games and are one of the hottest teams in football. What's more, they are winning with a grit and toughness that few thought they possessed during their three-game losing streak.

On Sunday, in the rain, against a proud Baltimore team fighting for its playoff life in its own building, the Rams found a way. And though it was a complete team effort, there were a handful of individuals with something in common who stepped up in the final moments.

For all the eye rolling about the Rams' approach to roster building, it was the veteran players they picked up or acquired for those precious draft picks who made the biggest plays when it mattered most.

Consider this:

— Matthew Stafford: Acquired from Detroit on March 18 in exchange for a 2021 third-round pick, a 2022 first-round pick, a 2023 first-round pick and Jared Goff

Stafford brought his team back from a double-digit deficit in the second half Sunday, completing his final 14 pass attempts. Stafford has been far from perfect of late, but coach Sean McVay hasn’t wavered in his support of his quarterback. There's a confidence that the interceptions — five in the past two games — will be cleaned up and that when it matters most, Stafford can go 75 yards on a game-winning drive in the rain.

— Sony Michel: Acquired from New England on Aug. 2 in exchange for 2022 fifth- and sixth-round picks

When the Rams were considering trading for Michel, they went back and forth on what he could bring to the team that it didn't already have. That turned out to be big-game experience and a championship pedigree at the running back position.

In Michel, the Rams not only got a player who had an excellent Super Bowl performance against them three years ago (94 yards on 18 carries) but also a guy who has been reliable late in the season. Michel led all NFL running backs in rushing yards in the month of December, when the Rams were without Cam Akers and Jake Funk and when Darrell Henderson was in and out of the lineup.

On Sunday against the Ravens, Michel carried the ball 19 times for 74 yards and scored a TD. He was the bell cow in ugly conditions on the East Coast, just as he was so many times for Bill Belichick's Patriots. With or without Cam Akers in the lineup, that will continue.

— Von Miller: Acquired from Denver on Nov. 2 in exchange for 2022 second- and third-round picks

Miller was quiet early with Los Angeles, but he has been a stud the past few weeks. On Sunday, he was as good as he was in his vintage Denver days. Miller was all over the field, recording five tackles and two sacks. He danced over Tyler Huntley as he recorded the final takedown to end Baltimore's final drive. Miller, like Michel, offers championship pedigree and a big-game résumé that the Rams lacked going into 2021.

— Odell Beckham Jr.: Signed Nov. 12 after being cut by Cleveland

Beckham saved his best for last. Although he might have had a miscommunication on an earlier route that led to a Stafford INT, it was Beckham — not Cooper Kupp — who was the target of the two biggest passes in Sunday's win. On fourth-and-5 with less than two minutes on the clock, Stafford side-armed one to Beckham with a defender draped all over him. OBJ stretched the ball out with one hand, ensuring a first down.

Then, on first-and-goal, it was Beckham whom Stafford targeted underneath along the sideline. OBJ's toe-tapping sideline ballet move, with the ball outstretched over the goal line, was a thing of beauty. It also was the finishing touch of the 75-yard drive that so many around the league were waiting to see from Stafford & Co.

Odell Beckham Jr. delivers clutch win for Rams

Rams wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. helped lead his team to a win over the Ravens, converting a key fourth down in the red zone and scoring the game-winning touchdown on the next play.

But here's the thing I have to share from my talks with those on the Rams' coaching staff: Beckham has been an absolute delight and as much a team player as they could have asked for. The fact that they picked him up — and have gotten what they have over the past few weeks — for next to nothing? It's a gift.

The four players acquired were the difference Sunday, and they will continue to make plays in the playoffs. The Rams might not win any draft grade segments over the next decade, but their oft-ridiculed Dream Team approach seems to be working at the moment. Those veteran players have all stepped up.

The future draft picks they gave up to acquire them? Well, who knows?

2. Cyril's moment

It's a shame that Monday was spent discussing Antonio Brown because another Buccaneers wide receiver had a career day that got absolutely no mentions. With Chris Godwin out, Mike Evans hurting, Leonard Fournette injured and Brown somewhere outside the stadium, third-year wideout Cyril Grayson made the two biggest receptions of the game on the final drive.

Grayson, who had the game-winning touchdown, finished the day with six catches for 81 yards and the score. The Buccaneers are going to need him to step up over the next month and a half.

But who is he?

I think his story is awesome. Grayson went to LSU, a program that has churned out NFL receivers Jarvis Landry, Odell Beckham, Justin Jefferson, Ja'Marr Chase, Russell Gage and Terrace Marshall the past couple of years. But Grayson's career stats at LSU included zero catches, zero yards and zero TDs.

Huh?

Grayson didn't play football at LSU; he was a track star. He was a four-time NCAA track and field relay national champion and a seven-time All-American (indoor/outdoor), and he once ran a 45.91 in the 400 meters.

He decided to partake in LSU's Pro Day in 2017 and blew scouts away with his speed. Prior to that, his last time participating in any organized football was at Archbishop Rummell High School in Metairie, Louisiana. Plenty of NFL teams were impressed at the Pro Day, and though Grayson wasn't drafted, he spent time with the Seahawks, Colts, Texans, Bears and Saints.

The Buccaneers signed him off the Cowboys' practice squad at the end of the 2019 season. It's a credit to not only GM Jason Licht but also his top two eagle eyes in the front office — VP of Player Personnel John Spytek and Director of Pro Scouting Rob McCartney — who had been tracking Grayson's progress and were quick to scoop him up when a wide receiver was needed.

In Grayson's first big moment with the Bucs, a Week 2 game against Carolina last season, a Tom Brady pass bounced off his helmet despite nothing but open field in front of the receiver. The blooper went viral.

Grayson remembered. The day before Sunday's game, he tweeted this:

He has come a long way since that mistake. He had a 50-yard TD catch against the Saints in Week 8, and his two late receptions Sunday made the difference.

Antonio Brown got all the headlines Monday morning, and maybe that story is a more compelling one. But Grayson's day was awesome, and his career might be just getting started.

3. The NFL's Doomsday Scenario

The NFL has stacked the Week 18 schedule so that it finishes with a climactic Chargers-Raiders win-and-in scenario on Sunday night. But there's a small — OK, tiny — chance that the NFL gets a Doomsday Scenario Sunday night instead.

Consider this. With a Pittsburgh win over Baltimore and a Jacksonville win over Indianapolis (unlikely, I know), the Steelers would actually qualify for the playoffs as a wild-card alongside the winner of Chargers-Raiders. Unless — unless — the Chargers and Raiders tie. In that case, both Los Angeles and Las Vegas would make the playoffs, and Pittsburgh and Indianapolis would be on the outside looking in.

So what would happen if Pittsburgh and Jacksonville win their games Sunday afternoon? Would the Chargers and Raiders try to win? Or would they do what makes the most sense: Come to an agreement before the game to just take knees for 60 minutes, tie 0-0 and both go to the playoffs?

Could you imagine that broadcast? I sure hope Al and Cris and whoever is on the sideline have a lot of stories, research and info ready to share because that would be the most bizarre broadcast in the history of the sport.

When I used to primarily do sideline reporting for FOX Sports, my producer, Mark Teitelman, would always refer to my "bag." In a blowout, "T Man" would buzz down to me and ask what I had in "my bag," meaning what information — essential, mundane or off the wall — did I have to help tell a story when the game itself wasn't doing much?

If all the Chargers and Raiders need is a tie to ensure they both make the playoffs, the 272nd and last game of the NFL regular season could feature Justin Herbert and Derek Carr taking knees the entire evening. I'd sure hope everyone's "bag" would be full for that one.

Realistically, though, would both teams do that? Would division rivals actually agree before a game to just tie and benefit each other? It's a Prisoner's Dilemma, really. This is Game Theory 101. Imagine an agreement were made beforehand, but after three quarters, one of the teams decided, "Screw it. We'd love to eliminate our hated division rivals."

Could you imagine, instead of taking a final knee to end the game, Carr hoisting a bomb to Zay Jones? I'm giddy just thinking about all of this.

It's a Doomsday Scenario for a lot of reasons, but it's possible. After the past 20 months, wouldn't it be fitting?

4. Offensive Rookie of the Year

I polled eight NFL executives in a very informal poll Tuesday and asked whom the NFL's Offensive Rookie of the Year should be. Four said Mac Jones. Four said Ja'Marr Chase.

Could it really come down to Week 18? It depends on what you think is a more impressive feat. Last year, Justin Jefferson broke the NFL's rookie receiving yards record and finished second to Justin Herbert, who broke the NFL's rookie touchdown record.

This year, Jones is the quarterback of a playoff team, while Chase has already broken Jefferson's record on a division winner. A few years back, Saquon Barkley beat Baker Mayfield, a quarterback — but Mayfield didn't go to the playoffs that season.

I don't have a vote. If I did, I think I'd go Chase. But gosh, I couldn't shake a fist if it's Jones hoisting that award at NFL Honors in a few weeks, either.

5. Under-the-radar GM prospects

There could be a few GM jobs opening up next week, and though the process of finding new ones will be long and thorough and checkered with familiar names, here are a few folks I'd like to propose. They are under the age of 45 and might not get mentioned by the major search firms or the big agents.

— Adrian Wilson, Vice President of Pro Personnel, Arizona Cardinals: Wilson, a Cardinals Ring of Honor member for his decorated playing career in the desert, joined the team's scouting department after his retirement in 2015 and has been a rising star ever since. GM Steve Keim is often joined by Wilson on scouting trips, and his voice is as respected as any within the organization's walls. If Arizona continues to hit with draft picks, Wilson should get interviews for GM gigs in the coming years.

— John Spytek, Vice President of Personnel, Tampa Bay Buccaneers: The Michigan grad is in his 18th season in the NFL and has worn several hats for several organizations. His greatest success has come with the champion Buccaneers. Spytek oversees the day-to-day operations of the college and pro scouting departments for Tampa Bay and is a big voice in both free agency and the draft.

— Ryan Poles, Executive Director of Player Personnel, Kansas City Chiefs: Poles interviewed and impressed last year when he got in front of David Tepper for the Panthers' GM job. Smart, decisive and highly regarded around the league, Poles has had an opportunity to learn under Andy Reid and GM Brett Veach while helping to build a perennial championship contender.

— Zach Truty, Player Personnel, New York Jets: Truty has worked on both the pro and college sides in New York and spent time in Chicago before that. He has an eye for talent and a close relationship with the Jets' coaches, as well as his front-office colleagues. He communicates well, is decisive and played a role in acquiring the Jets' promising rookie crop.

— Trey Scott, Player Personnel, Las Vegas Raiders: One of Mike Mayock's top assistants in Vegas, Scott played at Kansas State under Bill Snyder and is already viewed as a mentor to younger scouts around the league. A clear communicator, he's respected in NFL circles for his honesty and keen eye.

— Brandt Tilis, Vice President of Football Operations, Kansas City Chiefs: Tilis has 12 years in Kansas City and has worn a lot of hats within the organization. Like Mike Greenberg and Tony Pastoors (below), Tilis is not a traditional "scout" but more of a business and analytical mind. Patrick Mahomes’ "baseball player" contract that was unprecedented and ensured Mahomes will wear no other jersey for 10 years? Tilis was the point person on the framework. He interviewed last year with Carolina as well.

— Tony Pastoors, Vice President of Football and Business Operations, Los Angeles Rams: A Dartmouth grad, Pastoors has worked with Les Snead, Kevin Demoff and current Lions GM Brad Holmes in building a perennial contender in Los Angeles. Pastoors is viewed more as a business and salary-cap visionary than a traditional player scout.

— Mike Greenberg, Vice President of Football Administration, Tampa Bay Buccaneers: How did the Bucs get all those stars and new acquisitions under the salary cap the past couple of years? Greenberg, a former league office employee on Park Avenue, runs point on most negotiations. A lawyer by trade, he's also a beloved member of the organization, having climbed the Bucs' org chart the past 12 years under multiple coaching and GM regimes. A native of Belmore, New York, "Greeny" would be an interesting candidate if the Giants' GM job were to become available.

Peter Schrager is an NFL writer for FOX Sports and a host of "Good Morning Football" on NFL Network.