The departure of maligned head coach Jeff Fisher has paved the way for a new era of Rams football in Los Angeles, but it also leaves general manager Les Snead without his greatest scapegoat – forced to assume sole ownership over the team’s failures.

At least, that’s Patrick Daugherty’s explanation for Snead’s significant ten spot drop in his annual ranking of the NFL’s general managers for Rotoworld. In his 2016 edition, Daugherty ranked Snead 18th in the league, citing the Rams acquisition of stud defensive talent across the board – specifically Aaron Donald.

However his main concern with Snead was the GM’s inability to improve an anemic offense, which was improbably worse in 2016 than it was the previous season.

Hence this scathing review of Snead’s management in the newly released 2017 rankings, in which he delivers and ominous prediction regarding the GM’s future employment:

Via Rotoworld.com:

Les Snead still has his job, but he no longer has his alibi. With Jeff Fisher gone, there’s no one to hide behind. Snead has to own a roster that’s been historically inept on offense and riddled with underachievers on defense. To his credit, Snead has approached 2017 with a sense of urgency. He replaced Fisher with his polar opposite, making offensive-minded Sean McVay the youngest head coach in NFL history. Next, he lured LT Andrew Whitworth from the Bengals, filling a hole the Rams have had since Orlando Pace left St. Louis. Letting Kenny Britt walk in favor of Robert Woods was questionable, but clearly at the behest of his new head coach. Snead’s biggest problems as he untangles the headphone cords of the Fisher era are directly related. He doesn’t have a first-round pick. He flushed it down the toilet in last year’s calamitous trade for Jared Goff. With no signal caller or first-rounder, it’s going to be hard to get this gas guzzler out of neutral. It will likely end up a job for another man.

Damn, tell us how you really feel. While definitely harsh, most of Daugherty’s sentiments are hard to argue with. Still, the “calamitous trade” is only so if it turns out that Jared Goff is not capable of developing into a franchise quarterback, which is still to be determined.

Related Rams may prioritize drafting weapons for Goff over needs in the secondary

With an overhauled coaching staff and an entirely new locker room philosophy entering this season, it’s unfair to judge Goff as a bust just yet – particularly after the controversial way he finally earned his starting role under Fisher’s dysfunctional regime.

All Rams fans can hope for now is that Sean McVay and his staff can develop Goff into the best version of himself – and pray that his best is good enough to get them back into the playoffs. Otherwise, Daugherty is absolutely right – the Rams will suffer yet another losing season, and someone else will have Snead’s job come 2018.