What happened: PFF's new list of 15 future head coach candidates that NFL fans need to know includes a pair of assistants currently working alongside Sean McVay in Los Angeles. It is the latest signal that the Rams' staff room is viewed around the league as a proving ground for future head coaches.

Why it matters: A staff that keeps generating head coaching candidates usually reflects an operation that develops people and wins doing it. It also tracks with an offseason of visible internal confidence, like when McVay canceled Rams minicamp in a show of trust in his roster. If your assistants are on everyone's shortlist and your head coach is still the standard, that is infrastructure most franchises can only envy.