The Los Angeles Rams made the decision this week to keep six wide receivers on their 53-man roster, giving head coach Sean McVay the needed weapons to run his three-receiver system. A system that rewrote offensive football to end the 2010s, McVay's offense looks to take it's next leap this season and the team has the versatile weapons to accomplish that goal.
Davante Adams, Puka Nacua, Tutu Atwell, Jordan Whittington, Xavier Smith, and Konata Mumpfield are the six men tasked with taking Matthew Stafford and the Los Angeles Rams airborne after the team reinvented the room following the decisions to say goodbye to Cooper Kupp and Demarcus Robinson.
All indications from the facility are that those moves are paying off.
Rams offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur made it known that he loves this receiver group, stating it's the deepest he's ever had as a coach.
"The three years I've been here, but just in the 12 years being in the league, I haven't been around on paper as deep of a group as what we have," stated LaFleur. "It’s a credit to Sean [McVay]. It's a credit to the receiver coaches for the development. It's a credit to [General Manager] Les [Snead] and his team for building such a competitive group. You have your three with Davante [Adams], Tutu [Atwell] and Puka [Nacua].
"If something happens, the show goes on. These three are more than capable of going out there, running our offense, doing a lot of the same things that we're going to ask those starters to do they can do. That’s going to be huge too for Sean within a play call like, hey, this guy's out. Oh well. We’re calling what we think is best for this defense at this moment. It’s pretty neat. It's a good group to have.”
The show in fact does go on. Mumpfield is able to step in and be that number one jumpball threat needed to win 50/50 situations, Jordan Whittington is able to supplement Puka Nacua's physicality, and Xavier Smith can emulate Tutu Atwell's speed and route running ability.
For Adams, Nacua, and Atwell, the trio is developing a nice and effective dynamic. With Stafford back, the offense has been putting it together, and with such unique traits that are difficult to stop, expect the offensive operation to improve as the season goes on, once opposing teams put their defenses on film for the Rams to dissect.
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