The Los Angeles Rams only re-signed a handful of players this past offseason who would have otherwise hit free agency. It wasn’t a surprise when the Rams signed left tackle Alaric Jackson to a long-term deal or opted to bring back Jimmy Garoppolo and Ahkello Witherspoon. The move that was surprising was bringing back wide receiver Tutu Atwell.
Atwell, a former second-round pick, had never fully lived up to his draft status. That wasn’t necessarily completely the fault of the player. However, the Rams have never consistently made Atwell a featured part of the offense. When Atwell has gotten opportunities, he’s done well. He simply hasn’t consistently gotten opportunities.
This is why it seemed odd that the Rams re-signed Atwell to a one-year, $10 million contract that was fully guaranteed. Nobody would have faulted the Rams had they decided to move on from Atwell and gone their separate ways. Bringing him back seemed to imply that he would be used more. Said head coach Sean McVay in April,
”I think the fans are accurate in that I haven’t done a good enough job of utilizing him…I think when you look at his body of work, when he’s been able to play…there was a lot of production. And if you project that over the course of 17 games, you just watch what he was able to do…I thought he really improved his route detail for a smaller guy. He’s got a good catch radius, he catches the ball outside of his frame really well. He’s an explosive player that people know about. He creates separation…When you look at the times when he’s been able to play, whether that be because some people were out or not, he has produced and he’s delivered, and we’re looking forward to seeing more of that ascension. He’s going to be on the field a lot more, particularly in a lot of those three-receiver sets where, when he’s been on the field, he’s done a really good job.”
Through two weeks of the NFL season, that simply hasn’t been the case. Atwell has one reception for four yards and has been targeted twice. With the Rams running more 12 personnel, they aren’t playing in as many three wide receiver sets which have limited Atwell’s playing time. He’s played 42.1 percent of the team’s offensive snaps this season. That’s 20 percent less than he played in 2023 and close to his 39 percent last season.
What’s also odd is that Atwell is getting less playing time than Jordan Whittington who has played 57 percent of the team’s offensive snaps this season. That’s not a knock on Whittington by any means. However, why bring back Atwell for $10 million if he is essentially the WR4 in the offense? It is worth noting that Atwell has run more routes than Whittington who seems to get used more as a blocker.
Through two weeks, Atwell has been used more of a ‘clear’ player in route concepts in order to create space for other players. Another aspect of this is how quickly Stafford is getting rid of the ball this season. Over the past two seasons, Atwell has been an effective deep target. However, in order for those plays to develop, the quarterback needs time.
The Rams currently rank just 23rd in pass-block win-rate via ESPN and PFF has the offensive line ranked 30th in pass-blocking. To account for that, Stafford is getting the ball out in 2.45 seconds which is the fastest in the NFL. That’s almost a full tenth of a second faster than Sam Darnold who is the next closest at 2.54 seconds. It would also be the fastest of Stafford’s career. The Rams quarterback has never been below 2.5 seconds and has averaged 2.59 seconds in his career.
That doesn’t excuse Atwell’s lack of usage, but also adds some context given what he excels at requires pass protection. It’s hard to imagine that the Rams brought back Atwell on a $10 million fully guaranteed deal to clear out routes for other players. The Rams could use Xavier Smith or Konata Mumpfield in that role.
We’ll see if Atwell gets more involved going forward. However, at the moment, the concerns about bringing Atwell back in the offseason have been validated. At this point it’s fair to question that move. If the Rams can’t find ways to maximize his speed and playmaking ability, it’s hard to justify the decision to re-sign him.
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