Davante Adams is unlikely to play over the final two weeks of the regular season for the Los Angeles Rams. It makes perfect sense that the Rams would want to keep their prized veteran healthy into the playoffs.
But the Rams still have much to gain in terms of seeding if they can notch wins over the Falcons and Cardinals. In order to do so, they’ll need more output from rookie wide receiver Konata Mumpfield.
Mumpfield’s first game starting in place of Adams left a lot to be desired. The team did much to hype up the rookie ahead of an important contest against the Seattle Seahawks, saying Mumpfield was Adams’ apprentice and ready for a bigger opportunity. These were massive shoes to fill for a seventh-round rookie.
How did Mumpfield perform vs Seattle?
We’ve watched Adams catch less than 50% of his targets often this season. Mumpfield also fell below this threshold in Seattle, catching just three of eight targets for 40 yards. The rookie was second in targets on the Rams offense. Puka Nacua led the team with 16. On contested catch opportunities, Mumpfield hauled in only one of three targets. All three of his grabs moved the chains with first downs.
Matthew Stafford had a passer rating of 54.2 when throwing the ball in Mumpfield’s direction. On the season, Stafford enjoyed a passer rating of 112.6 when targeting Adams. This might be the most telling stat in the drop off from Adams to Mumpfield.
One area where Mumpfield has an advantage
We aren’t watching the same Davante Adams from years’ past. He is very productive in the red zone, though his skills between the 20-yard lines have diminished. In just one game as a starter, Mumpfield flashed a skill that has been missing from LA’s offense with Adams in the fold: run after the catch ability.
Adams averaged just 2.0 yards per reception after the catch in 2025. This is by far the lowest output of his career. He lowest season total before this year was 3.1 yards per catch, which is still a full yard higher than his mark for this year.
In Mumpfield’s first start, he doubled Adams’ run after the catch production at 4.3 yards. 13 of his 40 yards came after the catch point.
While Mumpfield is unlikely to produce similar to Adams in the red zone (who can?), the Rams still may gain efficiency between the 20-yard lines. Mumpfield can introduce a run after the catch element that has mostly been missing from the Rams offense outside of Puka Nacua.
Can that help the Rams get the job done over the next two weeks against the Falcons and Cardinals?
See More:
