Outside of Cooper Kupp and Van Jefferson, none of the other wide receivers on the Los Angeles Rams have secured definitive roles in the offense yet. Among other position battles that are going on, Mike LaFleur shared an update on the current wide receiver competition that is taking place during training camp.
“Similar to the (Offensive) O-line there’s a lot of guys that played last year at that position, a lot of positions across this team, that weren’t planning on it, no different with the receivers,” LaFleur said. “Probably (not) having (WR) Cooper (Kupp) in (Organized Team Activities) OTAs was good for all of us. As much as we always want Cooper out there, because he is one of the best to do it, it’s been good that those other guys got to get a rapport with (QB) Matthew (Stafford) and that won’t stop. So there’s been some really good competition. It will be really fun to see how this thing shakes out, particularly when we get into the preseason. It always works itself out, but there is good competition.”
At the moment, it appears that Puka Nacua, Tutu Atwell, Ben Skowronek, and Demarcus Robinson are competing for the No. 3 spot on the depth chart. And then you have Tyler Johnson, Lance McCutcheon, Austin Trammell, Xavier Smith, Braxton Burmeister, and Tyler Hudson competing for a spot on the roster.
With Kupp coming off a season-ending ankle ailment from last season, the Rams have gradually brought him along this offseason, which allowed the other wide receivers to get reps with Matthew Stafford. Having Stafford available for OTAs and training camp has been a positive for the Rams as he’s been able to work with all of the wideouts on the roster after being limited last offseason.
Nacua has been a popular name in training camp already and Robinson has made some impressive catches to garner the attention of the coaching staff. While it remains to be seen who emerges behind Kupp and Jefferson, LaFleur is ecstatic to see all of the wideouts get opportunities leading into the preseason.