DeSean Jackson was elated to join the Rams this offseason, returning home to Southern California where he grew up and reuniting with his former offensive coordinator Sean McVay. The Rams were thrilled to have him, too, adding an explosive playmaker to their offense.
But seven games in, things haven’t gone according to plan. Jackson has only played 100 snaps and now wants to be traded, which the Rams have agreed to pursue. Assuming Jackson is either traded before Tuesday’s deadline or released afterwards, the Rams offense will be missing its primary deep threat.
Tutu Atwell was a second-round pick and might be the fastest player on the team, but he’s played 10 offensive snaps and has yet to catch a pass. McVay doesn’t sound confident Atwell will immediately become Jackson’s replacement as the deep threat, saying this on Friday after the trade request was reported.
“I think we’ll see. He hasn’t done anything,” McVay said of Atwell. “DeSean is a potential Hall of Fame player that’s got a resume that speaks for himself. When you look at it, feel really good about the guys that have played a lot of snaps for us. You look at Cooper (Kupp), you look at Robert (Woods). I think Van (Jefferson) is an ascending player, (Tyler) Higbee, our backs. Some other guys might be asked to step up. Feel good about that and always want to try and make decisions that I think are in the best interest of our team, and also with consideration to our players. This is one of those. And again, what I would say to you guys is, this is all very quickly developing. So, there’s stuff that we’re recently just kind of working through.”
McVay said this week that he wants to see a heightened sense of urgency from Atwell, suggesting that the rookie isn’t quite ready for a bigger role. His lack of playing time on offense and his demotion from punt returner last week are signs that the Rams don’t fully trust him just yet.
Atwell can still become a playmaker, but an immediate promotion to Jackson’s role is not likely.
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