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The Panthers are reportedly on the lookout for a starting WR. Here are eight potential targets who may be available via trade:
Just hours before kickoff of their Week 4 matchup against the Minnesota Vikings, the Carolina Panthers were linked to the trade market. NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport, on Sunday morning, reported that the team has been actively on the lookout for a starting wide receiver.
Then, the game happened—only enforcing the idea that the offense definitely needs some more firepower.
So, if that’s the case, here are eight potential targets who may be available in a swap:
With Van Jefferson’s role set to shrink when Cooper Kupp returns, might the Rams consider trading the 4th-year receiver?
When Cooper Kupp went down with a hamstring injury during training camp and again just before the season began, Van Jefferson was viewed as the likeliest replacement as the Rams’ No. 1 receiver. Puka Nacua was expected to have a bigger role than anticipated in Kupp’s absence, but very few people (if any) thought he’d be the team’s leading receiver through four weeks.
Jefferson, on the other hand, has been a major disappointment. He’s been targeted 15 times and has just eight catches for 108 yards in four games, one of which was a 46-yard reception against the Bengals. Not to mention, he has two drops, as well.
He’s still played the most snaps of any Rams receiver but he’s clearly the third option at the position, seeing far fewer targets than Nacua (52) and Tutu Atwell (35). Even Tyler Higbee (26) and Kyren Williams (22) have far more targets than Jefferson does this season.
With Kupp returning as soon as this week, Jefferson seems to be the odd man out. The Rams will have trouble giving him much playing time with Kupp, Nacua and Atwell as the top three, which raises the question of what Los Angeles should do with the fourth-year receiver.
Trading Jefferson is certainly a possibility, especially with Demarcus Robinson and Ben Skowronek also on the roster at wide receiver. So even if someone were to get hurt, the Rams would have Robinson and Skowronek to lean on. Plus, Jefferson is in the final year of his contract and given the emergence of Atwell and Nacua, it’s unlikely the Rams will re-sign him in the offseason.
Trading him now could net the Rams a Day 3 pick in the 2024 draft, which is probably more than they’ll get in the form of a compensatory pick in 2025 if he leaves in free agency. One team makes a ton of sense as a potential landing spot for Jefferson, too: the Carolina Panthers.
Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reported on Sunday that the Panthers are in the market to trade for a wide receiver.
“The Panthers already have been active on the trade front this season, sources say, calling several teams about a potential trade for a starting wide receiver,” Rapoport wrote.
Jefferson is a starting-caliber player and would help the Panthers this season, and they have multiple fifth-round picks that could be used to get a deal done. As an added bonus, Jefferson’s dad, Shawn Jefferson, is the Panthers’ wide receivers coach, so he would get to work with his dad and be closer to him than he is right now.
Los Angeles probably wouldn’t get more than a fifth-rounder in exchange for Jefferson, especially given his slow start to the 2023 season, but he’s also not going to get much playing time moving forward with Kupp back in the mix.
Trading him now might be the best move for both parties.
Here are our studs and duds from the Rams’ 29-23 overtime victory over the Colts.
The Los Angeles Rams blew a 23-0 lead against the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday, allowing them to come all the way back and tie it in the fourth quarter. Thankfully, the offense came through in overtime and scored a game-winning touchdown. After allowing the Colts to come from behind to force overtime, the Rams drove down the field to win 29-23 to improve to 2-2 on the season.
For the first half of the game, the Rams were rolling on both sides of the ball, and the game seemed like it was already over. But in the final two quarters, the Rams were unable to move the ball and rookie Anthony Richardson led the Colts on multiple scoring drives.
Following a thrilling win in overtime, here are our studs and duds from the Rams in their Week 4 matchup against the Colts.
Here are our six players to watch from the Rams in Monday’s matchup in Week 3 vs. the Bengals.
The Los Angeles Rams will hit the road to take on the Cincinnati Bengals on Monday Night Football in Week 3. This will be the first time the Rams and Bengals will face each other since Los Angeles defeated Cincinnati in Super Bowl LVI to conclude the 2021 campaign.
The Rams will enter Monday’s matchup with a 1-1, splitting divisional matchups with the Seattle Seahawks and the San Francisco 49ers to begin the season. Meanwhile, the Bengals are 0-2 as Joe Burrow is dealing with a calf injury that could sideline him for Monday’s showdown.
With the Rams looking to improve to 2-1 through the first three weeks, here are six players to watch in Monday night’s Super Bowl rematch against the Bengals.
Sean McVay sees no reason to panic about Van Jefferson’s struggles after just two games
Van Jefferson has gotten off to a slow start in 2023. Through two games, he has five catches for 33 yards with two drops, one of which may have gone for a long touchdown.
Jefferson was expected to be a big part of the offense this year after the Rams moved on from Allen Robinson II, but he’s struggled to find any sort of rhythm as a receiver – even with Cooper Kupp sidelined. He’s also being overshadowed by Puka Nacua and Tutu Atwell, who are both among the league leaders in receiving yards through two weeks.
The Rams obviously want Jefferson to play better, but Sean McVay isn’t ready to hit the panic button. He’s not worried at all about Jefferson’s early struggles because it’s only two games.
“We’re talking about two games here,” McVay said on the Coach McVay Show. “It’s crazy that because those two guys have done so well that it means somebody else isn’t, but that’s not how football works. You’ve got 17 games that you’re guaranteed and so we’re fortunate to have three guys. I thought Benny Skow did a nice job. I thought Demarcus came in and did a good job. You get Cooper back. But the bottom line is this: We love Van Jefferson. He’s got a body of work. I’m not going to allow two games to dictate a certain feeling. I think we can help get him into the flow of games and I know he’s capable of playing at high level. In some instances, that’s been reflective and in some instances, I know he can play better.”
Jefferson was never expected to play the role of Kupp as the Rams’ primary slot receiver. He’s more of an outside receiver who can stretch the field. Nacua, on the other hand, is a slot guy like Kupp, which is why he’s getting so many looks from Matthew Stafford.
But there’s still a role for Jefferson in this offense. It’s a scheme that’s heavy on 11 personnel where three receivers and one tight end are on the field together. The question is whether Jefferson will still get much playing time when Kupp returns because it’ll be tough for McVay to take Nacua or Atwell off the field, given the starts they’ve had in 2023.
In a contract year, things haven’t gone the way Jefferson hoped but if McVay isn’t panicking, fans shouldn’t either.
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Van Jefferson has been quiet through two weeks and his role in the Rams offense could shrink once Cooper Kupp returns from IR.
Life without Cooper Kupp was far from smooth for the Los Angeles Rams to finish the 2022 campaign and the expectation was for the offense to look out of sorts to begin this season sans the All-Pro wideout. Contrary to what everyone thought, Matthew Stafford and the young receivers — along with Sean McVay — have done more than just keep the offense afloat with Kupp on injured reserve.
For starters, Puka Nacua has put together a historic start to his rookie season and Tutu Atwell has evolved into a legitimate NFL wide receiver. At the same time, Van Jefferson has been quiet through the first two weeks despite the assumption he’d see an expanded role.
In two games for the Rams this season, Jefferson has totaled five catches for 33 yards on nine targets. The former second-round pick has also had drop issues early in the season, which hasn’t helped him look any better than his numbers show.
With Nacua filling the role of Stafford’s go-to target through the air, and Atwell creating plays in the intermediate and vertical portions of the field, Jefferson saw his snap share go from 93 percent in Week 1 to 82 percent in Week 2. Even Ben Skowronek finished with more receiving yards (10) than Jefferson on just one target in Sunday’s loss to the 49ers.
Some might’ve assumed that Nacua would see fewer snaps when Kupp returns because he’s playing a similar role to Cooper’s during his absence. But with Nacua doing impressive things as a rookie, there’s no way McVay can take him off of the field right now.
Also, Atwell is playing a Tyreek-Hill-lite role in the Rams’ offense as he’s been used in quick speed motions to give him easy releases and mismatches in the secondary. So where does that leave Jefferson when Kupp makes his awaited return to the offense?
The Rams are already trending toward being a team that could come close to leading the league in pass attempts with a vintage Stafford operating the offense despite Kupp being inactive. Of the wide receivers on the Rams, Jefferson is the one who is most in danger of losing snaps when Kupp is reinserted into the offense because of his current role.
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Van Jefferson dropped what could have been a long touchdown against the Seahawks but Matthew Stafford’s trust hasn’t wavered
The Rams created a lot of big plays in Sunday’s win over the Seahawks, including a 44-yarder from Matthew Stafford to Tutu Atwell and a 30-yard reception by Tyler Higbee. Van Jefferson had a chance to join the fun with a deep ball after he sprung wide open across the field, but the pass clanked off his hands and fell to the turf.
The play could have gone for a long touchdown had Jefferson caught it, but fortunately, the Rams overcame the drop and still scored a few plays later on the same drive. Stafford talked about his trust in Jefferson despite the disappointing drop, and it hasn’t wavered at all.
“Yeah, just tell him I’m coming right back to him and did later in the game in a couple instances,” Stafford said of what he told Jefferson. “So made a great third down catch for us. Obviously, he’s disappointed. I’m disappointed. We had a chance of making a big play. We score on that drive anyways and we overcame that, which is awesome. I don’t want those plays to happen, but you know what? There’s going to be a time probably this season where he’s running free and I’m going to miss him, and that’s part of football. It’s an imperfect game. It’s played in the gray. I got a ton of trust in Van Jefferson, his ability to go out there and make plays. He’s done it for a long time for me and for this offense. So excited to see how he shows up and shows out on Sunday.”
WARNING: This Van Jefferson drop will trigger Marvin Harrison, Jr. fans.
If you saw the drops vs UGA and Michigan last year. pic.twitter.com/Gd56kGlFqQ
— Matt Waldman (@MattWaldman) September 11, 2023
Jefferson has been a deep threat for the Rams in the last three years, and remains one this season. However, he’s had some trouble with drops in the past. Though he only dropped one pass last year, he had nine in 2021 and one already this year.
With Kupp out, Jefferson has plenty of opportunities to create big plays for the Rams and it’s likely that he will sometime soon. But Sunday’s drop was a frustrating one because of how open he was.
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Here are the studs and duds from Rams’ 30-13 road win over the Seahawks in Week 1.
The Los Angeles Rams were motivated following a 5-12 season in 2022 and in Week 1, they pulled off the upset on the road against the Seattle Seahawks. Despite being nearly touchdown underdogs entering the divisional showdown, the Rams defeated the Seahawks, 30-13, on Sunday.
In a dominant road victory over the Seahawks, there were a handful of players that stood out for the Rams. Holding Seattle’s offense to 13 points and 180 yards of offense is no easy feat, so there are a lot of players who deserve credit for the win.
Following an impressive season opener on the road against the Seahawks, here are the studs and duds for the Rams.
Take a look at these fantasy football sleepers for Week 1.
As the fantasy football draft season comes to an end Thursday night, managers will begin their quest toward a championship.
Part of that journey is the ever-challenging objective of finding the right sleepers to start every week. Whether it’s selecting the right streaming option at the quarterback and tight end positions or finding a flex option who boosts the entire lineup, the search for sleepers is endless.
We will be using The Huddle’s weekly PPR projections and rankings as a reference to find some potential boom games this week.
Here’s a look at some sleepers to play in Week 1 of fantasy football to get your season started with a win:
With Cooper Kupp out, the Rams need their other receivers to step up. So who will be up to the task?
It’s not an absolute worst-case scenario for the Rams to start the year, but being without Cooper Kupp in the season opener (and possibly longer) certainly isn’t the way they hoped to open the 2023 campaign – not after losing player after player to injury last season.
Kupp will be out at least this week against the Seahawks and according to Sean McVay, he’s a candidate to go on injured reserve due to his hamstring issue. That would sideline him for a minimum of four games.
The Rams have good depth at wide receiver but their overall talent behind Kupp is certainly lacking. Here’s how the roster looks at the position with Kupp out.
Not exactly an inspiring group of receivers, to say the least. No one will replace Kupp’s production or reliability on the field, but the Rams certainly need someone to step up and help carry the load at wideout during his absence, however long that may be.
So who will it be?
