Pick #57 - Rams select WR Tutu Atwell

View: https://twitter.com/ramsnfl/status/1388297996547223553?s=21

 

[I like Rams]

In the last two seasons, only three receivers in college football had more yards after the catch than Atwell. He picked up 988 yards after the catch since 2019, which ranked third in the country, according to Pro Football Focus’ Sosa Kremenjas.

He also had 70 first downs and 40 plays of 15-plus yards, ranking 12th and ninth in college football since 2019, respectively.

I wouldnt consider 2020 a season to compare anything to. Not all programs played the same amount of games and many players opted out.

 

[99Balloons]

The guy is undersized and light. He will get blasted and won’t make the roster after camp.

 

[HE WITH HORNS]

They don't need to get a hand on him. A well-placed pinky will do it.

How will they reach him with their pinky when he runs right past them?

 

[HE WITH HORNS]

The guy is undersized and light. He will get blasted and won’t make the roster after camp.

Wow, they are going to cut a 2nd rounder before the season? I'm surprised, but of course, you must be right.

Would you mind giving me your powerball numbers for tomorrow night too?

 

[FarNorth]

Would any team have taken him before the third or even fourth round?

I like his scouting report though.

"OVERALL

Atwell is a speedy receiver who primarily lined up in the slot in college. He plays with a competitive streak that, when combined with his above-average hands and very good ball-tracking ability, allows him to be a consistent deep threat on every play. He has top-tier acceleration and speed that allows him to threaten safeties on vertical routes and can also take any shorter route the distance. Atwell mostly lined up in the slot to give him space to operate, and whether he can consistently win outside will be the biggest question mark because of his poor size."


View: https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2932000-tutu-atwell-nfl-draft-2021-scouting-report-for-los-angeles-rams-wr

He may be Tavon Lite, and there may have been more compelling choices, but I actually think this guy can help us.

One of the biggest problems in our O last year was the inabilty to stretch the field. Atwell and DSJ will fix that. With any luck they will add explosives and long tds.

But in my estimation our offense had also become predictable. McVay’s famed deception had lost its mojo. Atwell will help bring that back. I agree with other posters that he will be used in sweeps and also short delay routes. He will force defenses to react in ways out of their comfort zone whenever he is on the field.

And with any luck Atwell will become a target and a weapon for Stafford.

We’ll see, but I can follow McVay’s thinking on this pick. He wants to stretch the field and put Ds back on their heels. It might just work.

 

[Ram_Rally]

View: https://twitter.com/RamsNFL/status/1388307011360542720?s=20

Yeah but how much of that speed is just the wind blowing him downfield.

 

[Angry Ram]

I loved the Akers pick but I didn't know a whole lot about Van Jefferson.

I didn't know anything about either. Yet this board was also going nuclear last year. Every round including meaningless 7th rounders.

 

[Angry Ram]

So now we have Woods, Kupp, Jackson, Jefferson and Atwell?

Yeah it sounds pretty awesome. Who you gonna stop with Matt Stafford's rocket arm?

 

[JRobinson]

I didn't know anything about either. Yet this board was also going nuclear last year. Every round including meaningless 7th rounders.

Yup. #facts.

The thing is this though... every team has wins and loses when it comes to draft picks. In my mind, if we continually compete for the division and push for the playoffs, I dont care who we draft as long as we keep being competitive. You really dont know who will pan out or not until they get acclimated and used to their potential. Armchair GMs and coaches always "flip out", but there is a difference between that and simply disagreeing with the pick. Personally, I can thankfully say that as much as I love this team, and have invested much time and emotion as well.... Ill never allow a sport to ruin my day or make me bitter. Im thankful I live in a country where I have a T.V. to even watch my team.

 

[jrry32]

How will they reach him with their pinky when he runs right past them?

They'll just wait for a stiff breeze to knock him over.

 

[Mackeyser]

Here's how we look.

Woods and Kupp are VERY underrated with their speed, but Reynolds wasn't and Jefferson wasn't taking routes from Reynolds as McVay is leery of rookies... makes sense coming from the Gruden tree.

With the addition of DJax and Atwell (bet they race in camp), we have the speed to force teams to put smaller, faster players on the field...

Well, let's just say that we're running trips with Woods, Kupp and DJax/Atwell...

We can bang the rock playing up tempo play action ALL DAY with that group. Just lean on Akers when they creep or the minute it looks like the safety is peeking and burn them deep.

Listen... I study patterns... and I *think* McVay found something... and he's committing to it. I think with this level of speed he's gonna double down in the jet sweeps, screens and play actions to force defenses to once again defend every blade of grass.

And legit... Atwell is a FAR better receiver than Austin ever was.

If Atwell can be a KO returner, he'll be a huge contributor from day one. I wouldn't want someone that slight to be the full time punt returner. That said, DJax has done it in the past and made teams pay dearly for not kicking it out of bounds, so we'll see.

And as we say before every draft, we can't grade them until 3 years out, so other than be confused based on how WE project our needs based on a fan's perspective, all we can do is be fans and root for the team.

We all have players we wanted that we were SURE would be great or were SURE would bust and were totally wrong.

I still trust this group to put a winning team on the field... and I think Saffold once he's fully in this offense will change how we the fans evaluate skill players in this offense...

 

[Merlin]

Listen... I study patterns... and I *think* McVay found something... and he's committing to it. I think with this level of speed he's gonna double down in the jet sweeps, screens and play actions to force defenses to once again defend every blade of grass.

Teams definitely disregarded the Rams' jet sweeps. Not all of them. But a lot of defenses did and usually it was the ones who gave us problems. So think you're onto something there.

Atwell might get killed but he does have the kind of speed that is shocking. Like where the defender knows if he makes a mistake he can be out of the play. So it'll be hard to ignore him doing that.

 

[Mackeyser]

Teams definitely disregarded the Rams' jet sweeps. Not all of them. But a lot of defenses did and usually it was the ones who gave us problems. So think you're onto something there.

Atwell might get killed but he does have the kind of speed that is shocking. Like where the defender knows if he makes a mistake he can be out of the play. So it'll be hard to ignore him doing that.

What's different from Austin as well is that Atwell is this weird kind of slippery when turning the corner on jet sweeps... He's got super loose hips, so he just rotates a little and hands just fall off of him.

Watching him I can see why McVay desired him so much.

He's not just a Reynaldo Nehemiah hurdler learning to play football. He's super fast AND super quick AND super sudden... And once he turns the corner... I seriously haven't seen someone with that kind of home run speed since Chris Johnson. He makes very fast players seem slow.

Also, unlike Austin, he's not someone who just runs out of bounds. He's also significantly better on YAC or sweeps running the ball.

I don't expect him to do a TON this year, but I do expect him to make some plays and to spell DJax quite a bit in the 3rd and 4th quarter of the season as we prepare for our playoff run.

 

[SWAdude]

I am not buying into the Tavon comparison.

We traded up for Tavon for the 8th overall choice and did not have this organization at that time.

We have needed to stretch the field and this guy does that.

DeSean was always a short term solution.

 

[jrry32]

Also, unlike Austin, he's not someone who just runs out of bounds. He's also significantly better on YAC or sweeps running the ball.

No, he's not. Tavon had his flaws as a WR, but he was a more dangerous player with the ball in his hands. Atwell has the vertical speed to be the WR threat that Tavon wasn't, but he's not in Tavon's class as a pure runner. Issue is that Tavon was too small to be a full-time HB and ended up not having the skills or vertical separation to be a threat at WR.

Atwell can separate vertically. He can cut on a dime as a route runner. Issue is that he's not very refined in his routes, can't play through any sort of contact, and has meh hands. At the end of the 3rd round, I'd understand this pick. But I don't like it where we made it.

 

[jap]

View: https://twitter.com/RamsNFL/status/1388307011360542720?s=20

Les, someone needs to give this kid a sandwich ... rapidamente!!!

 

[Picked4td]

while i hate the pick because i dont think another wr was needed, especially this early, i dont hate the player. aside from question marks on his hands (he never seems to catch the ball with thumbs in) he seems like he could be a good player, but again dont think wr was the way to go. hope he kills it though

 

[jap]

Posting this in both threads lol


View: https://twitter.com/c5_atwell/status/1387434245640146951?s=20

Forget the sandwich! Get him a whole buffet all for himself!

 

[Mackeyser]

No, he's not. Tavon had his flaws as a WR, but he was a more dangerous player with the ball in his hands. Atwell has the vertical speed to be the WR threat that Tavon wasn't, but he's not in Tavon's class as a pure runner. Issue is that Tavon was too small to be a full-time HB and ended up not having the skills or vertical separation to be a threat at WR.

Atwell can separate vertically. He can cut on a dime as a route runner. Issue is that he's not very refined in his routes, can't play through any sort of contact, and has meh hands. At the end of the 3rd round, I'd understand this pick. But I don't like it where we made it.

Respectfully I disagree that Austin was better at YAC. He was def a better returner and if we stopped holding, he’d have been a different kind of threat.

Still, he’s another example of McSnead evaluating differently than us fans and we’ll see how it all pans out. He’ll learn under literally the best comp for him in the last two decades in DJax... which is a good thing.

 

[ProGen]

I don't care if all this man does is get involved with jet sweeps and taking the top off the defense! Hopefully he gives Stafford more field to work with, with our other pass catchers.

Good luck Tutu! Nice to have you