Whittington the latest Rams “System WR”? (NOT a pejorative term!)

[AvengerRam]

Cooper Kupp was a third-round pick, and went on to achieve a receiving “triple crown” and be named the Super Bowl MVP in the same season.

Puka Nacua was a 5th round pick, and went on to break the NFL rookie records for receptions and receiving yards.

Now, Jordan Whittington, a sixth round pick, is making a strong case for a significant role in the Rams’ WR rotation.

So, are the Rams just really good at drafting WRs?

To an extent, yes. However, you can’t overlook that they’ve had some misses at the position, including Van Jefferson and (at least relative to his draft position) Tutu Atwell.

So, perhaps, part of the reason for the success stories (and prospective success story developing now) is that certain WRs just fit the McVay system.

Kupp, Nacua and Whittington are all in the 6’1-2” range, and all three are over 200 lbs. They are good route runners, good after the catch, and willingly physical. They all work well in an offense that moves them around the formation, and none of the three are afraid to go over the middle (many of these traits, are, by the way, also present with Demarcus Robinson, who has also found success in the Rams’ offense).

So… are they “system players”? Maybe they are.

So what?

Why is that a bad thing? Heck, didn’t the Patriots excel with system WRs ranging from Troy Brown, to Deion Branch, to Wes Welker to Julian Edelman? Small, quick slot receivers worked for them. Bigger, physical, motion receivers work for us.

So let’s take the pejorative connotation out of the term “system WR.” Embrace it!

(And let’s hope we’ve found another one.)

 

[TheTackle]

Was Van Jefferson really a miss? He played well to begin and was a key player in our SB season. If that is the definition of a bust I will take it. Since McVay and Snead came together we have been pretty awesome at drafting every position with the possible exception of CB.

Every team drafts players who they think will fit their system so in that regard you are right

 

[RamFan503]

Was Van Jefferson really a miss? He played well to begin and was a key player in our SB season. If that is the definition of a bust I will take it. Since McVay and Snead came together we have been pretty awesome at drafting every position with the possible exception of CB.

Every team drafts players who they think will fit their system so in that regard you are right

I think it's more about where they were drafted. But yeah. All teams try to do it with varied success. The Rams have just been doing it lately with pretty damn good results. I hope Whittington is another. I could go for being able to rotate successful late round receivers over the years. Sprinkle in a couple FA stars and it would keep our receiver group strong while expending early picks on impact players.

Now if we could do that on a QB, we would be unstoppable.

 

[Lunchbox]

Gotta believe that "natural hands catcher" took on increased importance in the Rams evaluations after Van Jefferson was released.
Good guy and decent route runner, but neither decisive or aggressive going after the ball. Had to fight the ball in as often as not.

The newer guys (and Kupp) all have good hands and show quicker recognition and pursuit of the ball.

 

[muggmeister]

Thanks for the education, looking up the word "pejorative" right now. LOL

 

[Memento]

Thanks for the education, looking up the word "pejorative" right now. LOL

Basically? Pejorative = slur.

On topic, though, there's a reason why I wanted Whittington. He fits this system like a glove; hell, one of our guys on his draft video (I believe Snead; I'm feeling too lazy to post it.) said that they picked him because he fit our system.

And with three receivers with the same skillset doing different thing is classic McVay: misdirection, confusion on the defensive end, giving Stafford options while giving the opposing defensive coordinators nightmares.

 

[dang]

Gotta believe that "natural hands catcher" took on increased importance in the Rams evaluations after Van Jefferson was released.
Good guy and decent route runner, but neither decisive or aggressive going after the ball. Had to fight the ball in as often as not.

The newer guys (and Kupp) all have good hands and show quicker recognition and pursuit of the ball.

I’m really disappointed that Jefferson was unable to progress. Just didn’t have the ability to take on the demands of a starting WR in the NFL.

 

[Ellard80]

lets actually wait until the guy plays in a meaningful game.

The Pakua Nacua story is pretty rare.

 

[Cjcinec]

System of a First Down!

 

[TexasRam]

Gotta believe that "natural hands catcher" took on increased importance in the Rams evaluations after Van Jefferson was released.
Good guy and decent route runner, but neither decisive or aggressive going after the ball. Had to fight the ball in as often as not.

The newer guys (and Kupp) all have good hands and show quicker recognition and pursuit of the ball.

Agreed. Jefferson lacked physicality, strong hands and the ability to track and adjust to the ball.

I am sure this experiment left a permanent impression on the collective mind in Rams Nation. Not only the fans but also the coaching shared consciousness as well.

Last year we saw a direct correlation between Puka’s physicality in the run game and the run game production. Mcvays WR’s must be strong in the run game and every WR league wide must be able to track, adjust and hall down a ball in traffic.

 

[gogoat1]

System of a First Down!

 

[PhillyRam]

Was Van Jefferson really a miss? He played well to begin and was a key player in our SB season. If that is the definition of a bust I will take it. Since McVay and Snead came together we have been pretty awesome at drafting every position with the possible exception of CB.

Every team drafts players who they think will fit their system so in that regard you are right

Just about that entire draft was a miss. Maybe not all complete busts, but the few that did get PT, played below their draft selection.

Akers & Jefferson, both late 2nds, easily underperformed their draft position. Okay players, that were flawed. Jefferson was soft, Akers couldn't stay healthy and maybe a little bit of an attitude issue.

Lewis & Burgess were complete 3rd rd busts. Maybe injury related in both cases, but regardless they did nothing.

Hopkins was a 4th rd bust, but with a huge asterisk in that he came up big in the biggest game possible. So have to give him credit there.

After that only Fuller was a quality and consistent starter. Limited, but a great 6th rd pick.

Other notables... Sam Sloman, a bad pick for a kicker. Didn't even look like a quality college kicker. Clay Johnston pussed out and ran back to Daddy's practice squad in Carolina. Just checked, he's in Cincinnati now. At least he is still in the league for a 7th rounder.

21' was also awful. Only Atwell, Jones, and Brown remain from that draft. And while Jones was a fine pick...Atwell was overdrafted and not a fit. Brown was a project that they might get a good year and a half out of his first 4 years.

So it makes you wonder what tweaks they made to their draft philosophy. One seems to be going back to team leaders. Another is staying away from players with injury histories. However, there has to be some other changes considering how well these last 2 drafts went. Even in 22' it wasn't horrible considering their first pick was around pick 101.

 

[Jacobarch]

Whittington just jumps out to me when he's on the field. He's fast has strong hands and is aggressive. I'll hold my judgements until he's playing against 1st team talent

 

[Merlin]

Just about that entire draft was a miss. Maybe not all complete busts, but the few that did get PT, played below their draft selection.

Yep. And tbh you can get crazy trying to caveat shit when it comes to busts. But any player who doesn't live up to expectations for his draft spot is a bust. Of course there are degrees of busts. But there really isn't a reason to get too in the grass on that because bottom line is the team needed Jefferson and he couldn't step up. Great kid but not enough dog. So whether the guy was "not good enough" or "complete shit" either way it's the same result.

It's more worthwhile I think to split hairs is when it comes to hitting on picks. First round pick becomes a solid starter we'll call it a hit. But there's a vast gulf between a guy who is a Pro Bowl level type and a starter. The difference makers are what drive fortunes in this league.

 

[jjab360]

Agreed. Jefferson lacked physicality, strong hands and the ability to track and adjust to the ball.

I am sure this experiment left a permanent impression on the collective mind in Rams Nation. Not only the fans but also the coaching shared consciousness as well.

Last year we saw a direct correlation between Puka’s physicality in the run game and the run game production. Mcvays WR’s must be strong in the run game and every WR league wide must be able to track, adjust and hall down a ball in traffic.

Physicality was a big one. Tutu was tougher than Van and looks like he's only half his size on the field.

 

[TheTackle]

Yep. And tbh you can get crazy trying to caveat shit when it comes to busts. But any player who doesn't live up to expectations for his draft spot is a bust. Of course there are degrees of busts. But there really isn't a reason to get too in the grass on that because bottom line is the team needed Jefferson and he couldn't step up. Great kid but not enough dog. So whether the guy was "not good enough" or "complete shit" either way it's the same result.

It's more worthwhile I think to split hairs is when it comes to hitting on picks. First round pick becomes a solid starter we'll call it a hit. But there's a vast gulf between a guy who is a Pro Bowl level type and a starter. The difference makers are what drive fortunes in this league.

Good points

I would add that only 4 players selected after Jefferson went on to make a pro bowl appearance. It was a pretty poor draft in total with players taken ahead of him who were the very definition of a bust.

Take Akers. We missed out on a better RB because the best prospects went just before we picked Akers who was widely considered to be in the next tier. It’s not all on our front office.

All things considered I am glad we picked Jefferson even if he didn’t work out as well as at one point it appeared he would

We picked Sloman at 248 so it was little more than a flyer in a poor year for kickers. Tyler Bass was chosen a full round in front. There were two glaring mistakes in my opinion both of which were obvious to many of us on the day. We should have picked Bass and how we didn’t take Tyler Biadasz at centre was mystifying!

Still all in all they did pretty well considering it wasn’t the best pool of players even if I would give them a C for average

 

[So Ram]

I’m really disappointed that Jefferson was unable to progress. Just didn’t have the ability to take on the demands of a starting WR in the NFL.

He had an attitude (bad) since he became a Ram !! He just flat out got beat out of his spot.His injury didn’t help matters & how he came back from that.

That catch against the Raiders was huge in terms of winning,but really to him it was only a 50/50 ball.

 

[So Ram]

I think it's more about where they were drafted. But yeah. All teams try to do it with varied success. The Rams have just been doing it lately with pretty damn good results. I hope Whittington is another. I could go for being able to rotate successful late round receivers over the years. Sprinkle in a couple FA stars and it would keep our receiver group strong while expending early picks on impact players.

Now if we could do that on a QB, we would be unstoppable.

Well right away The Rams after drafting Whittington traded Ben Sko. The 1 thing The Rams knew was they had a player who could play on TEAMS (special) & was a Leader.

Ben Sko had horrible hands.He played hard & did the little things.
I don’t think Whittington is going to be a player they count on this year,but what he will bring as far as depth is what is special.

He was Mic’d Up & talked about what a GREAT Receivers room The Rams(they) have. You look at that National Championship Texas just won & how he fit in with that group . To think he was The 3rd best WR there just shows how his value (worth) was over looked & just how well Les(Mcvay) knows that Texas(staff) team.Snead’s son went there.

Smith is going to have a hard time making this squad.Tyler Johnson is a Veteran who was taking Kickoffs in this last games.It impressed me of his talents even more than I already thought.

That’s just my view though

 

[snackdaddy]

Was Van Jefferson really a miss? He played well to begin and was a key player in our SB season. If that is the definition of a bust I will take it. Since McVay and Snead came together we have been pretty awesome at drafting every position with the possible exception of CB.

Every team drafts players who they think will fit their system so in that regard you are right

If they were first round picks I'd say Jefferson and Akers were a bust. As late second round picks I'd call them disappointments. They had their moments. But just didn't live up to expectations.

 

[DzRams]

21' was also awful. Only Atwell, Jones, and Brown remain from that draft. And while Jones was a fine pick...Atwell was overdrafted and not a fit. Brown was a project that they might get a good year and a half out of his first 4 years.

So it makes you wonder what tweaks they made to their draft philosophy. One seems to be going back to team leaders. Another is staying away from players with injury histories. However, there has to be some other changes considering how well these last 2 drafts went. Even in 22' it wasn't horrible considering their first pick was around pick 101.

This may be semantics but I have a slight objection to calling 21' awful. It's been said as a general rule of thumb that if you get two starters from a draft it's a good draft. Getting one above-average starter and two role players over their rookie contracts can't be awful.

A bit subpar? Sure.

I'm not sure they made any tweaks to their draft philosophy. I don't see evidence that they ever really moved away from targeting team leaders. The biggest issue with the 20' and 21' classes is that Covid messed up their processes.