The Los Angeles Rams haven’t yet decided who their No. 3 receiver will be this season but Tutu Atwell is making as strong a case as anyone right now. The third-year wideout is having what seems to be his best offseason yet, which is encouraging as he tries to make up for two disappointing seasons to start his career in L.A.
Sean McVay and Matthew Stafford have both spoken highly about Atwell’s progress this offseason, becoming a more well-rounded receiver capable of playing anywhere in the offense and winning on all three levels of the field: short, intermediate and deep.
He continued to take positive steps on Wednesday when the Rams practiced with the Raiders, putting together a great day on the field. McVay took notice and talked about how he’s “playing big” with his physicality at the catch point despite being a smaller receiver.
“He made a lot of plays and that’s been consistent from the spring and it’s one day, but what I love about Tutu is the work that he’s put in is paying off,” McVay said. “That doesn’t mean that if you have a setback one day, but it’s just continue to have a process that guides your everyday approach, he’s done that. He’s super smart. He can play all over the formation in our offense. I think he’s playing physical at the catchpoint too. One of my favorite plays, he obviously made a great track down the field over his shoulder, but he also made a nice physical contested play on an outbreak off of a play action where he was kind of getting tugged, they got the flag and then he found a way to still come down with it, so playing big. He’s got a lot of confidence that has been earned and we want to continue to do that and I think he and Matthew are getting a great rapport because of the work that they put in. I thought Van (Jefferson) showed up a handful of times as well and both of those guys have really had a really good last couple days and we want to continue to build on that.”
Tutu. Too Fast.💨 pic.twitter.com/V0rSd10WfL
— Los Angeles Rams (@RamsNFL) August 16, 2023
Stafford also liked what he saw from Atwell on Wednesday, citing the handful of big plays he made for the Rams offense against Las Vegas, which can be seen in the tweet above. This isn’t the first time Stafford has noted Atwell’s development but it’s good to hear he’s continuing to get better as the offseason progresses.
“We had some nice plays down the field,” Stafford said. “Tutu had a really nice day. I don’t know if you guys can tell. I don’t know what you guys can see from back there, but he did a really nice job today, had some big plays for us.”
The other receivers competing with Atwell for the WR3 spot are Puka Nacua, Ben Skowronek and Demarcus Robinson, but it appears Atwell has the lead in that department. He’s the only one of the three who didn’t play in the preseason opener, which could be a sign of the confidence McVay has in him.
