Tutu Atwell has struggled to maintain a role on offense in his first three years in the NFL. He has the speed to win downfield but he’s fallen behind other receivers on the depth chart.
One area where he could contribute more is on special teams. He returned 10 punts and five kickoffs as a rookie in 2021, albeit with limited success, but he’s planning to give the return game another crack this year.
During his press conference on Tuesday, Atwell was visibly excited about the opportunity to return kicks. He got some reps at that spot this spring after the NFL announced new rules for the kickoff that make it more like an offensive play and he feels he’s a perfect fit for that role.
“Yeah, no doubt. I’m going to be back there this year,” Atwell said. “We’re going to see some Tutu at kick return. When I found out about the new rule, I was like, ‘Man, dang. Knowing you got guys coming down full speed but they’ve got to wait until I catch the ball, it’s going to be dangerous. I’ll take a chance at that this year.”
The Rams haven’t determined who will return kickoffs this season because there’s still a lot of time until the season begins, but Atwell clearly believes he’s a candidate for the job. He might be undersized but his 4.3 speed is undeniable and could be a weapon in the open field.
“We’ve been practicing it, trying to get a feeling of it, and I had a couple of reps, other guys had a couple reps,” he said. “And it looked good, so we’re going to see. Hopefully we practice it more in training camp and we’re going to see how it goes from there.”
Despite his limited opportunities as a punt returner, Atwell feels comfortable fielding and returning punts. He says the new kickoff setup will be similar to that, only with the advantage of the coverage team having to wait until the returner catches the ball.
That creates some additional space for the returner, which excites Atwell about the prospect of returning kicks.
“It’s similar to the punt return and I get a good feeling of that,” he added. “It’s the same, guys running down, but they’ve got to wait until I catch the ball to go and I think I have an advantage of that.”
Atwell is entering the final year of his rookie contract so he’s got a lot to prove. If he can’t overtake Demarcus Robinson as the No. 3 receiver, maybe he can have a big impact on special teams as a returner.
