5 breakout offensive stars for LA Rams Coach O’Connell

WR Jefferson

Wide receiver Van Jefferson was not an insurance policy for the LA Rams dynamic receiving corps. He is the next playmaker for the Rams, a player who will not negotiate with the Rams organization for top-dollar to re-sign with the team in the immediate future. He is a player who slides into the offense with a wide range of roles as the receiver. Diversity, the new standard of the Rams, overflows with Jefferson. And they landed him with the 57th pick of the 2020 NFL Draft.

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Jefferson is a technician, a detailed route-runner who is a good wide receiver and hails from good stock. His father is Shawn Jefferson, a 13-year NFL veteran wide receiver who is now a 16-year coach in the NFL. If there is a mature wide receiver who knows the role any better, the Rams would have selected that player instead.

The Rams veteran wide receiver Cooper Kupp faces his first free agency in 2021, and we project that he will have a career year.  If Kupp is so successful, why not double up on that style of a receiver?  After all, the Rams dominated defenses with their aerial assault of Kupp and Robert Woods.

Jefferson enters a crowded receiver room for the Rams in 2020, so he will likely not put up lofty numbers this year. But where I do see his contribution is within the red zone.  Look for him to slide in as a very effective red-zone receiver.  bringing in six touchdown passes for the Rams this year. For yardage, a modest 600-yard performance may not seem like much, but it will replace the yards earned by Cooks. And that sets up Jefferson for a much larger role on the offense in 2021.