3 reasons why LA Rams WR Van Jefferson will break out after bye

Reynolds retreating

When the LA Rams sorted out their roster, they made a decision to hold off on giving Van Jefferson a featured role on offense. Instead, the team elected to stick with veteran wide receiver Josh Reynolds. That may not have been a wise decision, as Reynolds is already showing signs of backsliding. In fact, Reynolds is the tenth of ten players who have caught passes in terms of completion rate.

Had the Rams reversed the depth chart, and Jefferson had been targeted 38 times, he would have caught 25 passes for 348 yards. While scenario games are impossible to hold as gospel fact, it illustrates the opportunity cost of not targeting Jefferson more in games.  Of course, Reynolds deserves to get passes thrown his way. But it’s time to migrate towards Jefferson.

New wrinkle

The LA Rams long lauded Jefferson for his ability to line up at any receiver position. While that’s a tough version of the playbook for a rookie to swallow all at one time, the Rams could prep Jefferson to play a game at one of the three positions, and then change to another position the following week. That would force defenses to defend him at multiple positions, and give the Rams an opportunity to change the offense ever so slightly.

Doing so also gives Jefferson a chance to try out various spots on the offense. We know that the Rams have both Robert Woods and Cooper Kupp who are both very versatile receivers. But Kupp’s best position is the slot receiver. That adds importance to Jefferson to determine where he plays best as well.  After all, the Rams want to put their best receivers on the field at one time. Right now, those three are Cooper Kupp, Robert Woods, and Van Jefferson.