LA Rams NFL Draft 2021: A deep-dive dissection of all selections

Round 2, pick 57

When the LA Rams arrived at the podium to make their first pick, and the 57th pick of the 2021 NFL Draft, the reality is that the LA Rams were in no way, shape, or form expected to select a wide receiver.  And yet, they did.

So when the team selected 5-foot-9 165-pound (some debate to that) wide receiver, Tutu Atwell, from the University of Louisville, for many, that was a stone-cold surprise. In the absence of a first-round draft pick, they used their most critical first pick on a wide receiver, albeit a speedy one who runs a 4.27-second 40-yard dash. But he’s under-sized, and slight, by NFL standards. Diminutive is the operative word here. And that’s a real legitimate concern.

One need only to check out how Baltimore Ravens’ speedy WR Marquis “Hollywood” Brown has struggled to find his way in the NFL, particularly when defenses press and play him physically, lean on him a bit, to be concerned about Atwell’s future.

It’s been bandied about on social media and by the talking-head draft pundits that the Rams wanted to grab some insurance in case, their oft-injured-other-speedy wideout in Desean Jackson should land on the IR again, as he has been prone to do the last couple of seasons.

Indeed, Jackson could fairly be accused of some first-degree larceny for taking a paycheck during his last two years in Philly because he spent so much time injured and unable to take the field.

And the Rams only signed DJax to a one-year contract, so perhaps they were also thinking about Atwell as a contingency plan.

We’ve also heard Atwell could be used on punt and kickoff returns but he didn’t do very much of that at Louisville, so there would be a learning curve to become proficient at that skill for the NFL.

Of course, he’s McVay’s Lamborghini. His G-6 Learjet.

Envisioned to take the top off the opposing defense, create space for the other receivers and force the defense to defend every inch of the field. Too bad he’s just 5-foot-9 because that doesn’t equate to very much vertical stretch. He’s got the horizontal axis covered, though.

For as the experts so often say, you can’t coach speed. And Atwell’s a legitimate blazer. The NFL  field is 100 yards long and 53.333  yards wide. Speed and height are the only two ways to expand it. Surely, as the Rams watched two other speedy WRs in Elijah Moore and D’Wayne Eskridge come off the board earlier, then Atwell became more attractive to them.

And so, they threw caution to the wind.

Could the Rams deploy DJax and Atwell at the same time? Now, there’s a thought.

Draft Grade: B-