LA Rams: Camp showdown III – Brycen Hopkins vs. Jacob Harris

After the 2020 NFL Draft, the LA Rams appeared to have selected the heir apparent to take over for veteran free agent TE Gerald Everett. Brycen Hopkins was a tight end who displayed an uncanny ability to catch contested passes, and the belief was that he would learn the NFL and the LA Rams playbook throughout the course of the 2020 NFL season.

In theory, he would be all set to step up as soon as Everett stepped away. Ah, yes. But things have a way of becoming complicated. Historically, you see, the LA Rams had carried three tight ends on their roster. But 2020 was a bit of an anomaly in many ways. One of the more subtle differences was the fact that the LA Rams carried four tight ends through the 2020 NFL season.

The LA Rams featured TE Tyler Higbee, rotated his teammate TE Gerald Everett quite frequently in the last year of his contract, used TE Johnny Mundt to bolster the team’s ability to block, and carried rooker Brycen Hopkins to safeguard his availability for the 2021 NFL season.

Oddly enough, a rather highly touted tight end in the 2020 NFL Draft never was targetted in the 2020 NFL season. In fact, he was used on just two offensive snaps and saw most of his work in 55 snaps for special teams. Unfortunately, he did not generate any recorded football stats. That anonymity does not create much positive momentum for the young man heading into the 2021 NFL season.

The NFL is not built upon goodwill or lowering standards. The very nature of a competitive sport is dependant upon rostering the best players available. The Rams are one more working their processes to determine who stays, and who goes. When the Rams drafted Brycen Hopkins in 2020, the presumption was that he would develop into a key offensive weapon this year.

Of course, when 2021 arrived, the LA Rams were able to draft another tight end, or is it wide receiver? No, let’s call Jacob Harris a tight-end to remain consistent with how the LA Rams have categorized him. Instant competition. Now, the question is, who will win the battle?