LA Rams: Which rookie will score the first touchdown?

If you wondered what all the fuss was about in the 2021 NFL Draft, you’ve been down this road with the LA Rams before, haven’t you?  After all, the class of 2021 certainly did yield a healthy crop of offensive weapons. But the Rams don’t have much urgency when it comes to getting those freshmen into the offensive rotation, do they?

For the record, the LA Rams landed two wide receivers, one tight end/wide receiver, and one running back from the 2021 NFL Draft.  Of course, rookie wide receiver Ben Skowronek is still healing from a fractured arm. So he’s benched from the LA Rams perspective for now. So that leaves the offense with three players who may contribute in 2021 for now. So the question is, which rookie will put points on the board first?

The LA Rams had Cooper Kupp fielding the only punt in the game, a position that head coach Sean McVay was adamant would not happen this season. But does that mean that it will be Kupp, and not Tutu Atwell, returning punts this year?

In the video below, McVay confirmed that Cooper Kupp fielded the punt because it was a no return situation and field that it was a safe moment for Kupp to fair catch. (at the 4:35 mark). Later in the video, Coach McVay did confirm that rookie WR/PR Tutu Atwell will be the team’s punt returner going forward(at the 7:00 mark).

The Rams may not get much from their rookies this year, at least not from the offense.  Only Tutu Atwell had any work with the offense, getting all of two snaps.

Rams Roster

The favorite player to score the first touchdown from the rookie class of 2021 is Tutu Atwell.  While he may or may not take the field as a wide receiver, he should be expected to handle the duties of returning punts for the LA Rams going forward. While that may seem like the best scoring opportunity, the fact is that returning punts is frequently either a fair catch, a punt out of bounds, or simply a touchback. The Rams punt returner in 2020, Nsimba Webster, only managed to return 25 punts.

If you were interested in an offensive player only, you might look at tight end/wide receiver Jacob Harris to show up at some point in time in the 2021 season. While he plays a coverage role on special teams, he does offer a unique skill set as a huge target for the end zone. While still raw, he will no doubt be working to improve his NFL readiness and could be a factor later in the year.

Finally, you may look towards running back Jake Funk as a player who could factor in amidst the offensive rotation in the future. We know that the team will try to limit the workload of running back Darrell Henderson. And we know that the team is still getting running back Sony Michel up to speed.

Of course, it could be one of those zany years in which no rookie scores. But what fun is that? Which rookie do you believe will score the first touchdown from the class of 2021?