LA Rams roster holds small ball options for Matthew Stafford this year

The LA Rams roster loaded up small but speedy and swift receivers for the 2021 NFL season. Even though the team had to part ways with veteran DeSean Jackson, the team retained a number of smaller offensive weapons to use as both change-of-pace rushers as well as swift receivers to use in aerial assaults to test the back of defenses.

A new draft class and those veteran players who are returning to health and the active roster give the LA Rams small but speedy and swift offensive ball-handlers once more. Perhaps the most easily recognizable player in this category is wide receiver Tutu Atwell, who stands 5-foot-9 but runs an even faster 4.32-second 40-yard dash.

But lost in that shuffle is the fact that while the team cut all ties to Jackson, they signed another small but mighty wide receiver who has made all the difference in the world on the special teams returning team in 5-foot-8 Brandon Powell. So while the team may not have had an opening HR with the effort, I’d say that the mid-season signing of Powell qualifies as a ground-rule double.

LA Rams roster: Small ball?

The Rams have a group of players who pose a significant height advantage to send onto the football field. So the question now is: Can the offense do the same in terms of sending out a small ball group? Well, curiously, it seems that they do right now:

• Posn     Player                            Ht                 Wt                          40-time

1. RB         Raymond Calais          5-foot-8    188-pounds         4.42-sec
2. RB         Kyren Williams            5-foot-9    199-pounds         4.65-sec
3. RB         Darrell Henderson Jr. 5-foot-8    208-pounds         4.49-sec
4. WR        Tutu Atwell                   5-foot-9    165-pounds         4.32-sec
5. WR        Brandon Powell          5-foot-8    181-pounds         4.59-sec

The LA Rams have a few ball handlers on the roster now who fit the small-ball offensive scenario. So why would the Rams want to do so? Well, for starters, nobody else is doing so.

But is there an advantage to changing the players on the football field to make a vertical distinction? Does the small ball option have a place in the NFL, as it does in the NBA? Perhaps, and here is how: