Early buzz over 6 rookies has Rams fans begging for more in OTAs

The Los Angeles Rams are preparing for the 2025 NFL season. So what can fans do to stay occupied and engaged while the coaches and players are busily conducting the toughest part of the season? Why plenty, naturally.

In OTAs, we may only get snippets and still images of guys playing in t-shirts and shorts, but it's the start of the NFL careers for rookies who are trying to grasp every concept and nuance as soon as it is thrown at them. Some rookies get it quickly. Other rookies need time, patience, and plenty of reps to get there.

For fans, the disparity can be misinterpreted. Unless a guy is going lights out as soon as he shows up to his first OTAs, some fans wonder why he is not keeping up with the rest of the group. But it comes down to the luck of the draw, the number of repetitions, and that instant chemistry that a rookie makes with his coaches and teammates.

Football is competitive. And time is linear. Someone has to be first in drills. Someone has to suit up to play with the first string. Someone is going to catch passes from Matthew Stafford, while another is going to catch passes from Stetson Bennett. The players who get to work with Stafford most in OTAs and training camp will jump to the front of the line. The players who work with Bennett most in OTAs are already on the roster bubble.

But don't fret.

Rookie WR Jordan Whittington and Xavier Smith were so comfortable with Bennett in OTAs and training camp that they looked completely NFL-ready in preseason games. So there are multiple ways to earn a roster spot for this team.

Keep in mind that OTAs and training camp have many purposes. This is the opportunity for everyone on the roster to learn the playbook, and then go out and execute those plays to the best of their ability. But it's also about instantly assessing players and upside. So it starts from the introductions in the first classroom. And it carries over to every day and drill of practice.

While it may seem like a slow segment of the NFL season right now, we are pivoting from building rosters and revealing schedules to making proper introductions to all of the new faces that have joined the Rams roster. So, as OTAs are underway, let's take a moment and give everyone a small taste of what these new faces bring to the team for 2025.

Better route runner than a newspaper delivery teen

You may not believe that a player drafted in Round 7 of any NFL Draft has much of a chance to make an impact, and that may be true. But it appears more and more likely that any absence of rookie wide receiver Konata Mumpfield from the Rams offense will be more a coach's preference than a lack of talent.

From the moment the Rams selected the Pittsburgh Panthers' rookie prospect, the alarms sounded as though the team was playing a game show and had hit a daily double. Frequently-stoic ESPN draft analyst Louis Riddick loved the pick and the fit. That should reassure skeptical fans.

Are some assessments of Konata Mumpfield over the top? Yes, absolutely. But it's no different than the hype that welcomed rookie RB Blake Corum to the Rams in 2024, and virtually every rookie who joined the team under HC Sean McVay's watch. Why must we endure such optimistic glibbery? Because, the Rams are one of the few NFL teams that truly can find elite players on Day 3.

NFL analysts are expected to promote the product in the spring and summer, but pivot to critiquing the product after the season starts. It's not that the rules have changed. It's that we sometimes forget that it's the same story every year.

We can be relatively optimistic about a rookie's fit and upside without allowing both feet to leave the ground. Even as hype over Konata Mumpfield gets out of hand, he is simply a young man loving the chance to train once more for a new season of football. And that passion carries a lot of meaning to the Rams.

He is going to be a good one.

Looks like he's just what we needed

This defense has been without a true enforcer since trading away former starting inside linebacker Ernest Jones IV. But in the 2025 NFL Draft, the team more than made up for it. If Chris 'Pooh' Paul Jr. gets a chance to play this season, he won't lose the starting role until he falls to injury. The Rams had to patch together the inside linebacker depth chart after the loss of Jones, and the knee-jerk reaction was to send out the most experienced veterans.

So that's what the team did.

This is a team that seldom deliberately addresses its needs at the inside linebacker position. But the team was more than happy to select Pooh Paul Jr. Was it more about the team's frantic need at the position? Or was this about the fact that Paul was simply that good that the decision to select him was a slam dunk? Perhaps it was a bit of both.

Paul Jr. was a shining star of the Shrine Bowl. Throughout the week of practice and during the game, he put on a display of pass coverage, run-stopping, and diagnosing plays at the level of an NFL starter. Projected as early as Day 2, Paul is on par and perhaps even a bit better in raw NFL talent than former ILB Ernest Jones.

What Paul lacks in size, he makes up for in effort. And his pass coverage skills rival those of a defensive back. He may not start in Week 1. But if he gets defensive snaps in 2025, the coaching staff will find it impossible to get him off the football field.

Rams anchor defensive front with this fireplug

The Los Angeles Rams know that the defense must master stuffing running backs if the team is to have any hope of postseason success. But with so many talented running backs swarming into the NFL thanks to a robust rookie class of 2025, more teams than ever will boast strong ground attacks. So it stands to reason that the defense has to get much better very quickly.

Stopping the run is not glitzy or glamorous. It's one of the areas that is not a featured statistic in Fantasy Football, so many new era NFL fans simply do not pay much attention to the task. But NFL coaches and fans who appreciate the game know and love anyone on the defense who can stuff the run, reroute the offense, and master the art of gobbling blockers.

The Rams believe they've found someone who fits that category.

Ty Hamilton is not the type of guy to have a dozen or more microphones thrust at him at the end of a football game. In many ways, Hamilton's presence on the football field reminds me of former Rams defensive lineman Greg Gaines. A stout run defender, Hamilton not only plays tough-nosed football, but his ability to impact the line of scrimmage improves the quality of play all around him.

He simply is content to let others hog the spotlight.

It's a curious matter that creates the paradox in almost every NFL draft. Is a rookie prospect highly regarded purely on their own merits? Or does a rookie prospect's draft profile gain tremendous advantages simply by being supported by a more dominating cast? After all, do teammates of Ty Hamilton get a bit of a draft boost by playing next to him?

We know that many NFL mercenary edge rushers loved to compete on the Rams' defense in the hope of benefiting from the 'Aaron Donald effect.' Can Ty Hamilton bolster the Rams overall run defense similarly?

If he plays, he's going to be fantastic

The Los Angeles Rams did not need to toss another running back into the competition for playing time. The Rams were cozy with giving the football to running back Kyren Williams. And if the team had any regrets doing that, they had running back Blake Corum returning for another chance at prying away carries from his teammate. And then there are two more running backs in Ronnie Rivers and Cody Schrader.

But not one is necessarily explosive.

Former Auburn running back Jarquez Hunter certainly is. He is uniquely gifted to bring both the power of a steam locomotive and the speed of a bullet train in one small but Mighty Mouse package. He is the real deal.

I won't pretend to guess the level of work Hunter might get in 2025. It could be anywhere from 10 carries to 200 carries. And since he is a rookie running back for the Rams, I'd project fewer rather than more carries. But the Rams traded up for Hunter, and it would be senseless to do so if the plan is to sit him on the bench and contemplate the meaning of life in the NFL.

Race cars have to race. A small, mighty, fast, powerful running back like Jarquez Hunter has to run. There is no way for this player to earn his keep by being a great locker room guy. He has to get on the football field to contribute.

If the coaching staff can relent and allow this rookie to run with the football, a new chapter of the Rams offense opens up.

Off the edge putting opposing QBs on edge

The Rams' pass rush is one of the greatest areas of improvement on the entire team, let alone the defense. So, adding to the young corps that has mastered getting after the opposing quarterback was never going to be easy. The front office needed someone who could keep pace with the rest of the guys, which meant agility and speed were a must.

But the team needed the ferociousness of a pit bull guarding its territory. Finally, the team needed to ensure that whoever joined the roster could manage to replicate the intensity and physicality. Since Superman is busy rebooting his series in a new movie, the Rams settled for Michigan edge rusher Josaiah Stewart.

The Rams are not going to pick up right where they left off in the 2025 NFL Playoffs. After all, 16 quarterback sacks in just two games is simply unsustainable. But that is not to say that the Rams' pass rush automatically reverts to the anemic way it started in 2024.

While the Rams are getting more experience for young pass rushers, Stewart is talented enough to keep pace with the rest of his teammates. He is not going to compete for a starting role as a rookie. But he is so energetic and productive that he will earn his share of defensive snaps. And the other edge rushers who hoped to increase their roles in 2025 must show up in a big way to gain ground.

The Rams love passionate football players. Josaiah Stewart is passion personified. When he got the phone call, he was so overwhelmed that he made HC Sean McVay smile over his joyful reaction to the news..

Stewart is a dynamo of electrifying edge rushing ability. He is not just gifted at sacking quarterbacks, but he has a sneaky-good pass coverage ability that rivals that of a defensive back.

The one that didn't get away

The team sought Utah TE Dalton Kincaid in the 2023 NFL Draft, but didn't get him. The team sought Georgia TE Brock Bowers in the 2024 NFL Draft, but didn't get him either. Down in the count 0-2, the Rams stepped into the batter's box but stepped out in Round 1 of the 2025 NFL Draft. But when the Rams returned, the team got everything it wanted and smashed the 46th overall pick in Round 2 of the 2025 NFL Draft over the fence.

Of, so the Rams and fans hope.

It's hard to imagine that the team's front office would swing and miss for a third time. After all, the specs for tight end were a fire-drilled template that scouts knew like the backs of their hands. The Rams wanted a pass-catching tight end ala former Washington Commanders tight end Jordan Reed. Did the team manage to find the right guy, finally?

There are many reasons to believe in Terrance Ferguson in this offense in 2025.

While the Rams hadn't shown much interest in 12-personnel offensive plays in the past, the addition of Ferguson certainly adds that back to the menu. Even if he is simply eased into the offense this season, the team has to try to get him involved in catching passes. The Rams targeted the tight end 74 times in 2024. But the team targeted a healthy Tyler Higbee 70 times in 2023. I expect the offense to target Higbee around 60 times in 2025, while targeting Ferguson about 30 times. If Ferguson does well, that mix may be near a 50/50 split.

I appreciated HC Sean McVay's comments about Terrance Ferguson after Day 1 of OTAs. He is proud of his player, but is making a serious effort to give nothing away:

"Seen a guy (Terrane Ferguson) that has been real attentive in meetings, got a really good feel – you know, really, it is routes on air. And then what we saw today, which is a limited body of work. But just been really impressed with him, and really the rookie class as a whole. Our vets have done a good job welcoming these guys with open arms. But, looking forward to seeing him just continue to take it a step at a time. "

HC Sean McVay

Is Ferguson the guy the Rams wanted all along? As long as he can play and gets the opportunity to prove it in 2025, that is good enough for me.

As always, thanks so much for reading.

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