Rams can revitalize lagging receiver depth by turning to familiar guru

The Los Angeles Rams drafted a BYU receiver named Puka Nacua with the 177th pick in 2023. He owes part of his development to then-wide receivers coach Eric Yarber. In three NFL seasons covering 44 games, Nacua hauled in 313 of 432 passes for 4,191 receiving yards and 19 touchdowns, with his best yet to come.

Since adding Nacua, L.A. has drafted Jordan Whittington (2024), Konata Mumpfield (2025), and, most recently, CJ Daniels (2026). Whittington and Mumpfield have combined for only 50 catches, 556 receiving yards, and one touchdown. Is it merely a coincidence that Yarber, now in a senior offensive coordinator role, was replaced as a receiver coach by Rob Calabrese and assistant Robert Woods?

Along with injuries, poor production lower down in the receiver rotation drove the Rams to emphasize tight ends last season. Simply put, the team's wideout depth has stagnated in both 2024 and 2025. If not for Nacua and Davante Adams, the offense would be stale and predictable.

Coach Yarber, Calabrese, and Woods must make Rams receivers relevant once more.

Rams receivers must embark on a renaissance

Head coach Sean McVay does not shy away from the innovations and wisdom of his positional coaches. Subtle but significant changes to the staff hint that he is seeking answers to the Rams' receiver problem sooner rather than later.

Is it a lack of talent or ineffective coaching that has limited the development of young receivers? Perhaps the answer is somewhere between neither and both.

Granted, with Nacua drawing the lion's share of targets and catching everything thrown his way, and Adams staking out the red zone, there simply isn't a huge surplus to distribute elsewhere. But there is something, and other Rams receivers have to take advantage.

Of course, what the Horns have been doing has been working. Nacua and Adams elevated the receiver group to one of the most productive in the league last season. It comes down to how greedy L.A. can get.

Rams tight ends accounted for 86 receiving yards per game in 2025, with another 163.6 from the dynamic wideout duo. That translates to just 33.3 yards per game from all other pass-catchers, which includes running backs.

That number needs to come up, and turning back to Yarber for his receiver-specific insights could help get it there.

As always, thanks for reading.

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