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Lindsey ThiryESPN
MALIBU, Calif. — The Los Angeles Rams wasted no time discovering one other proficient participant for brand new quarterback Matthew Stafford within the NFL draft.
The Rams picked Louisville receiver Tutu Atwell with their first collection of this 12 months’s draft Friday within the second spherical at No. 57 general.
The 5-foot-9 Atwell, who weighed 155 kilos at his professional day final month, is the lightest participant drafted into the NFL since at the very least 2006.
“I see a participant who performs so much larger than that,” Rams coach Sean McVay mentioned. “I have been round a few of these guys that do not measure as huge, however they play huge.”
Shortly after he was drafted, Atwell was unfazed when requested by reporters about his stature.
“I simply include a chip on my shoulder always, regardless of was the state of affairs is,” mentioned Atwell, who caught 140 passes for two,307 yards and 20 touchdowns in three seasons at Louisville. “I am a go-getter.”
The Rams signed veteran receiver DeSean Jackson to a one-year, $four.5 million contract in free company however entered the draft with the precedence of including one other speedy, deep-threat receiver.
Atwell is predicted to be a dependable goal on intermediate and deep routes, and McVay says the rookie additionally has some similarities to Jackson.
“The power to stretch the highest shelf of the protection, I believe he actually does a superb job of monitoring the ball effortlessly down the sphere,” McVay mentioned, including that was amongst traits that make Jackson “so particular.”
Atwell joins a receiving corps that additionally consists of Robert Woods, Cooper Kupp and Van Jefferson, who was chosen with a second-round decide final 12 months.