Turf Show Times
Throughout much of the Sean McVay era, it wasn’t abnormal to see rookies not get opportunities early in their careers. As second-round wide receivers, Van Jefferson and Tutu Atwell barely played as rookies. In Jefferson’s case, he only had 19 receptions. Darrell Henderson was a third-round pick and only saw 39 carries as a rookie despite Todd Gurley managing his knee. In 2020, Cam Akers didn’t see back-to-back games with 10 or more carries until Week 13 and 14 of his rookie year.
It’s fair to point out that those Rams teams were in a different place. They had experience at those positions, allowing for a “red shirt” type season from their rookies. From 2018-2022, it was rarer for a Rams rookie to have an impact than not. Those years were much more about building up the roster depth than needing to find immediate impact starters.
However, when 2023 and 2024 came, the Rams needed to rely on their rookies more. The 2023 draft class is arguably the best of the Les Snead era. Without a first-round pick, the Rams selected Steve Avila, Byron Young, Kobie Turner, and Puka Nacua. All four of those players were immediate starters. Last year, the Rams added Jared Verse, Braden Fiske, and Kam Kinchens who also had major roles early in their careers.
With the Rams needing to reset and clear their salary cap, they were forced to rely on young players and rookies over the last two seasons. Those players were a major reason for their success as Nacua and Verse became stars and others proved to be complementary pieces at worst.
Heading into 2025, the Rams once again entered a spot in which building up the roster depth became a priority. Following two seasons in which rookies starred on the roster, the team’s best rookie, Josaiah Stewart, is currently playing just 31 percent of the team’s defensive snaps. In Stewart’s case, his snap count makes sense as he is the third player in a talent-heavy edge rotation.
At the end of the day, the Rams are 3-2 and a handful of plays from being 5-0. If Joshua Karty’s kick doesn’t get blocked against the Philadelphia Eagles and Kyren Williams scores instead of fumbling at the one-yard line, conversations around personnel likely don’t happen. With that said, the Rams are 3-2 and it’s fair to wonder if the Rams trusted some of their youth in key spots, they might be better off for it.
The Rams drafted Terrance Ferguson in the second round and he has four snaps on offense. His lone catch was a contested one on 3rd-and-4 that resulted in a first down. Ferguson has been inactive twice this season as a second round pick that the Rams reportedly would have considered 26th overall. Ferguson showed in his lone opportunity that he can be counted on to make a play. The question then becomes, why is he not getting more opportunities?
This isn’t just an issue with Ferguson. While Blake Corum...
