Turf Show Times
If you subscribe to The Athletic and were shocked at what you read this morning in Daniel Popper’s “Best Fits” column about free agent wide receivers, you weren’t alone.
As TST’s Danny Stone pointed out in this morning’s Random Ramsdom, Popper wrote that the Rams are the best fit for former San Francisco 49er and, most recently, Washington Commander Deebo Samuel. Not only was that a surprising match, but it doesn’t jive with what the Rams are apparently planning for at wide receiver this season.
Samuel has been a productive player in the past, of course, even earing a first-team All-Pro nod in 2021. But that was five years ago now, and the reputation that precedes Samuel is far greater than his actual impact on the field now. He wasn’t terrible for Washington last season, posting 72 receptions for 727 yards and five touchdowns, but he’s now another year older and still has the same issues he’s always had, just with further diminished speed and athleticism.
This is a player that has never been a strong man-coverage beater and thus has always needed his play callers to manufacture touches for him. ESPN’s Receiver Score metrics aren’t foolproof by any means and the stats do include some noise, but their 2025 grading does paint at least a broad picture of who Samuel is right now. Who is that? It’s a player who tied for 97th out of 110 graded wide receivers in “open” score, or how often a receiver is in position to make a catch even if they’re not targeted.
It doesn’t feel like the juice is worth the squeeze for a Rams team that already has one of the best offenses in the NFL and doesn’t need to add more gimmicks to create explosives, move the ball consistently or score. It would be one thing to take a flier is Los Angeles had a paltry assortment of weapons, but that’s clearly not the case, and it’s not worth developing more hyper-specific touches for what could be the Rams’ sixth option.
Overall, the Rams have made it obvious so far that they’re content with the group they have at wide receiver. Ty Simpson’s finally signed rookie deal eats into some of their available cap space and an Aaron Donaald return would obviously swallow most of what’s left. But there are enough options out there who wouldn’t cost an arm and a leg that if L.A. had wanted to add another receiver at some point this offseason, it could have.
This roster has a clear hierarchy both in terms of pass catchers and offensive contributors in general, and it’s hard to see a transformative role opening for anyone that Les Snead could go out and sign today. Puka Nacua is one of the five best receivers in the NFL, and Davante Adams is a potential Hall of Famer who is still easily among the best WR2s in the league. Colby Parkinson is going to be on the field a ton at...
