Despite never living up to his status as second-round pick (2021) during his rookie contract, Atwell is back with the Rams for a fifth season on a one-year, $10 million deal. He didn't score any touchdowns last year but otherwise finished with a bunch of career highs, including 42 catches, 562 targets, a 67.7 percent catch rate and 9.1 yards per target. Atwell drew targets on 24.3 percent of routes and produced 2.20 yards per route, but he didn't get much playing time Weeks 8-17 when both Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp were available. Kupp and Demarcus Robinson are gone now, replaced by Davante Adams, which leaves Atwell and Jordan Whittington as the top candidates for the No. 3 receiver job. Atwell's 4.42 speed might seem to make him the better fit alongside a pair of big receivers like Adams and Nacua, but there is some chance the Rams go with all size and no speed if they want Whittington as a more direct replacement for Kupp in the slot. Either way, Atwell probably needs an injury to Nacua or Adams to have any chance at more than a handful of targets per game.
