WR's disappearing act is filling Rams front office with buyer's remorse
Posted October 25, 2025
When the Los Angeles Rams extended wide receiver Tutu Atwell on a one-year $10 million contract, something felt amiss. The contract did not match his workload, and his workload did not match his productivity.
The contract screamed contributor, but a glance over his history with the team proved that the offense was reluctant to afford him opportunities and quick to send him back to the bench.
Getting paid in the NFL is not the end of controversy in the NFL. For many players, it's just the start of the second-guessing and hand-wringing of unmet expectations. For Tutu Atwell, getting paid set the bar for his performance much higher. So far,
, and it comes as no surprise to find the former Louisville Cardinals wide receiver on the list as the Rams' most disappointing player. That's a problem, not just for the player, but for the team.
Sean McVay promised 2025 would be different for Tutu Atwell
It's tough to blame a player who has done everything asked of him. And when the extension was offered, who would have been foolish enough to turn it down? After all, $10 milion for nine targets and four receptions after seven games are great wages.
It was head coach Sean McVay who promised that Atwell would have a larger role in the offense this season. So far, he is averaging just over one target per game. If that pace continues all season long, the team will be paying its speedy wide receiver over $450,000 per target. If you convert that to receptions, it's a cool million per catch.
Something is most definitely amiss.
The simple answer is to target Atwell more often. But it's not that simple. With four tight ends, three running backs, and six wide receivers all vying for the football, getting one player more active means forcing another player to be less active
Who would you sacrifice in this offense to give Atwell more targets? Of course, a roundabout way of doing that is to control the clock, move the chains, and keep the offense on the football field longer. But Atwell's superpower is his speed and those deep passes, which have the opposite effect of what the offense needs to do to create more opportunities for players.
The NFL trade deadline is looming. With the offense content to afford their $10 million receiver only a cameo role before the BYE, keep Tutu Atwell on your radar as a potential trade casualty. This offense cannot find targets for him despite the rhetoric to the contrary. Perhaps the ultimate solution is trading him to a team that can.
As always, thanks for reading.
Nico Hoerner And Cubs Claim Prestigious Defensive Awards
The Chicago Cubs had one of the finest defensive seasons in Major League Baseball in 2025. In the eyes of one publication, they were the best.
The Fielding Bible has been presenting awards for the league’s top defensive players for the past 20 years. In 2023, the publication added a defensive player of the year. This season, it added a defensive team of the year. The Cubs earned the team award, while second baseman Nico Hoerner was also selected for a position award.
The Cubs reached the playoffs for the first time since 2020 by claiming a National League wild card berth. They defeated the San Diego Padres in the wild card round before losing a five-game series with the Milwaukee Brewers in the division series. The Brewers went on to lose to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLCS.
In winning the site’s first team-based award, the Fielding Bible pointed out that the Cubs had 84 total defensive runs saved. The only team better in the category was the Texas Rangers at 89. The Rangers set a Major League record for fielding percentage in a season.
In giving the award to the Cubs, Fielding Bible’s editorial lead Mark Simon wrote that Chicago was the only team with a positive DRS from eight of its nine defensive positions. Right field was the only one not in the positive.
That included Hoerner, who led all second basemen in DRS. Center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong, considered one of the best defensive outfielders in the game, was second in DRS at his position. Left field Ian Happ and starting pitcher Matthew Boyd were third in DRS at their positions while third baseman Matt Shaw was fourth.
That balance won out over the Rangers’ historic fielding percentage and league-leading DRS.
"Cubs management built a team that prides itself in defensive excellence and that showed up all over the field," Simon wrote. "They were especially strong up the middle and at some of the game's most important positions.”
Not surprisingly, six Cubs are finalists for National League Gold Gloves, with the awards to be announced next month. Chicago finalists include Hoerner, Shaw, Happ, Boyd, Crow-Armstrong and catcher Carson Kelly,
In selecting Hoerner, he became the second Cubs second baseman to win the award, along with Darwin Barney in 2012. Hoerner had 17 DRS to lead all second baseman and charged an MLB-best 15 plays saved better than the average second baseman on balls hit to his right, per Fielding Bible.
