The LA Rams owe a great deal to the dedication and expertise of WR Coach Eric Yarber. You see, unlike many coaches and draft scouts, he has an ability that they do no yet possess. It takes a trained eye, a professionally trained eye, to see the talents exhibited by a young football player and translate how that can be used in an NFL offense.
But it takes an expert, the best of the best, to see what is not yet there but could be, when assessing the upsides of veteran and rookie wide receivers. And that expert's name is Eric Yarber. It's something he has been doing for some time as a member of the LA Rams coaching staff. While many of the players he helped to choose and had trained to compete in the NFL, just look at the players currently on this team's roster at the wide receiver position for 2024:
- WR Cooper Kupp - 69th overall player selected by Rams in 2017 NFL Draft
- WR Puka Nacua - 177th overall player selected by Rams in 2023 NFL Draft
- WR Demarcus Robinson - 126th overall player selected by Chiefs in 2016 NFL Draft
- WR Tutu Atwell - 57th overall player selected by Rams in 2021 NFL Draft
- WR Jordan Whittington - 213th overall player selected by Rams in 2024 NFL Draft
- WR Xavier Smith - undrafted player signed after 2023 NFL Draft
No Round 1 players are found in the room. But this group is among the most accomplished and dangerous wide receiver groups in the NFL this season.
Just ask NFL expert analysts Brian Baldinger and Steve Wyche, and they will tell you. Right now, they love what they are seeing out of Rams rookie WR Jordan Whittington.
The Rams did not dive into the massive WR talent pool in the 2024 NFL Draft until late in Round 6. But they have found the best NFL preseason performer so far in two preseason games.
And yes, QB Stetson Bennett is the one who is throwing him those passes to lead the NFL in preseason receiving yards.
Whittington continues to be content to do the WR dirty work to feature his teammates. But it is far easier to feature a WR who already knows how to block, run crisp routes, and run through tackles than it is to teach a guy who hates making contact on the techniques of proper blocking.
The LA Rams know that they are doing. Thankfully, other NFL teams haven't caught on just yet.
