Have the L.A. Rams found the NEXT PUKA NACUA in Jordan Whittington?

there's no denying that the Rams struck gold last year with pukan Nur within 2 weeks of the NFL season starting everybody knew that puka nura was going to be the guy people were scrambling to make trades for him in fantasy and those who did that cashed in the rest of the way when he broke all of those records in his first year with the team puker originally went to Washington in college but then transferred closer to home at BYU where he posted over, 1400 yards in two seasons and there he very quickly became a reliable Target making a ton of clutch plays however when it came to the NFL draft wasn't the fastest the tallest the strongest or the most accomplished receiver on the board by a long stretch so how did he end up breaking all of those records as a fifth round pick with the Rams quite simply because no team is better at finding late round value that fits what the team is looking for than Les Sneed and Shawn McVey in La supported by a tremendous scouting department they have done it time and time again and they might have just done it one more time Jordan wittington spent 5 years with the Texas Longhorns and while he never posted eye popping numbers he made a whole bunch of clutch plays showed a Relentless work ethic and did whatever he needed to do to help the team win sound familiar now I will preface this video by making sure that it's clear that I am not saying Jordan wittington is going to rewrite the history books I don't expect that what pukan nura did last season was rare and impressive and I don't want to undermine that but Jay Wick can play Let's watch the film break down what we can see and talk about it in the comments starting with the week one game against the Cowboys and whittington's very first catch in the offense it's already clear that he's repping into puka nura's role the amount of work Matt Stafford and puka nura did over the middle of the field in 2023 was Paramount and whittington's size and strength as a bigger bodied receiver is obvious this one is a 15 yard in route a route that I saw multiple times while studying the film clearing the coverage to come open over the middle of the field he shows strong hands and protects the football well into contact after the catch he is a very willing blocker something I'll talk about a little bit more later on here he runs a block and release and early on watching the film I started to notice the energy and the motor that he plays with he's all for the team and with every rep playing for a shot in the big leagues you'll see it too as the video goes on so let me know your thoughts in the comments his blocking shows a lot of promise and it will likely get him on the field more too he isn't perfect he can certainly learn to engage and hold his blocks longer but he's strong with long arms big body the Rams will love that he wins here at the top of his stem turning his Defender inside before breaking back out to the boundary no he doesn't have the sharpest Cuts or the most fluid hips but he did set up Defenders multiple times Within These two games it's the preseason there's a lot of depth guys out there I know but I can only watch I've got for now here it's just get hands on somebody he didn't take a rep off in the whole two games on this play one guy slips inside of his block but he finishes the rep it's a small thing but getting up field and putting hands on somebody is great muscle memory and you never know when it could be effective to break for a big play now this is the play of the game and the gear he finds after the catch really took me and the Cowboys defense by surprise this is all round a high level rep it's a quick slant off the left side against man coverage you have five wide go routes on the outside with a stop and go over the middle and a quick curl underneath the pass is a little high and ston Bennett did struggle with this across the two games but wittington again Shields the football really well with his body he attacks the football makes a great hands catch but it's what he does after the catch that really impressed despite a stumble with the contact it's like he was shot out of a cannon it's kind of weird to watch he goes from this half stumble to a full Sprint and blows by everybody he is hauling ass in a hurry and it's a strong form tackle to bring him down but that's a whole lot of momentum and speed from a big receiver flying right towards you this is a brilliant rep showing you can make plays like that is something the coaches will love and Jay wit is going to see some real playing time this season because of it he's clearly learning the puker roll a lot of option routes underneath quick curls between linebackers and making plays between the hashes he lined up all over the field but he was running a ton of this in Breaking routes quick Slants and showing the quarterback he could get open unfortunately ston Bennett struggled with ball placement in both games he threw four picks in this game and this one sailed right over whittington's head if I'm honest I wasn't impressed with the QB play it was rough at times and five picks in two preseason games is a miserable stat line Jordan whittington's effort in blocking showed up throughout though with a lot of it coming from this spot as a blocker off the edge of the o line again we saw puka do a ton of this in his rookie season and have studied those games on the channel so we're no strangers to that but the Rams are adding valuable depth and players who can make those gritty contributions most of the time he's blocking linebackers from a spot you would typically see from a tight end the Rams have three receivers on the field more than any other team in football and so they need them to be willing and able blockers for the Run game in 2023 the Rams ran 11 personnel 93% of the time that's 30% more than the rest of the League's average and means that the third receiver on the Rams is far more important to the production of the team than the third receiver on any other roster Demarcus Robinson had a really good run down the stretch and he too is a willing blocker but the Rams are going to have options this year and can rotate guys in those roles Jordan wittington could easily end up being the team's third receiver this season and I wouldn't be surprised he wins to the outside again here but the ball is low and Away another good rep finding space underneath and Stafford will be able to go to this if he needs to on this one they used him in motion underneath allowing him to use that big body presence to turn up field after the catch he turns it into a nice gain and the defender bounces off of him with the shoulder tackle on the sideline this was a pretty risky throw but the shallow defender's head is turned around holding on to the catch through contact is great here though and again another showing of the strength of wittington he collects the football takes a pretty big hit but he holds on in this opening game he did everything that was asked of him and executed perfectly making big hands catches over the middle holding on through contact and picking up yards after the catch whenever he could same again here with a Defender all over him great hands catch and smooth transition into attempting to turn up field and actually making a play on fourth down to keep the drive alive again here I needed to see a better ball from ston Bennett this is a fade out of the slot and I would have liked to see how wittington performed had this been a jump ball in the back corner of the end zone instead it fell shallow of the defender's feet which is disappointing and then this is just another poor decision from STS and Bennett these are the routes that Matt Stafford and puker are great at the Choice route with the receiver deciding whether to sit it down or keep running it flat across the field Bennett thinks that this linebacker has cleared out of the way so he can hit the receiver in behind wittington but he gets baited and it's picked off here's another excellent catch with a man on him for a first down again strong at the catch Point collects the football and shields it with his body and he does it again here running a cur route between coverage and coming back towards the football on both occasions he's tackled immediately but he holds on and proves his worth as a receiver who can constantly offer a first down and a clutch catch when called upon I was really impressed watching the Cowboys game and so much more than the stat line that Jordan wittington posted a ton of great reps a lot of high energy and a commitment to doing the best thing for the team unselfishly game two against the charges was more of the same on the First Catch of the game he motions from right to left before snapping this shallow route off towards the sideline he makes the catch turns up field and again turns it into a first down and more he was blocking again as we discussed in the first game putting hands on some up the middle to try and help break a big run with Kiren Williams and Blake Corum this season forming one of the more exciting Duos in the league I wouldn't be surprised to see wittington doing a ton of this early in his career this was practically the same catch as the one that we saw at the end of his reps in the Cowboys game running a quick call underneath and making a play between coverage again something that pukan nura built his rookie season on and a nice way for the Rams to add depth in that role he's open here over the middle but Stetson chose to throw towards the boundary on the near side this had the potential to be yards after the catch too another one towards the boundary but the ball placement was off so this one too Falls incomplete that won't happen with Matt Stafford here he's the decoy on a fake jet inside handoff but again a play where you could see him take the football and turn up the sideline it's all about the Rams finding a player that suits the role and wittington looks to be settling in perfectly in their system it's just good scouting and a player who can play a great role in this offense this was another of those routes finding space between coverage over the middle and again on this one wittington hits his stride and finds a burst of speed after the catch he might not get as many yards on this one as he did in the one in the Cowboys game but it's still a chunk gain over the middle and another sign of him making a play when called upon they tried it again here but the ball was sailed over his head with Stafford that's complete and it gets there faster with anticipation to allow wittington to react to this safety he doesn't get the football on this one but I lik the route he puts a hard jab step off the line and then shakes again at the top of his stem before breaking across the field he gets open but the football goes the other way even here just finishing the rep as he did on every rep I watched again it's a small thing he's fighting to try and get open for a scrambling QB here and when Bennett pulls it down he finishes the rep by blocking his guy in case the QB gets loose down the sideline again motor effort playing for his future and for the team on this one he doesn't win and I thought we should still include those plays as we do in any study here on the channel it's a 10 yard curl route and his Defender makes a play on it doesn't quite do enough to sell it his Defender has inside leverage and this one Falls a little short of the mark and he finished this game just as he finished the Cowboys game two strong catches on underneath routes in tight coverage again he Shields the ball well he's been perfectly reliable in both games and comfortably collects the football to move the chains or pick up good quick yards underneath wittington played extremely well in these two games it's a great Showcase of a wide range of skills and the young man has landed in the perfect spot to go on and have a great career in the league he's a perfect match for the offense The Scouting department has done it once again and the Rams now have another strong receiver who can rep into their offense take significant snaps and play a role for the team and we all saw last year how important it was for pukan deura to learn everything that he knows from Cooper cup I'm not saying that Jordan wittington is going to have a thousand yard season let's make that clear but he can be the third guy he can share that pressure with Demarcus Robinson and Matt Stafford and the rest of the receivers already appear to really like him and appreciate the effort that he's showing this team ultimately Jordan wittington is just a guy you can really root for and the Rams continue to quietly build a team that has it all I've been high on the Rams I'm staying high on the Rams and we're very close to seeing it all get started in week one subscribe for more videos just like this one let me know what you think about Jordan wittington showcase so far and I will see you guys in the next one thank you for watching