The Los Angeles Rams were never going to be sellers at the trade deadline, but their last three wins have put them squarely in "buyer" territory before Tuesday at 4 p.m. ET. It's never been more evident that they badly need to trade for a wide receiver, even if Sean McVay said recently that the Rams aren't looking to bring in help at the position.
At 5-4, the Rams are still in the hunt for not only a playoff spot, but potentially the NFC West. But given the current state of the receiver room, it's hard to see them going very far in the postseason.
Against the Commanders on Sunday, Puka Nacua caught 14 passes for 150 yards and a touchdown. That's the good news. The bad news is he suffered a knee injury on the final offensive snap and is set for an MRI
on Monday to determine the severity.
As if that's not concerning enough, the Rams once again got nothing out of their receivers in Landover this weekend. Of Matthew Stafford's 43 pass attempts, 19 went to Nacua. The next-closest player had five targets, and the next-closest wide receiver (Konata Mumpfield) caught two passes for 20 yards. Tutu Atwell, after being mentioned as someone who could get more looks, caught two passes for 16 yards.
Jordan Whittington didn't have a catch, and CJ Daniels didn't see a target, if he was on the field on offense at all. Mumpfield is third among Rams receivers in yards this season with a paltry 162, and 78 came on one drive in Week 3. Atwell has 99 yards on seven catches, which isn't nearly good enough. Whittington has a whopping two catches for 12 yards and barely plays on offense anymore.
The Rams can't survive like this, and you could argue their overreliance on Nacua is the reason he gets hurt as often as he does. His knee injury on the final snap came on a third-down jet sweep to him that went for 5 yards – a completely unnecessary play call in that situation by Sean McVay.
He was slow to get up after a deep shot down the right sideline, which caused him to be taken into the blue medical tent briefly to be checked for a concussion. He catches screen passes and gets walloped by waves of defenders. He catches slants over the middle where linebackers are waiting. Few players take as big a beating as Nacua does on a weekly basis.
Whether Nacua misses any time or not, the Rams must trade for wide receiver help. And the options will be there.
Brian Thomas Jr., Josh Downs, Keenan Allen, Jerry Jeudy, Calvin Ridley. Those are all wideouts who could be moved before Tuesday's deadline. And the Rams should make calls about at least a couple of them to gauge the asking price.
They don't have a lot of draft capital to trade away, but for a team that's all-in, they'll struggle to win a Super Bowl with their current collection of receivers.
Yes, Davante Adams will be back at some point after the bye, but that won't solve everything. The Rams can't use 11 personnel without three trustworthy, reliable receivers. After Nacua and Adams, they don't have a legitimate WR3, and they haven't in over a year.
No real deep threat, no sure-handed receiver over the middle, no chain-mover – except for Nacua, of course. And with Terrance Ferguson pulling his hamstring, which will sideline him for a couple more weeks, the Rams will be down another offensive weapon for a little while.
They shouldn't trade away the future for a half-year rental, but the Rams don't have much time left with Matthew Stafford. They have to do everything possible to win a ring this year.
This article originally appeared on Rams Wire: Rams desperately need to trade for a WR before the deadline
