Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay explained the reasoning behind trading running back Jarquez Hunter for wide receiver Tutu Atwell.
The Los Angeles Rams pulled off a rare player-for-player trade when the team sent running back Jarquez Hunter to the Miami Dolphins in exchange for bringing back wide receiver Tutu Atwell.
Atwell had signed with the Dolphins during the offseason, but had not quite made his mark on the roster. Now, he returns to Los Angeles, and head coach Sean McVay offered an explanation on the swap.
Following the Rams' third and final preseason win, McVay took the podium to talk about the performances, and he got ahead of the media by directly speaking about bringing Atwell back into the fold.
"I'm sure you guys are wondering, you know, it'd be good to be able to bring 22 Atwell back. Obviously wish Jarquez Hunter nothing but the best moving forward. Felt like it was a chance to be able to, you know, add depth to the receiver room," McVay said.
McVay explained that sending Hunter to the Dolphins for Atwell had everything to do with adding some depth to the receiver room, and nothing else.
Hunter had been playing very well through preseason, and his second outing saw the running back pick up 68 yards and one touchdown on 15 carries.
Despite the breakout preseason performance, he is now in Miami. A reason for the Hunter trade might also be due to Dean Connors and Jordan Waters also playing very well.
Connors picked up 69 yards on 18 carries in the third preseason game, and Waters was right behind with 53 yards on 15 carries.
The Rams have a stacked running back room that consists of Kyren Williams, Blake Corum, and Ronnie Rivers. The latter of which received a lot of praise from McVay, who said that he "trust" Rivers completely.
Waters and Connors may be battling it out for the fourth running back spot behind Rivers, but both might also be in line to join another team based on their performances thus far.
Additionally, Atwell's return might also point to a preemptive move by McVay due to the potential suspension for Nacua. Despite that being an idea to think about, the Rams head coach shut it down completely.
"No. It had nothing to do with that. It was exclusively a guy that we were familiar with that you could really get at what we felt like was, you know, good for us and good for Jarquez, and that was, you know, I think he'll do a good job for the Dolphins...," McVay said.
Atwell never quite made his mark with the Rams in terms of climbing into a WR1 or WR2 role, but he is very fast, as McVay mentioned.
Beyond Nacua are Davante Adams, Jordan Whittington, Konata Mumpfield, Xavier Smith, and CJ Daniels. The receiver room does not necessarily lack depth, but it could be that the younger pass catchers have not quite separated themselves in the manner in which McVay needed them to.
Either way, Atwell is now back in the building and figures to be a strong depth piece for the Rams to utilize yet again in the 2026 season.
