Matthew Stafford says he trusts his receivers. Rams numbers say otherwise

ملخص مفصل

Matthew Stafford says he trusts the Rams’ backup receivers, but his target numbers tell a different story. With Puka Nacua out, it’s time to prove it.

Matthew Stafford says he has a ton of trust in the Rams’ inexperienced receivers.

Not because Stafford is lying or because he doesn’t genuinely believe in Konata Mumpfield, Tutu Atwell and rookie CJ Daniels. He’s too good a teammate and too respected a leader to publicly throw those guys under the bus.

But there’s a difference between believing in somebody and trusting them with the football when the game is on the line.

And Stafford’s actions this season have spoken considerably louder than his words.

“Obviously, there’s not as many snaps that I have with those guys out there that are going to be playing than maybe Puka [Nacua] and Davante [Adams] that I’ve accrued over the years,” Stafford said Wednesday. “But I still throw to those guys every single day in practice and have a ton of trust in what they can do.”

That’s a wonderful sentiment from the reigning NFL MVP, but there’s just one problem: If Stafford trusts them so much, why doesn’t he throw them the football?

Through nine games, Stafford has distributed 337 charted targets. Mumpfield, Atwell and Daniels have combined for 36 of them. That’s 10.7%.

Meanwhile, Nacua has commanded 93 targets, or 27.6% of the team’s total, despite missing two games. Adams has another 49, while running back Kyren Williams has 46.

Nacua accounted for about 43% of the Rams’ targets over his last three appearances, according to StatChasers.

مطلع المقال، مقتطف من New York Post. لقراءة المقال كاملًا، افتحه على موقع الناشر.