Why Los Angeles Rams' overlooked 2025 NFL Draft pick could become major steal down the line in Sean McVay's offense
Much of the discussion surrounding the Los Angeles Rams 2025 NFL Draft class has focused on their trade back in the first round of the draft and selection of players like Terrance Ferguson and Chris "Pooh" Paul Jr. However, there's one unheralded pick who seems poised to be a major steal for the team that […]
Much of the discussion surrounding the Los Angeles Rams 2025 NFL Draft class has focused on their trade back in the first round of the draft and selection of players like Terrance Ferguson and Chris "Pooh" Paul Jr.
However, there's one unheralded pick who seems poised to be a major steal for the team that nobody is talking about: seventh-round pick wide receiver Konata Mumpfield.
Turn on Mumpfield's tape and you see a smooth, productive player who checks off all of the boxes the Rams look for: He's a high-character, high-effort worker, is one of the smoothest route runners in the draft, and he just made play after play for Pitt.
Despite this, Mumpfield was overlooked because of his measurables. At just 5'11 and 186 pounds, Mumpfield ran a 4.59 40-yard dash and put out modest jumping numbers. He doesn't look like an NFL wide receiver, but he plays like one on the field.
Mumpfield has a knack at working open. You can see the attention to detail he brings as a route runner, and he constantly finds holes in zone coverage and works back to his quarterback routinely. All of the savvy/crafty adjectives you can think of work to describe his game, almost like an established veteran out there on the field.
This is the perfect addition for the Rams, who struggled having receivers work open much at all in 2024. They went out and snatched Davante Adams in free agency to help solve this, but the rest of the room needed a player like Mumpfield, as both Puka Nacua and Tutu Atwell rely a lot on getting schemed open instead of generating pure separation on their own.
Mumpfield's route-running prowess, awareness, and hands pair perfectly with Matthew Stafford, who is an assassin against zone coverage. Per SportsInfoSolutions, only Tua Tagovailoa had a higher success rate against zone than Matthew Stafford in 2024 (57.9% vs 57.7%). Where Mumpfield will have to earn his stripes is working against man coverage.
Fortunately, we've already seen him take several NFL players to task over his career at Pitt and Akron. Mumpfield has battled players like Quincy Riley, Mansoor Delane, Kamal Hadden, Kei'Trel Clark, Roger McCreary, Nehemiah Pritchett, Denzel Burke, Samuel Womack III, and Quinyon Mitchell over his career.
Mumpfield can move inside and outside for the Rams, interchangeably fitting in all over the formation. While he won't generate a lot of the yards after catch that Puka Nacua does, what Mumpfield does bring as a route runner is just as valuable a skill set. While it's obviously hyperbolic to make any comparisons now, it's the exact trait that made Cooper Kupp and Robert Woods so effective for the Rams.
Don't be surprised when Mumpfield makes the 53-man roster. Don't be further shocked when Mumpfield starts seeing the field quickly and making key plays in a rotational role in the Rams' offense.
