The Los Angeles Rams’ Tutu Atwell was the ninth wide receiver taken off the board in the 2021 NFL Draft, and while the WR class featured some massive hits (Ja’Marr Chase was the WR1, Nico Collins the WR14, and Amon-Ra St. Brown the WR17), the former Louisville Cardinal has yet to find his way into a consistent role.
Atwell got off to a quick start last season, posting four straight games with four-plus receptions before Halloween, but as the team around him got healthy, his role vanished quickly, and he was on fantasy football waiver wires before Thanksgiving.
Will this year be different? Could the return of Matthew Stafford, combined with the league-wide trend of banking on short passes, allow the 5’9” Atwell to be pigeonholeed into a role that makes him a viable stash?
Tutu Atwell Fantasy Outlook
Atwell’s trajectory at the professional level has been stunted due to the Rams’ depth chart since he entered the league, but he was always going to face some limitations when producing at the professional level.
Yes, some small/slight receivers have hit big in the NFL. That’s a fact. That said, there’s a reason that a higher percentage of 5’9”, 165-pound people in this world do my job than Atwell’s.
In college, he was able to get loose and succeed in space. He averaged 16.5 yards per catch and scored on 15% of his receptions during three years at Louisville, production that looks good on paper but has translated to nothing noteworthy in the NFL.
In 2024, his dip in slot usage continued, and we can expect that to continue through this season, given that an aging Davante Adams was positioned more in the slot last season and will likely be used in a similar way with the Rams. Those are the layup targets that a thin profile like Atwell’s needs to justify rostering, and they aren’t likely to be there.
High percentage looks or high value looks, those are the two ways to get on the backend of my fantasy football roster, and I’m confident that neither is headed Atwell’s direction any time soon.
Injuries could open up a path for him to get on the field, but you’d be putting a lot of confidence in an unproven quantity whose job as the next man up isn’t even safe (Jordan Whittington had his moments last season and, after the NFL draft, Sean McVay now has a few tight ends at his disposal if he wants to get creative).
Atwell has been fine when given the opportunity (1.6 yards per route for his career, 6% better than the league average for receivers in 2024), but not special and without the ability to win in close to the goal line (13.3% career red-zone target rate, positioning him as a part of the KJ Osborn and Van Jefferson tier), you’re fighting an uphill battle to make Atwell happen.
An uphill battle on rollerblades.
An uphill battle on rollerblades, while juggling flaming bowling pins.
Still, McVay does sound like he wants to use the pass-catcher more this season, saying, “I haven’t done a good enough job of utilizing [Atwell, and he] will be on the field a lot more [this season].”
Sean McVay on Tuesday at the NFL Annual Meeting said “I haven’t done a good enough job of utilizing” WR Tutu Atwell and that Atwell “will be on the field a lot more” in 2025:https://t.co/yXNuexubl0
— Stu Jackson (@StuJRams) April 2, 2025
The coach-speak is nice to hear, but my fantasy leagues don’t reward any points for that. Talk is, in fact, quite cheap. Atwell is on a one-year deal, giving the team no real motivation to force him into a role that comes with fantasy value.
I may have added some context to this profile via stats, but I feel like you are pretty much where you started knowledge-wise when you opened up this article, and that’s not OK with me. I aim to please. I aim to make you a smarter person.
MORE: Free Fantasy Football Mock Draft Simulator
Chatarius is Atwell’s given first name, one that he shares with his father. They also share the ‘Tutu’ nickname, something that started when a cousin struggled to pronounce his first name.
He also shares a birthday with Simon Cowell and threw for over 4,000 yards as a high school quarterback.
There. Now you’ve learned something.
Mason LeBeau‘s Tutu Atwell Projection
Tutu Atwell falls into the same category as the rest of the Rams offense, while QB Matthew Stafford is in limbo. Assuming he’s good to go Week One, Atwell is the starting slot receiver for a potentially potent Rams offense, but it would take a true breakout for him to become fantasy relevant.
Atwell enters his fifth season as a former second-round pick and has clearly earned the favor of HC Sean McVay to stick around. He plays a role, and he plays it well, but he’s clearly behind the pecking order of Davante Adams and Puka Nacua.
In the red zone, McVay loves to run the ball with RB Kyren Williams. Getting TE Tyler Higbee back doesn’t change much, but they may look to get their rookie tight end, Terrance Ferguson, involved. Even if there’s an injury ahead of him, Atwell doesn’t play in a way that he can immediately replace them. Add in Stafford’s age and health, and there’s little to no reason to consider Atwell, even at a value.
