Atlanta Falcons Chase Upside, Explosiveness in Van Jefferson Los Angeles Rams Trade
The Atlanta Falcons made headlines Tuesday by acquiring receiver Van Jefferson in a trade with the Los Angeles Rams, done at a discounted price with Atlanta also landing a 2025 seventh-round pick and Los Angeles getting a 2025 sixth-round pick.
Jefferson, 27, is in the final year of his rookie contract and comes with a salary cap hit of just $993,000.
In essence, Atlanta has no long-term commitment to Jefferson, is taking on very little money and simply exchanged a pair of late Day 3 draft selections over 16 months away.
So, why did the Rams let Jefferson walk so easily and how can he impact the Falcons?
The answer to the first part is more complicated and really stems back to the night of Feb. 13, 2022, when Los Angeles beat the Cincinnati Bengals in the Super Bowl.
Jefferson caught four passes for 23 yards, capping off a breakout second season in which he started every game and recorded 50 receptions for 802 yards and six touchdowns.
Immediately after winning the Lombardi Trophy, Jefferson departed SoFi Stadium for the hospital - not because he was hurt, but to be by his wife's side while the couple's first child was born. They proceeded to name him Champ.
Later, Jefferson declared he won three prizes that day - his wife, child and the Super Bowl.
A former second-round pick who beat out Kyle Pitts, Kadarius Toney and others to lead the University of Florida in receiving yards as a senior, Jefferson was well-accomplished and squarely on an uphill track.
But since then, it's all flipped.
Jefferson underwent knee surgery during 2022 offseason programs, and again that August. He missed the first six games of the season and never found a rhythm upon returning, finishing with just 24 catches for 369 yards and three scores.
Entering 2023 hoping to bounce back, Jefferson was in line to be Los Angeles' No. 1 receiver once star wideout Cooper Kupp was placed on injured reserve with a hamstring injury before the season opener.
Instead, rookie fifth-round pick Puka Nacua stole the show, and Jefferson posted just eight receptions on 15 targets for 108 yards and a touchdown during Kupp's four-week absence.
"I think there were a lot of things over the first couple games where you're saying, alright, coverage sometimes dictates it," Rams coach Sean McVay said Sept. 18 on Jefferson's limited role. "But in a lot of instances, Van Jefferson is number one and you're trying to get him the ball in a crunch time situation.
"I think there's a lot of layers, and I also believe in Van, and I think he can play better than what he has. I know he has it in him."
Van Jefferson has endured a difficult 13 months, but if he can get back to his prior form, he can take the Atlanta Falcons' offense to a new level.
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After Week 4, McVay praised Jefferson for making a pair of clutch catches in a 29-23 overtime victory over the Indianapolis Colts ... but that didn't translate over to a larger role in this past Sunday's 23-14 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.
In what proved to be Jefferson's final game as a Ram, he played only two offensive snaps as Kupp and Nacua dominated the target share, which wasn't exactly how Los Angeles expected things to play out.
“It was a really unique game because you look at it, there was eight total possessions on each side," McVay said. "Based on how the game unfolded, that was how it went down. If you had asked me before, did I anticipate him playing that few snaps, I would've not said that but that was how it unfolded.”
News broke Tuesday morning that Los Angeles was shopping Jefferson around the league, and a few hours later, he officially became a Falcon, bringing the Brentwood, Tenn. native back to the south.
Now, to answer the second part of the question - Jefferson's direct path to playing time in Atlanta's offense isn't entirely clear, but it's important to first understand what exactly he'll provide.
Here's Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford's summer scouting report on Jefferson ...
"He’s a resilient kid and has done a nice job coming back, working himself into the mental position and the shape that he’s in right now," Stafford said. "He’s got good size, got great speed down the field, catches it great, is sudden at the line of scrimmage, blocks in the run game (and is) conscious."
At 6-1, 200 pounds, Jefferson is far from the biggest body in Atlanta's towering receivers room, but he still fits the prototype coach Arthur Smith has historically preferred.
Jefferson clocked a 4.39 40-yard dash coming out of Florida in 2020 and, per Sharp Football Analysis, ranked 15th in the league in explosive play (20-plus yard receptions) percentage in 2021 at 13 percent.
The Falcons' offense has lacked a vertical element under Smith and hasn't been able to hit many deep passes this season, which may be Jefferson's golden ticket to playing time.
It's not the first time Falcons general manager Terry Fontenot has traded a Day 3 pick for a once-promising weapon, with receiver Bryan Edwards and tight end Jonnu Smith each fitting the bill.
The former didn't work out, as his Falcons tenure ended after just 11 games last season, but thus far, the latter has been one of Atlanta's best pass catchers, currently leading the team in receiving yards with 246.
Which category will Jefferson slide into?
Only time will tell - but with the Falcons eyeing their first postseason berth in six years, they're actively searching for players who can push them over the top.
And Jefferson's skill set has a chance to do exactly that that, all the while bringing little risk but season-changing upside, making this an intriguing midseason acquisition with the potential to loom large come January.
