Gerald Everett is a Seahawk, What Does This Mean for Rams Going Forward?
In the NFL, two seemingly opposing ideas can often be true at the same time. While the Los Angeles Rams have seen a spate of activity in the last few days of the NFL Free Agency, most of that activity can be relegated to the “Exit” category. One of the most recent of those dire departures is the latest news from Rams that Gerald Everett has signed a one-year deal with division rival Seattle Seahawks.
It’s true that Everett was a backup for the elusive Tyler Higbee, and the team has never had anything similar to the multidimensional down-workhorse game of fantasy all-stars like Tony Gonzales, Antonio Gates, Rob Gronkowski or Travis Kelce looked like. While Everett may not be a household name in the league, the South Alabama 2017 second round selection fits in well with Sean Sean McVay’s offensive offensive program, and his leave of absence will no doubt resonate with fans and former teammates alike .
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What does Gerald Everett’s departure mean for the Rams?
Everett showed lightning bolts early in his career and became a steady target and sometimes the last successful safety net for former quarterback Jared Goff. In his rookie campaign with limited time on the field, he ended the season with 16 receptions for 244 yards and an average of 15.3 yards per catch. In the years since his rookie year, he has improved exponentially in virtually every statistical category, and Rams’ fans will remember him mostly for his fearless clutch game when it mattered most. During the 2018-19 season, Everett managed two touchdowns in the fourth quarter of the Rams’ memorable Monday Night Football show against the Kansas City Chiefs, winning 54:51 to win help cement a close and decisive victory.
The following season, despite barely losing the game between 29 and 30, Everett had shown a career-defining performance against the Seahawks on Thursday night, adding 136 yards to his résumé. Head coach Pete Carroll and the company most likely incorporated that dominant performance into their final decision to add Everett to the roster – not to mention his penultimate 2020-21 season, which saw him at both the yards (417) and receptions ( 41) Made career highs).
Replace Everett’s production
Even so, with Goff at the helm, the Rams haven’t fully exploited what many would have deemed a more legitimate double threat to both Tyler Higbee and Everett in the past few seasons. But with the addition of quarterback Matthew Stafford, McVay will likely want to capitalize on the quarterback’s inclination to lean on the production of his tight ends, as he did in Detroit with Eric Ebron and later TJ Hockenson. But while Everett will no longer adorn the team with his presence, the Rams acted quickly this week to terminate Johnny Mundt for a year. Mundt, an uncovered Oregon alum, is definitely unproven, and so far his skills have been mostly relegated to run-blocking and special-team duties – though he managed four passes for 53 yards in an extremely limited time last season to draw on receiving routes within McVay’s offense.
Though the resignation adds the much-needed depth in the tight final position, Mundt will most likely resume most of his specialty team duties in the future, and in terms of offensive play, more eyes will be on the largely unproven sophomore at the University of Purdue – Brycen Hopkins.
At 6-4 and 245 pounds, Hopkins was a force throughout his college career, recording a total of 130 receptions for 1,945 yards and 16 touchdowns. While he didn’t see much in his first season in the league, and essentially appeared as a red shirted rookie, Hopkins had a full season to fully digest the nuances of the McVay offensive system. Not to mention the fact that Stafford is at the center and the often debilitating worldliness of the earlier offense cited by Goff should bring a lot more creativity and therefore much greater play opportunities for everyone involved – especially when the defense has to consider the threat of Stafford’s downfield skills Accompanying receivers theoretically leave room for tight-end destinations such as Higbee and Hopkins in order to benefit from shorter distances more often.
While the loss of Gerald Everett stands out, the addition of Stafford and young, eager recipients keen to make a name for themselves and benefit from Stafford’s eclectic handover gifts as part of McVay’s plan should bring promising results for a team with current Super Bowl ambitions.
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