It appears that L.A. Rams’ receivers Jordan Whittington and Konata Mumpfield will have some serious competition for Sean McVay’s number three spot, because rookie C.J. Daniels has traits that make him one of the most intriguing players to watch in training camp this year.
Although he was only the 197th pick in the draft, Daniels shares a couple of traits in common with the Rams’ two biggest stars at the position: Puka Nacua and Davante Adams.
Advertisement
Even if Daniels doesn’t become an NFL superstar like those two, Les Snead clearly traded a few late picks to move up for him for a reason, and I think those include a Puka-like toughness and Davante-like route running. As you can see in this highlight from his time at Miami, Daniels is also no stranger to the nifty one-handed catch:
With catches like this, it’s still a bit dumbfounding that Daniels fell all the way to the sixth round. There’s no doubt he would have landed somewhere eventually, and while it would be foolish to try to compare any receiver to Nacua and Adams, Daniels displays many of the traits that Snead and McVay look for in their receivers:
-
Competitive toughness shows up in contested catch situations; converted 11 of 17 contested targets at Miami for a 64.7% rate while also drawing 3 pass interference calls.
-
Fantastic ball-tracking skills, allowing Daniels to make over-the-shoulder catches in stride
When you watch CJ Daniels on tape, you notice how easy he makes it all look.
Advertisement
During his breakout year at Liberty, albeit against lesser opponents, he forced 31 missed tackles on only 55 receptions and averaged 5.9 yards after contact; that’s yet another trait that seems similar to Puka. The toughness to never go down.
They weren’t all weak opponents at Liberty: Daniels had 8 catches for 79 yards in the Fiesta Bowl against No. 6 Oregon.
Puka Nacua isn’t the only one who Daniels seems to emulate a little bit.
Much like Davante Adams, Daniels has those little, subtle moves, the head fakes and the tempo changes to sell routes and get instant separation in short-yardage situations. And although his 40 time of 4.58 seconds surely dropped him in the draft, it’s not that much different than the 4.56 that Adams ran once upon a time.
Advertisement
That’s why Adams learned how to use the twitchy moves and head fakes to create separation on his downfield routes. Now Daniels has Adams as a teammate who he can study up close.
A high football IQ
One of the traits you see over and over in Les Snead’s and Sean McVay’s draft choices is a high football IQ. With the sophisticated schemes the Rams use on both offense and defense, players must be able to understand the concepts or they will never fit on the team.
Per NFL Draft Buzz, Daniels wins with his brain to overcome shortcomings as an athlete:
“Daniels is the type of receiver who probably won’t light up a room during the pre-draft process, but put his tape on and you see a guy who understands how to play the position. His route craft is legitimate. He uses his lower body to deceive defenders, changes pace within his stems, and consistently wins out of breaks with quickness rather than raw speed. The savvy is real, and it shows up week after week regardless of the uniform he’s wearing. He’s not going to run by NFL corners on go routes, but he’ll find ways to get open on the intermediate and short areas of the field where most offenses live anyway.“
Daniels fits best in a McVay type offense that values precision over explosiveness. Concepts built around timing throws, screen packages, and route combinations that create space through design fit him to a T.
Advertisement
But now he has to prove himself in the ultimate “T”…an NFL Training camp.
Daniels will face off against the likes of Whittington, Mumpfield, Xavier Smith, and others for a wide receiver 3 role that may ultimately not get that many snaps anyway. If McVay insists on running as many 12 and 13 personnel concepts as he did in 2025, the team’s third receiver will get fewer snaps than the team’s third tight end; Whittington had the third-most snaps among LA receivers last season, but fewer than Davis Allen.
That’s why the player who is the Rams WR3 may not be the guy to start in 11 personnel, but the guy who reminds McVay the most of his two starters. A backup ready to insert into the lineup, not just a support piece.
Advertisement
That’s why Daniels is one to watch moving forward: Not only because of how he complements the other receivers, but also because of how reminiscent he is of them.
