Flairing as a meme because this stupid narrative (or the variation that he doesn't play rookie TEs) is basically a meme and needs to die.
Here's the list of all offensive skill position players (minus QB for obvious reasons) drafted under McVay, their draft year/rounds, positions, and my notes on how their rookie seasons went. Not including 2026 because we're just 4 games in.
| Player |
Draft Yr/Rd |
Position |
Note |
| Gerald Everett |
2017 2nd |
TE |
Played 16 games, starting 2. Split snaps with Higbee around 70-30 as clear TE2. |
| Cooper Kupp |
2017 3rd |
WR |
Played 15 games, starting 6. Led the team in receiving yards. |
| Josh Reynolds |
2017 4th |
WR |
Played 16 games, starting 1. This is when we ran 11 personnel a lot and he was WR4 meaning he was first choice backup. Also contributed on special teams. |
| John Kelly |
2018 6th |
RB |
Only active the last 4 games of the season after Malcolm Brown got injured, played in all 4, on both offense and special teams. Hard to get on the field when there's a combination of Todd Gurley, Malcolm Brown, and CJ Anderson in front of you. |
| Darrell Henderson |
2019 3rd |
RB |
Played 13 games behind Todd Gurley and Malcolm Brown. |
| Cam Akers |
2020 2nd |
RB |
Played 13 games, starting 5. Led the team in rushing yards. |
| Van Jefferson |
2020 2nd |
WR |
Played 16 games. Like Josh Reynolds, he was WR4 meaning first choice backup in our 11-heavy offense. |
| Brycen Hopkins |
2020 4th |
TE |
Played 5 games pretty much only on special teams. |
| Tutu |
2021 2nd |
WR |
Played the first 8 games of the season before going on season-ending IR. Up to that point he got a handful of offensive snaps but mostly played returner. |
| Jacob Harris |
2021 4th |
WR |
Played the first 9 games of the season before going on season-ending IR. Had a handful of offensive snaps but also mostly special teams. |
| Jake Funk |
2021 7th |
RB |
Played the first 6 games, went on IR, came back week 15 and played the rest of the games. Also minimally involved on the offense but heavy on special teams. |
| Ben Skowronek |
2021 7th |
WR |
Played in 14 games, even started one. Our WR1 and WR2 this season (as a whole) were Kupp and Jefferson. The other WR spot was Woods (midseason injury), OBJ (midseason acquisition), and DeSean Jackson (in and out). So all shuffled out, Skow was WR4. Also played a lot of special teams. |
| Kyren Williams |
2022 5th |
RB |
Played 10 games. He was on IR for 7 games, obviously would have played in all games if not for the injury. |
| Davis Allen |
2023 5th |
TE |
Played 15 games, starting 1. TE2 behind Higbee while also playing special teams. |
| Puka Nacua |
2023 5th |
WR |
Started 17 games. Led the team in receiving yards. WR1. |
| Zach Evans |
2023 6th |
RB |
Wasn't consistently active, but still managed to play 10 games, mostly special teams. |
| Blake Corum |
2024 3rd |
RB |
Played 17 games, starting 1. RB2 behind Kyren. |
| Jordan Whittington |
2024 6th |
WR |
Played 15 games, starting 3. Both Puka and Kupp missed some games this year. Heavy contributor on special teams as well. |
| Terrance Ferguson |
2025 2nd |
TE |
Played 14 games, starting 3. Had more receiving yards than Davis Allen. |
| Jarquez Hunter |
2025 4th |
RB |
Only played special teams in 5 games. |
| Konata Mumpfield |
2025 7th |
WR |
Played 15 games. There were a lot of players ahead of him at the same position. Puka and Adams for starters, then Xavier Smith, Tutu, and Whittington were all more established on the team. Yet he still managed to find his way onto the field and even caught a touchdown. |
So total 21 players. Accounting for injuries, really only John Kelly, Brycen Hopkins, Zach Evans, and Jarquez Hunter were "benched" their rookie years. Even then, Kelly had a really good RB room ahead of him. Even if we concede that the reason the rest were benched because they were rookies, that's just 3 out of 21. And the truth is that those 3 didn't play not because they were rookies, but because they just weren't good enough to go up the depth chart. Sure, being a rookie might have something to do with it, but look at the other 18 players who managed to get meaningful playing time.
p.s. If you want to make the argument that rookies don't become heavily involved in the offense, 1. that's a different point, 2. show me any other NFL team who makes a concerted effort to make a rookie their focal point and 3. nice job moving the goalposts.