2025 NFL Draft Review Part Six – Konata Mumpfield

Introduction

It was nearing the end of the draft and the Rams had one selection left after using two 6th round picks to trade up for Pooh Paul. In the trade out of the first round with Atlanta, the Rams acquired pick 242 of the draft, the 26th selection of the 7th and final round. 

When it gets to this point in the draft, picks are usually used to grab prospects that you wouldn’t be confident getting if they became an undrafted free agent. While I do think this was somewhat true for the Rams in this scenario, I do believe that they were more than happy using this pick on the player they selected regardless of if they thought he could be available as a UDFA as he epitomises exactly what the Rams look for in their draftees.

There were a few different routes the Rams could’ve gone down with their final pick of the draft with plenty of prospects available who were projected to go much earlier: wide receiver Xavier Restrepo fell drastically down boards after his awfully slow 40-yard dash, cornerback Cobee Bryant and safety Sebastian Castro also both fell and ended up becoming undrafted free agents.

The Rams did go for one of those positions, addressing the lack of depth in the wide receiver room. The signing of Davante Adams helped fill the void left by Cooper Kupp, and the Rams decided to re-sign Tutu Atwell on a one year prove-it deal, but they still lacked depth with just Jordan Whittington and Xavier Smith behind Tutu.

Rams select Konata Mumpfield at 242

Konata (Ko-nah-tay) Mumpfield is a wide receiver out of Pittsburgh that fits the mould of a Rams receiver almost perfectly. The 22-year-old had the best year of his collegiate career in 2024 and made an impression on Rams coaches and scouts for his performances in a lacklustre Pittsburgh team. Mumpfield did have a prior connection with the Rams - his father has been friends with Rams senior personnel executive Ray Farmer since middle school. Farmer even went as far as giving Konata tips and advice through the pre-draft process as well as sharing his love of Konata’s game with other members of the Rams organisation. 

Mumpfield is incredibly versatile in all aspects of being a wide receiver. The only side of his game that wasn’t utilised very often in college was his blocking ability which is a staple of a Rams wide receiver. Otherwise, he can do it all – in his final year at college, he lined up on the outside on 62.2% of snaps and 37.4% of snaps from the slot. This is an extremely valuable trait to have especially in this Rams wide receiver room as they are always asked to do a multitude of different things, and it also means that he can help fill any spot if a receiver unfortunately goes down injured.

Mumpfield models his game after Amari Cooper; he even wore number 9 in college to mirror Cooper’s number while he was at Alabama. Cooper is also a versatile wide receiver that can attack defences on all three levels due to his top tier route running. Mumpfield’s route running is up there with some of the top receivers in this draft and he is able to use it to create comfortable separation and generate easy windows for his quarterback to throw in to. 

It all begins off the field for Mumpfield, who has an incredible attention to detail as well as high level football IQ that means he puts himself at an advantage before the ball has even been snapped. He can often diagnose coverages before the snap and can then adjust his routes in order to find soft spots in the defence between zones. Finding open space in the intermediate level of the defence is his real strength, as 363 of his 813 receiving yards (44.6%) last season came between 10 and 19 yards of the line of scrimmage.

Matching his mental ability to his physical attributes make him one of the most polished wide receivers in the draft. He runs all of his routes with purpose from the release to the end of the play, making sure he always keeps his defender wary and on their toes. His fakes and cuts are crisp and sharp so he occasionally sent defenders the completely wrong way during his college career and allowed himself to become wide open for easy completions or long receptions. While he will find it more difficult to use his fakes on NFL calibre defensive backs, he certainly has both the mental and physical attributes to succeed in the league as a versatile, route running receiver.

Throughout his college career, Mumpfield never had a quality quarterback that could really elevate his game to the next level. Since Kenny Pickett was drafted in 2022, Pittsburgh haven’t had a quarterback attempt more than 315 passes in their entire college career. In total, they had 9 quarterbacks attempt a pass during Mumpfield’s time at the college, proving how volatile that position was and how lacklustre the performances were. Obviously, this meant it was extremely difficult for Konata to form any sort of chemistry with his QB, so there is clearly potential to become even greater if he manages to get on a wavelength with Stafford or his eventual successor as the Rams’ quarterback.

The lack of quality quarterback play also helped Mumpfield showcase his great hands and toughness. He had to often readjust mid-route or at the catch point to make up for errand throws and although he has very small hands (just under 9 inches) he showed he has reliable hands to bring in any ball that is at least a little on target. He also grew more confident in contested catches, being able to use his toughness and physicality to beat defenders to the ball and be able to bring it in regardless of his size and length.

The toughness and competitiveness he was able to show in contested catches, correlated with the rest of his game. He was able to rally his teammates when Pittsburgh found themselves behind while also offering support and advice for the other receivers alongside him. These characteristics led to Mumpfield being named a team captain in his final college season, something that he was very proud of. He led his receivers out of the tunnel with passion and pride every week and acted as a role model to the younger players in the team. Although he will now be a rookie and one of the most inexperienced players on the Rams roster, it’s always valuable to have someone who has leadership qualities matched with competitiveness and toughness that is able to show his teammates how much he’s willing to give for their and the team’s success.

He has moved around with his family a lot, including living in Asia for a period of time, because his dad served in the army. His dad was able to teach Konata how to stay composed and maintain discipline in all parts of life, including sport, due to his experiences in the army for over 25 years.

Despite moving a lot, he always maintained his love for sport, playing football alongside both basketball and baseball since the age of three. As I mentioned with Pooh Paul in the previous report, multisport athletes always seem to do well when they get to the NFL as they have built up so many different transferable skills, both physically and mentally. The experience of playing with different players and coaches can help a player learn how to deal with different situations and how to be adaptable, both on and off the field.

Mumpfield clearly has all of the tools needed to be a successful wide receiver in the NFL, however, his measurables are slightly below average. He was measured at 5”11 and just 186 lbs at the combine, which means that he is both small in length and size. The only times he seems to struggle during his routes are when defensive backs are physical and start bumping him around a little as he struggles to compete against larger DBs.

He also occasionally struggles to generate much RAC (run after catch) due to his smaller size and lack of top-end speed. While he is more than capable of generating big plays from his quality route running and contested catching ability, he doesn’t offer much threat once he has the ball in his hands due to a lack of strength and contact balance. It’s rare that he makes it past the first tackle and even if he does he usually gets slowed up and can’t break away for huge gains after the catch.

Draft pick grade: A-

Conclusion

Konata Mumpfield may well be the next late round wide receiver that the Rams have managed to find, following on from Puka Nacua and Jordan Whittington who is in line to be featured much more this year if he can stay healthy. His savvy route running and impressive toughness, both in his general game and at the catch point, could set Mumpfield up for success throughout his future NFL career.

The Rams have always opted to look for game speed over testing speed, and that applies to Mumpfield too. Despite his average 40-yard dash time, he can glide across the field with ease and win solely with his route running and football IQ, something that Cooper Kupp was able to utilise throughout his incredible career as a Los Angeles Ram.

He is still a little raw, but if anything, that just means he has so much more room for improvement and potential to turn in to an even better wide receiver with the help and guidance from the likes of Puka Nacua, Davante Adams and experienced wide receiver coach Eric Yarber.

I don’t expect to see much of Mumpfield in his rookie season unless we do suffer from injuries in the wide receiver room, but I’m confident that if he does need to step in, he will fit right in and look right at home in no time.