NFL Fantasy Preview: Los Angeles Rams

Matt Stafford (Wikimedia Commons)

In a 32-part series leading up to the start of the 2021 National Football League season, we will take a look at each NFL franchise from a fantasy perspective. The 19th team we will review is the Los Angeles Rams.

In the offseason, you could make the argument that the Los Angeles Rams were involved in the biggest trade. In an attempt to make the next step, and compete for a division title in the difficult NFC West, the Rams acquired Matt Stafford from the Detroit Lions for Jared Goff in an NFL blockbuster deal involving former first overall drafted quarterbacks. The Lions also received three draft picks from 2021 to 2023 in the trade.

It is way too early to tell if Stafford will be an upgrade to Goff, but sometimes different is better, and in this case, Rams management decided to go in a different direction. In 2020, Stafford completed 339 passes in 528 attempts for 4084 yards, 26 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions. He is ranked 17th among quarterbacks in NFL rankings.

At running back, the Rams have been in the headlines this summer. In July, Cam Akers tore his ACL while training, and will be out for the year. To replace Akers this season, the Rams acquired Sony Michel from the New England Patriots for a fifth and sixth-round draft pick in the 2022 NFL Draft on Wednesday.

It appears Darrell Henderson of Bateville, Mississippi will be the starter for the rams to begin the year. In 2021, he had 138 rushes for 624 yards and five touchdowns. Meanwhile, Michel had 79 rushes for 449 yards and one touchdown. At this time, Henderson is 25th on my running back depth chart, with Michel at 42.

At wide receiver, the Rams have Cooper Kupp and Robert Woods. In 2020, the two Rams wideouts had very comparable statistics. Woods had 90 catches for 936 yards and six touchdowns. Meanwhile, Kupp had 92 catches for 974 yards and three touchdowns.

At tight end, Tyler Higbee is a strong backup to draft in the later rounds. Last year he had 44 catches for 521 yards, and five touchdowns. He is the 13th ranked tight end in fantasy football.

The Rams are also strong defensively and have the second-best defense in fantasy football. The only team ahead of them is Pittsburgh. The reason why Los Angeles is as strong as they are is because they have an incredible defensive tackle in Aaron Donald (a three-time Defensive Player of the Year), and cornerback Jalen Ramsey, who has been to the last four Pro Bowls, and is the highest-paid defensive back in NFL history. Donald has 85.5 sacks and 131 tackles for a loss in his seven-year NFL career. You may wonder why is Ramsey so good at cornerback when he had one interception last year. it is because opposing wide receivers generally have terrible games when they are being covered by Ramsey.

The NFC West could be the best division in football. All four teams are extremely exciting, and will be extremely competitive whenever they face each other in 2021.

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