Upon joining the Rams in 2021, Stafford threw for 4,886 yards
and 41 touchdowns. In three seasons since, the veteran has averaged
3,271 yards, 18 TDs, and 9 INTs while missing a combined 11 games.
Not all of that can be blamed on Stafford, though, as former All-Pro
WR Cooper Kupp had his own run of injury woes and barely resembled
the player he’d been for most of 2024. TE Tyler Higbee, another
reliable outlet in the passing game, missed all but three games
last year while recovering from a torn ACL. WR Puka Nacua missed
six games. That left guys like WRs Tutu
Atwell and Demarcus Robinson to fill important roles, and
the offense suffered for it.
Following the offseason acquisition of WR Davante Adams, the
Rams hope they’ll be more dynamic in the passing game, though
both Stafford (37 years old) and Adams (32) are on the downside
of their careers, so don’t hold your breath for a second coming
of the 2021 Rams offense. On paper, the pairing of Nacua and Adams
should be better than what we saw from Nacua and Kupp last year,
and that’s good news for Stafford, an experienced field general
with plenty of juice left in his right arm. He doesn’t run, which
undercuts his fantasy appeal, but he remains a borderline top-20
option and serviceable QB2.
When the Rams spent a third-round pick on Blake Corum in last
year’s draft, the expectation was that the then-rookie would be
a complement to Williams, who’d run effectively in 2023 (228-1,144-12)
but had durability concerns. Instead, the Norte Dame product finished
third in the NFL in carries (316) despite sitting out the season
finale and set career highs in yards (1,299) and touchdowns (14).
Fumbles were a bit of an issue, though the team’s confidence in
Williams never seemed to waver, as he was the bell cow week after
week.
Fast-forward to 2025 and Los Angeles once again drafted a running
back, this time trading up into the fourth round to nab Jarquez
Hunter. The Rams have a tradition of selecting backs in the draft,
but there’s a difference between rolling the dice late on
Day 3 versus using third- and fourth-round picks in back-to-back
years. The question is whether the selection of Hunter was purely
for depth or if the team is hedging their bets against re-signing
Williams, who is set to become a free agent after the upcoming
campaign if he doesn’t agree to an extension.
Whether he gets a new deal or not, there’s no reason to
think Williams won’t be the lead back in 2025, though you’d
imagine that LA would like to see Corum and/or Hunter fill a larger
role to at least help keep Williams fresh -- last year, Corum
and Ronnie Rivers had just 80 carries combined, and 14 of those
came in Week 18, leaving just 4.1 per game in the other 16 outings.
While not an elite talent, Williams is utilized as a true lead
back, which makes him a low-end No. 1 fantasy option.
As a key contributor to Michigan’s National Championship
run in 2023, Corum garnered a lot of attention from fantasy owners
heading into the draft, and when he landed behind the oft-injured
Williams with no clear backup ahead of him he became a popular
handcuff. Then he didn’t do anything in the preseason...
or Week 1... or Week 2... or Week 3... and so on. The rookie never
had more than eight touches in a game, and then when Corum finally
got a chance in Week 18 with the team resting their starters,
he broke his forearm after three touches.
Coming off that dismal debut campaign, Corum’s role in
Los Angeles is suddenly unclear. Williams, who’d struggled
to stay on the field his first two years, shouldered the load
for 16 games in 2024 and is reportedly in talks about an extension
to remain the Rams’ top back. The team also drafted Hunter,
who should immediately be in the mix for backup duties. That’s
one position battle fantasy owners will want to monitor in camp
as the winner would be a smart handcuff for 2025 given head coach
Sean McVay’s desire to run the ball and tendency to lean
on a single back.
Nacua’s second season in the NFL got off to a rough start.
He suffered a knee injury in training camp and then aggravated
it during the team’s Week 1 loss to the Lions. He wouldn’t
play again until Week 7. Over those next 10 games, he’d
top 95 yards seven times and in one of the other three he was
ejected for throwing a punch in the second quarter. The consistency,
despite the struggles of Kupp to regain his previous form, was
impressive. As in his rookie year, however, the asterisk to Nacua’s
performance is his work in the red zone -- in 184 career receptions,
he has nine touchdowns.
If you take out Week 1, when he got injured, and Week 9, when
he got suspended, Nacua posted a 74-944-3 line in nine games.
Over a full season, that projects to 140 receptions, 1,783 yards,
and 6 TDs. For some perspective, Ja’Marr Chase led the NFL
with 127 catches and 1,708 yards. Even with the relative lack
of touchdowns, those would be high-end fantasy numbers.
Entering his third season in the NFL, Nacua looks like a legitimate
No. 1 receiver. He’s tough around the line of scrimmage,
can work downfield and has great hands. Nacua managed to put up
strong numbers with Kupp around, and even though Adams is an upgrade
there’s no reason to think he won’t continue to excel.
Once Chase and Justin Jefferson are off the board, Nacua is in
play alongside CeeDee Lamb and Amon-Ra St. Brown for that overall
WR3 slot.
It’s been a rough stretch for Adams since leaving Green
Bay, missing the playoffs each of the last three seasons while
watching his production decline each year: from 100-1516-14 in
2022, to 103-1144-8 in 2023, and then 85-1063-8 last year while
splitting time between the Raiders and Jets. Seeking a fresh start
and a return to meaningful December football, Adams signed with
the Rams to take the spot of Kupp, who was released and ultimately
signed with Seattle. Although he’s six months older than
Kupp, Adams looks to have more miles left on his odometer.
He's absolutely been more durable over the course of his career;
he missed three games last year, which marked the first time since
2020 that he didn’t appear in every game. Plus, for as good
as Kupp is as a route runner, Adams has long been considered the
gold standard in that regard. He’s a pro’s pro and
even entering his age-33 season he belongs on the short list for
best No. 2 receiver in all of football.
A year ago, Kupp averaged 8.3 targets per game. Expect Adams to
at least match that if not exceed it, which would equal 142 targets
(he had 141 in 14 games last year). We saw what a dangerous combo
Kupp and Nacua could be at times during their two seasons together,
and a veteran quarterback like Stafford is going to know to keep
Adams happy by getting him the ball. He shouldn’t be drafted
as a WR1 any longer, but he still looks like a viable WR2, slotting
somewhere in that WR15-WR20 range, and if playing for a better
team reinvigorates him, that range might prove low.
After suffering a torn ACL in a playoff loss to Detroit following
the 2023 season, Higbee missed most of 2024, making his debut
on Dec. 22. He finished with just eight catches but once again
reminded people what he could do in the playoffs with 12 receptions,
112 yards, and a TD in two games. The veteran has flashed before,
though, but he’s never sustained with a 72-620-3 effort
in 2022 standing as the best year of his career.
Further clouding Higbee’s outlook for 2025 is the presence
of Terrance Ferguson, who was LA’s first pick (albeit in
the second round) of this year’s draft. The Oregon alum
has good speed and agility, and the team hopes he’ll be
the long-term answer at the position. For this year, Higbee still
projects to be the starter and holds more value, though the 32-year-old
is no more than a low-end TE2 in leagues deep enough to carry
a second tight end.
