The Rams feature two elite fantasy studs in WR **Puka Nacua** and RB **Kyren Williams** who will be flying off draft boards early. In addition, **Davante Adams** was brought in to replace **Cooper Kupp**, which only bolsters an offense that could lead to tremendous fantasy production in 2025 under head coach **Sean McVay.**
2024 Stats (Rank)
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**Points per game:** 21.6 (20th)
**Total yards per game:** 331.4 (15th)
**Plays per game:** 61.2 (20th)
**Dropbacks per game:** 37.2 (25th)
**Dropback EPA per play:** 0.11 (14th)
**Rush EPA per play:** \-0.07 (15th)
One Last Ride for McVay and Stafford?
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Head coach **Sean McVay** and quarterback **Matthew Stafford** first united in 2021. The attempt to upgrade from former No. 1 overall pick **Jared Goff** paid immediate dividends, as McVay and Stafford went on to win a Super Bowl in their first season together, and have spent the last three seasons chasing a second ring before one (or perhaps both) fade into the sunset. Stafford, 37, took some time to mull retirement in the offseason but is now on a re-worked one-year deal with the Rams and will continue to operate on similar deals until he opts to call it quits.
Stafford is a far cry from the player who threw for 4,886-41-17 in his first season under McVay, failing to surpass 4,000 yards in each of his last three seasons while topping out at 24 touchdown passes in 2023. Still, he remains an effective passer who is more than capable of leading McVay’s offense, which has twice ranked in the top 10 in seasons where Stafford is healthy.
While the offense gets most of the praise, we can’t overlook the Rams’ defense, which ranked 17th in points allowed (22.7/gm) and held opponents under 10 points in three of its final five regular season games, while also holding Kevin O’Connell’s Vikings to just nine points in the NFC Wild Card Game. While they enter their second year without **Aaron Donald**, the Rams have a core of solid young defenders in place, including **Braden Fiske** and **Jared Verse**, who are quickly morphing into one of the league’s premier pass-rushing duos.
Whether or not this is the final season we see of McVay and Stafford is anybody’s guess, but the Rams bring back a strong group of players who nearly pulled off an upset of the Eagles in a snowy display in Philadelphia in last year’s NFC Divisional Round, and find themselves in an NFC West that has far more questions than it has in recent years.
Passing Game
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**QB:** Matthew Stafford, Jimmy Garoppolo
**WR:** Puka Nacua, Jordan Whittington
**WR:** Davante Adams, Konata Mumpfield
**WR:** Tutu Atwell, Xavier Smith
**TE:** Tyler Higbee, Terrance Ferguson
It’s not exactly breaking news to suggest that Stafford is a better real-life quarterback than he is a fantasy quarterback at this stage in his career. Since 2022, his 739.4 expected fantasy points rank 14th among 30 quarterbacks (min. 30 games), while his 16.9 fantasy points per game rank 22nd in the group. On a per-game basis, Stafford hasn’t finished better than QB19 over that span, and has posted a top 12 fantasy week in only 25 percent of his games. The 16.0 fantasy points per game he averaged last season were on par with his average over the last three seasons, but Stafford continues to be a reliable option when it comes to keeping the offense on schedule and moving the ball downfield.
Per RBSDM.com, among 49 quarterbacks with a minimum of 500 plays since 2022, Stafford ranks 20th in adjusted EPA/play (0.099), 18th in success rate (48.4 percent), and sixth in expected completion percentage (68.8 percent). His upside in 1QB leagues isn’t much more than that of a matchup-based streamer. In the right game environment, Stafford can still thrive, but we are a long way removed from counting on Stafford to be a weekly top 10 QB, despite the talented weapons he has in the passing game.
Leading those weapons is third-year receiver **Puka Nacua**. After shocking the league with a rookie receiving line of 105-1,486-6 in 2023, Nacua caught 79 passes for 990 yards and three touchdowns last season, but was limited to just 11 games due to a knee injury he suffered in Week 1. Despite the injuries, Nacua’s per-game totals were impressive. In addition to seeing his target share make a slight leap to 30 percent, Nacua’s 17-game pace would have put him in line for 164 targets and a receiving line of 122-1,530-5. Other than the touchdowns, all other numbers would have put him in the top five among receivers, with his receptions and receiving yards both falling in the top three. The loss of **Cooper Kupp** in the offseason was immediately supplanted with the addition of **Davante Adams**, but Nacua’s role in the offense should be secured this upcoming season. Per FantasyPoints.com, Nacua was the first read on 34.8 percent of his targets last season, which ranked fifth among receivers (min. 50 targets). As a rookie, Nacua was the first read on 30.6 percent of his targets. Coach McVay knows what he has in his former fifth-round pick. Nacua is an elite playmaker after the catch and can also make plays downfield when called upon. The passing game has been built around Nacua’s strengths each of the last two seasons, and should continue to be this season. He feels like a near lock for another top 10 fantasy finish and should have plenty of top five upside after finishing as the WR6 and WR3 in fantasy points per game his first two seasons.
The Rams acquired Adams earlier this offseason, signing the 32-year-old receiver to a two-year, $44 million contract that officially spelled the end of Kupp’s time in Los Angeles. Adams’ 2024 season was split between the Raiders and the Jets, and he also missed three games while waiting out a trade from the Raiders. Despite the unconventional season, Adams still finished the year with an 85-1,063-8 line on 141 targets while ranking ninth in TPRR (0.289) and ranking 13th in YAC/REC (5.5) and 21st in YPRR (2.04) among all wide receivers (min. 80 targets). All this is to say it was a very solid season for Adams, whose advanced metrics fell well within range of what we’ve come to expect from him since he first broke out in 2016.
It goes without saying that Adams will play a key role in the Rams’ offense. He’s replacing a player who averaged 8.1 targets per game last season while seeing an average depth of target of just 8.1 yards. Interestingly, Adams saw an 8.7 ADOT last season while playing with the Jets and has thrived in short-yardage receiving roles in multiple seasons. In his final two years with the Packers, Adams’ ADOT never surpassed 9.7 yards. It’s also worth pointing out that Packers head coach **Matt LaFleur** and McVay are close friends who come from the Shanahan coaching tree, and unsurprisingly share similar offensive philosophies. Even if Adams’ best days are behind him, he stands to play a volume-heavy role that should result in plenty of high-end fantasy weeks. He finished as a top 24 PPR receiver in 50 percent of his games last season, which can also be said of Kupp, who had a top 24 PPR week in six of his 12 games played. There should be plenty of targets to go around for both Nacua and Adams to offer fantasy value to their managers.
Since 2023, the combination of Nacua and Kupp has combined for 445 targets on 1,142 team pass attempts (39 percent), per PFF. Those numbers would be even higher were it not for the duo missing a combined 16 games over that two-year span. Knowing this, it should come as no surprise to hear that high-end fantasy production is hard to come by for the other receivers on the roster. **Tutu Atwell** returns for a fourth season with the team and is coming off a year in which he totaled a career-high 583 yards through the air. Although it’s worth noting he didn’t find the end zone last season and has a meager 0.192 TPRR since 2023. Second-year receiver **Jordan Whittington** showed flashes during parts of last season while Nacua was sidelined, averaging four receptions and 47.8 yards per game during Nacua’s six-game absence, but was a non-factor once Nacua returned in Week 8. While there’s some belief that Whittington could turn into a breakout candidate in 2025, it will likely take an extended absence by either Nacua or Adams for that to happen. Both Whittington and Atwell make for interesting dart throws in best ball leagues, but there’s no reason to bank on either guy in start/sit leagues at this point in time.
**Tyler Higbee** returned late last season after spending most of the year recovering from a devastating knee injury he suffered in the 2023 NFC Wild Card Game against the Lions. In the three games he played last season, Higbee caught 8-of-11 targets for 66 yards and two touchdowns while earning a 0.314 TPRR. While he appeared in three games, it should be noted that Higbee was clearly being eased back into action. Of the 11 targets he saw last season, seven came in a Week 18 game that was started by backup QB **Jimmy Garoppolo** and also had Nacua and Kupp sidelined. Higbee is slated to open the year as the starter, but rookie second-round **Terrance Ferguson** could push him for snaps at some point in the year.
A three-year producer at Oregon, Ferguson closed out his final season with the Ducks, catching 43 passes for 591 yards and three touchdowns while averaging 13.7 YPR. He also boasts an elite 9.32 RAS, but has drawn some criticism for his run blocking, which may hurt his chances to see the field early on. Neither tight end is particularly attractive for fantasy this season, but for now, Higbee is the player you would roster if needed. That said, Ferguson will make for an interesting player to track in camp, given the explosiveness he can offer in the passing game.
Running Game
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**RB:** Kyren Williams, Blake Corum, Jarquez Hunter, Ronnie Rivers
**OL (L-R):** Alaric Jackson, Steve Avila, Coleman Shelton, Kevin Dotson, Rob Havenstein
What **Kyren Williams** lacks in efficiency, he more than makes up for with elite opportunity share and touchdowns. Among 40 running backs with 300-plus touches since 2023, Williams ranks 23rd in yards per touch, but is tied with **Derrick Henry** for the most total touchdowns (31) and is second only to **Saquon Barkley** in opportunity share (38 percent). He’s also tied for fourth over that span with green zone rush attempts (20). Williams nearly replicated his 2023 season (1,350 yards and 15 touchdowns), with 1,481 yards and 16 touchdowns and an RB7 finish. Despite concerns over the team adding **Blake Corum** in the third round of last year’s draft, the Rams continued to ride Williams at a high clip and are likely to do so again this season. He feels like a safe bet to finish as a top 10 PPR back for the third-straight season, and could benefit from a strong goal-line role even if he does lose some touches this season.
As previously mentioned, Corum didn’t make a real impact in his rookie season. The former Michigan man rushed for 58-207-0 in 14 regular season games and never saw more than eight opportunities in a game. Once thought to be a strong Zero RB target, Corum didn’t amount to much more than a roster clogger in 2024 and never finished higher than RB40 in a given week in PPR leagues.
Corum will face immediate competition from rookie **Jarquez Hunter**, who was selected in the fourth round of this year’s draft. A four-year prospect out of Auburn, Hunter rushed for 1,201 yards and eight touchdowns in his final season with the Tigers and caught a career-high 21 passes. Hunter caught 10-plus passes in every college season, and blazed a 4.44 40-yard dash at the Combine. Hunter brings an element of speed to the Rams’ offense that neither Williams nor Corum possesses, and could also offer more in the passing game. Hunter’s role will become more apparent as training camp unfolds, but he faces an uphill battle to make an immediate impact as long as Williams is healthy.
2025 Los Angeles Rams Win Total
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**DraftKings Over/Under:** 9.5
**Pick:** Over (-145)
Playing in an NFC West division that featured two 10-win teams last season and an 8-9 Cardinals team, it’s safe to say the Rams will have their work cut out for them. We would also expect the 49ers to rebound from their 6-11 finish after injuries decimated them for much of last season. The Rams have been a near lock for double-digit wins under McVay, hitting that mark in six of his eight seasons at the helm, and there’s a case to be made for them being improved on both sides of the ball this season. I’m not fully buying into new Seahawks QB **Sam Darnold** replicating the success he enjoyed with **Kevin O’Connell** last season in Minnesota, and the Cardinals started last season strong, only to go 2-6 after their bye. The last time the Rams failed to win 10 games with McVay and Stafford was in 2022, when Stafford appeared in just nine games. Assuming full health, I like their chances to get over 9.5 wins for a third-straight year.