Fantasy Football Preview NFC West: Los Angeles Rams
Fantasy Football NFC West Team Preview: Los Angeles Rams
Welcome back to the next installment of Fantasy Football Team Previews! Today we will be taking a look at 2017 NFC West division leader, Los Angeles Rams. Sorry for the delay on the second team but we will continue looking at NFC West. Hopefully you had a chance to ponder over the Arizona Cardinals in my last post. If you missed it, check it out in a few sentences!
Speaking of which, if you did miss the “Preview of the Cards,” you can find it right here! Now that that is out-of-the-way (love a good that that opportunity) we will move on to the Los Angeles Rams. Don’t know about you, but it still feels weird to call them the LA Rams.
The Rams overwhelmed their opponents last year and took over first place of the NFC West going 11-5 and justified that dominance to the tune of a +149 point differential. It is fair to say that the Rams should, and take that word lightly, should be able to finish at the top again.
The NFC West is going through some major changes though. Jimmy Garoppolo is taking over as the full-time QB for San Francisco, and could prove to be a major upgrade. Kam Chancellor retired which makes the legion of boom look more like the legion of boo. Seattle is going to struggle defensively this year. The Cards are sort of the unknown here.
Fantasy Football NFC West Team Preview: Los Angeles Rams QB
Jared Goff
Goff broke out in a big way in year two of his career. Just in time too, because season one was discouraging. One hilarious prank and a season later, he looks to be well worth that number one overall pick.
He finished with 3,804 passing yards, 28 touchdowns, and only seven interceptions. He was not much of a threat in the run game with only 51 yards and a touchdown. With his arm though, he doesn’t need the speed.
With another year under his belt, clear progression, and new toy Brandin Cooks, Goff could be slotted as a top-10 finisher among quarterbacks. He had 54 passes that went 20+ yards and 12 that went for 40+.
With Cooper Kupp‘s red zone ability, he quickly became one of Goff’s favorite targets. In the red zone, Goff went to Kupp 33.3% of the time, which was good enough for fourth in the NFL. Not a bad idea to try to pair these two on a squad.
The way Goff produced last year, Mannion will almost certainly spend the entirety of the season on the bench. He will be there in case of an injury or a blowout lead.
He started one game for the Rams last year and had plenty of opportunities to throw going 22-37. But his team lost and he only managed 185 passing yards. The Oregon State product had a solid college career, but should not be on anyone’s radar during draft day.
Fantasy Football NFC West Team Preview: Los Angeles Rams RB
Todd Gurley
After the showing he put on last season, Gurley is a clear top three pick, and my number one overall. He had a fantastic rookie year in 2015 and then followed up with a bit of a dud in 2016. Some may have even thought, “Is this Trent Richardson 2.0?”
Gurley proved doubters and general managers (as in fantasy general managers!) wrong in a big way last year. He was the number one fantasy play in my ESPN PPR league with 383.3 points compared to second best, Russell Wilson with 347.9.
With a team that is likely to play with the lead, look for Gurley to stay near the top in rush opportunities. He has the power and speed to break away as well finishing with 13 rushing touchdowns.
He is also a huge part of the pass game torching defenses with 64 receptions, 778 receiving yards and six receiving touchdowns. Gurley should not make it past the number three or four pick in any draft.
Any running back not named Todd Gurley on this team likely won’t get much of an opportunity. However, we must not forget that Gurley tore his ACL in his senior year at Georgia and missed the first three games of his NFL career recovering.
That is not to say that we are concerned, because he’s proven to be durable since then. It is not a bad idea to try to find his potential handcuff though. Insert sixth round rookie John Kelly.
Kelly is slightly undersized at 5’10” but he packs a real punch. He is a hard-nosed runner and showed his catching ability in his time at Tennessee. Last season, he started 11 games with 189 carries, 831 yards, and nine touchdowns.
It remains to be seen if he can take over as Gurley’s handcuff. But expect him to at least be given the opportunity to take some of the blunt (pun intended, he was suspended one game in 2017 for misdemeanor marijuana possession) away from superstar to protect him from over usage.
Brown was Gurley’s primary back-up last season. He appeared in 11 games last year and as expected, did not get much usage behind the workhorse. Brown saw 63 rushes for 246 and a touchdown along with nine receptions for 53 yards.
Once again, we probably should not expect too much usage out of Brown. If anything, you can likely expect even less with the Rams bringing in a rookie to take some of those snaps.
Fantasy Football NFC West Team Preview: Los Angeles WR
Cooper Kupp
A lot of questions last year about whether or not the Eastern Washington product would translate to the NFL. It certainly seems like it does. Kupp became one of Jared Goff’s favorite targets leading the team with 94 passes thrown his way and catching 66% of those passes.
He finished the season with 869 receiving yards and five touchdowns. It can be expected that his and Goff’s rapport should be even better in the second year, especially with all eyes on Gurley.
Brandin Cooks
Newly acquired Brandin Cooks should be a nice addition to this exciting offense. After spending three years in New Orleans, and one in New England, Cooks gets another fresh start in LA.
He is coming off a concussion following a scary collision in last year’s Super Bowl. Cooks is not a big guy but has great speed. He has three consecutive seasons with 65+ receptions and 1,000+ receiving yards.
Last season Sammy Watkins was brought in and still Woods managed to outplay him. He had the second most targets among the wide receivers and 15 more than Watkins.
Woods could be slated for the number two wide out position and newly acquired Cooks could move to the slot. With all of this fire power, Woods could get the more favorable match ups with Kupp and Cooks out there.
Former track star and fourth round pick in 2017 is a long-bodied vertical threat standing at 6’3″ with great speed. The fact that he has Goff throwing to him makes him a threat and would likely need to outplay Robert Woods in order to earn regular snaps.
He suffered a torn labrum last year that forced him to miss time, finishing the season with only 11 receptions, 124 yards, and a touchdown. Expect him to improve on those numbers if he can stay healthy, but can likely go undrafted unless you are in a dynasty league.
Another fourth round draft pick who will be overlooked for good reason after the signing of Brandin Cooks. He did not exceeding four targets in any game last season and will warm your bench if you make the mistake picking him. Give him a few years in a dynasty before entrusting Cooper to help your team.
Fantasy Football NFC West Team Preview: Los Angeles Rams TE, K and DST
We will shorten this up a bit and talk about both tight ends here. Higbee and Everett were both used lightly last season, slightly favoring Higbee. But Everett has the speed and athleticism to take over as the starter, but it is still too early to tell.
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Everett, the second year TE out of South Alabama has a 37.5 inch vertical and good speed with a 4.62 40-yard dash. The Rams had to have seen something in him using a 2nd round pick on him.
Everett could have a decent season but will be competing with Tyler Higbee, who was drafted just one season earlier. Either could be a streaming option, with Everett catching my eye a little more than Higbee.
Greg Zeuerlein
Greg “The Leg” is the clear option in LA and is even better suited for Sean McVay’s high-powered offense. Last year he went 6/7 from 50+ yards and 12/12 from 40+. It was easily his best season and looks to keep the trend going.
This offense scores so many points that Zeuerlein could get enough extra point opportunities to carry his weight on your team. But throw in a 40 or 50 yard field goal here and there, and that decent week turns into a great week for your kicker and easy double-digit fantasy points.
D/ST
Please, please, please reach an agreement with Aaron Donald. FantasyPros has the Rams pre-ranked as the fourth best defense. Aaron Donald, the three-time pro bowler is looking for an extension, and he without a doubt deserves one.
The LA Rams are one of the up and coming teams that are proving to be great on both sides of the ball and are a safe bet to be one of the top defenses once again for 2018.
Next: Fantasy Football Team Preview - Arizona Cardinals
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