The Los Angeles Rams enter the 2021 NFL as one of the more interesting teams in the league. Over the off-season, Rams general manager Les Snead and the front office exchanged quarterbacks with the Detroit Lions, sending Jared Goff, a 2021 third-round pick, and first round picks in 2022 and 2023 to the Motor City in exchange for Matthew Stafford.
Since the Rams acquisition of Stafford way back in March, expectations have skyrocketed in Hollywood. Many believe, under head coach Sean McVay, Stafford will have a bounce-back year that could result in a Super Bowl Victory. Taking a look at the Rams revamped offense, it’s easy to see why hopes are so high in LA.
AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill
From great wide-outs like Robert Woods and Cooper Kupp to a really solid tight end in Tyler Higbee, and the eighth best offensive line unit heading into the season according to Pro Football Focus, the Rams have what it takes on the offensive side of the ball to be a legitimate Super Bowl contender. Then, on the defensive side of the ball, Aaron Donald and Jalen Ramsey anchor what many experts believe is the best defense in the game. Adam Schein of NFL.com put it best: “It’s Aaron Donald’s world and we are just living in it.”
Now, having said all of that, it’s easy for a team to look good on paper. As we’ve seen throughout sports history, any team can look sexy on paper before the season starts. Take the 2019 Cleveland Browns.
After finishing the 2018 season winning five of their last seven games featuring a strong showing from rookie quarterback Baker Mayfield, the Browns had huge expectations from fans and many NFL analysts alike. Then, in the off-season, the Browns front office made the biggest moves of the summer in acquiring star receiver Odell Beckham Jr. from the New York Giants, signing another star wide-out in Jarvis Landry, and drafting Georgia stud running back Nick Chubb. As a result of these moves and more, many experts predicted the Browns would make a leap in 2019 and reach the playoffs. Instead, the Browns actually took a step back and went 6-10 in 2019.
To me, this is different. The Rams will succeed, quickly. The Rams acquisition of Matt Stafford back in March was, by-far, the biggest move of the NFL offseason. I believe, under Sean McVay, Stafford will establish himself, or re-establish himself, as one the best quarterbacks in the league.
If you don’t believe me, here’s a quote from San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan when asked what he thought of the Rams getting Stafford, courtesy of the Flying Coach Podcast with McVay and Peter Schrager:
“You don’t want to get me started dude. That was frustrating. I was in Cabo. I was studying it all… I remember looking through it because everybody was telling me it was a possibility. Stafford’s the man. I studied him hard coming out of college, and you always play against him, so you know how good he is. But to know he might be available and to spend weeks really watching him, Sean, yeah, he’s better than I realized. He was the man. He’s actually underrated to me. I know how good of a guy you got. I know how good he is in play-action. I know how smart he is. Not only does he just have a big-arm, but he’s got touch, he knows where to go with the ball.”
Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times
Furthermore, back in June, in an interview with Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated, McVay himself had this to say about Stafford:
“Bro, this dude’s a bad MF-er. Whatever people say about him, as good as it can be, he’s even better than advertised. The guy’s ability to see the game, his ability to draw on his experiences, the feel that he has, it’s pretty special and unique.”
With the obvious excitement shown by McVay over Stafford’s potential, it’s looking like the Rams offense will morph into more of an air-raid attack this season. So what does this all mean from a fantasy perspective? Well, starting with QB, I believe Stafford will have an incredible bounce-back season. In fact, I’ll go as far to say that Stafford will finish the year top three in MVP voting, with a good chance of winning the award.
For the first time in his career, Stafford has a legitimate supporting cast around him. As mentioned before, Cooper Kupp, Robert Woods, Tyler Higbee, and an upper-echelon offensive line will make things easy for Stafford. I expect him to deliver in a big way for the Rams and show everyone that he is an elite quarterback in this league. It’s realistic to think Stafford will finish the year as a top-10 fantasy QB.
There are, however, two things to worry about Stafford that may stray you away from picking him up. The first one is that he’s not much of a running quarterback. Other QBs around Stafford’s ADP like Ryan Tannehill, Jalen Hurts and Trevor Lawrence all possess the ability to gain valuable yards with their feet. Stafford’s just not that guy. But, to me, that’s not a big deal. I think McVay is really excited about Stafford and is going to let him loose in a pass-first offense.
The other and bigger concern is his health. According to Stafford himself, despite playing in all 16 games last season, the 33 year old QB played with a torn UCL in his left elbow, a partially torn UCL in his right thumb, a right ankle sprain, and broken rib cartilage in his rib cage.
Moreover, back in 2019, Stafford fractured his tailbone which caused him to miss eight games. He also missed six games as a rookie with a dislocated patella and a separated shoulder and missed 13 games in his second year due to issues with that same shoulder.
With all of that said, this “injury-prone” idea we have of Stafford is just simply not true. Over the past 10 years, Stafford hsa played in 152 of a possible 160 games, including three of three playoff appearances. Getting hurt is just a part of football. Nobody can predict injuries or health. So when deciding on a QB, if you can’t get one of those top dawgs like Patrick Mahomes, Kyler Murray or Josh Allen, then maybe look to take Stafford later in your draft.
Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images
As a result of what I believe to be a major bounce-back year for Stafford, I think the Rams pass-catchers will benefit greatly. Robert Woods and Cooper Kupp will both gain over 1000 receiving yards and catch 80+ passes. Lock it down. I think both of these guys will be legitimate WR1’s from a fantasy perspective. At their current ADPs of WR16 and WR19, according to the Fantasy Football by BRoto App, Kupp and Woods, respectively, are steals.
An even bigger steal than those two WRs, in my opinion, is Rams tight end Tyler Higbee. Over the last five weeks of the 2020 season, Higbee averaged 11.4 targets per game and was fantasy’s top scoring TE by 23 points. Now with Gerald Everett out of the picture, Higbee is the clear-cut starting TE for the Rams, and their third receiving option. At his average ADP of TE14, Higbee offers huge upside.
Lastly, I will touch on the position that I have sidestepped till now: Running Back. Things turned sour when Cam Akers tore his achilles over the offseason and was ruled out for the 2021 season. As a result of this, Darrell Henderson Jr was elevated to the starting running back. Henderson’s stock has gone up drastically since Akers devastating injury, and deservedly so. Henderson is likely to be featured heavily in the Rams offense, even with the addition of Sony Michel.
Rob Carr/Getty Images
It’s been reported that during training camp, a lot of buzz has circled Henderson for his receiving ability:
“Darrell’s a complete back. He’s made plays in the pass game for us. You look at a handful of plays that he made last year, whether it’s catching balls down the field or being able to run some different option routes out of the backfield. He’s a versatile skill player. He’s got good natural hands where he can catch outside of frame work. Very confident in Darrell’s ability.” - Sean McVay
I believe in Henderson and don’t think Michel is a true threat. The Rams likely added Michel because they didn’t trust their young backs Xavier Jones and Jake Funk. Furthermore, nothing from Michel’s time in New England should make anyone think that he’s a good starting running back. An old-fashioned bruising back who was almost never used in pass-catching situations in New England, Michel offers a limited skillset.
Henderson is also more of a passing threat than Michel and Stafford, during his time in Detroit, heavily targeted his running backs. According to the Fantasy Football by BRoto App, Matthew Stafford has targeted RBs 7.4 times per game since 2015, the fourth highest for all active QBs.
The Rams will ooze fantasy goodness this season and you should be ready to soak it up.
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By Kyle McKee (@KaleMcKee)
For a second straight season, I am betting against Mahomes.