The fantasy football landscape shifts each week, bringing fresh opportunities and unexpected challenges that separate the prepared from the pretenders. Savvy managers know that last week’s performance tells only part of the story, and diving deeper into the underlying metrics reveals the accurate picture.
This week presents some intriguing decisions. Here’s insight about key Los Angeles Rams players heading into their matchup with the San Francisco 49ers to help you craft a winning lineup.
Matthew Stafford, QB
It’s difficult to survive in this fantasy world of ours with next to zero rushing equity, but Matthew Stafford’s current form is about what it takes.
He’s thrown nine touchdown passes over his past two games and has at least two through the air in six of his past seven games. The highlight from last week was an absolute dime to Puka Nacua to beat nearly perfect coverage as part of a 15-for-18 start (164 yards and three scores).
READ MORE: Soppe’s Week 10 Fantasy Football Start ‘Em Sit ‘Em: Analysis for Every Player in Every Game
Stafford is pacing toward his best YPA season since 2021 and wasn’t shy about featuring his favorites in the Week 5 meeting against these Niners (71.7% of his targets went to Nacua, Davante Adams, or Kyren Williams).
Due to some of the dual-threat QBs having favorable matchups, I can’t get Stafford inside of my top 10 this week, but he’s not far from it and is trending as strong as any pocket passer in the sport.
Blake Corum, RB
Is Blake Corum a version of Tyler Allgeier that simply didn’t get the rookie season to own a backfield?
Like Allgeier, he’s not going to take meaningful amounts of work off the role of the RB1 in town, but he does add something when he enters the game, and that’s why he’s on the list of handcuffs that I’ll hold through the end of the season.
MORE: Fantasy Football Trade Analyzer
Over the past two games, Corum has picked up yardage on 23-of-25 carries, a true skill considering that 44% of those attempts have come against a loaded box. Both of those games were blowouts, and thus the expanded touch count: he’s a long shot to reach double figures in touches in any given week, and that’s why he can’t be considered a flex with a healthy Kyren Williams.
That said, he’s a lineup lock should the RB1 role open up, and that profile is difficult to find in this era of committees.
Kyren Williams, RB
Williams has cleared 16 PPR points in three of his past four games and is running hard.
Last season, 62% of his carries resulted in him gaining more yards after contact than the league average, a notable mark that has increased to 68.2% through nine weeks this season.
MORE: Free Fantasy Start/Sit Lineup Optimizer
Corum has impressed when given the opportunity, though it seems clear that Sean McVay doesn’t intend to make this a committee situation. Williams has had at least 19 touches in five games this season, one of which was the first meeting with the 49ers (22 touches for 131 yards and two TDs).
I don’t expect a repeat of that success, but with Stafford dicing up defenses, Williams figures to have running lanes available to him against a banged-up San Francisco unit.
Davante Adams, WR
Davante Adams’ target equity increases when Nacua is in and out of the lineup, but the types of targets don’t really change.
He’s racked up 100+ air yards in six of his past seven games and has seen multiple end zone looks in three straight. His 33rd birthday is approaching, but nothing in his profile suggests that Father Time is looming.
Adams led the Rams in receiving yards (88) in the first meeting with these Cardinals, and getting him to 15-ish PPR points isn’t asking for much. Assuming that Nacua is a full go, I’ll have two Rams comfortable inside of my top 15 at the position. If that’s not the case, Adams could push as high as WR6 in my Week 10 rankings.
Puka Nacua, WR
There was a pre-bye injury, there was an in-game injury, and there was a jaw-dropping play.
Fantasy managers got the full Nacua experience last week in the blowout of the Saints, as he hit 85+ receiving yards for the sixth time in seven games this season.
The touchdown, his third straight healthy game with a score, was a work of art and a reminder that a perfect throw can beat near-perfect coverage. With Stafford locked in, it feels close to impossible to stop Nacua for a full 60 minutes, something that certainly proved true in the first meeting of these two teams (10-85-1).
MORE: Free Fantasy Waiver Wire Tool
This week, there’s a very definitive Tier 1 at the wide receiver position: Nacua and Smith-Njigba. I imagine that both get plenty of ownership in the DFS streets this week, and your ability to pick nits could be the difference between a big score and nothing.
The injury risk, along with the 49ers largely keeping Nacua around 10 yards per catch during his career, has me ranking JSN as my WR1 this week, but both are obviously gamebreakers at the highest level.
