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 Arizona Cardinals to help you craft a winning lineup.
Matthew Stafford, QB
After 2.5 months of essentially flawless football, Matthew Stafford has hit a few bumps in the road coming home, a reminder of just how volatile this sport can be.
You wouldn’t have been wise to bench him for either of his multi-interception games, but the overarching lesson is still there: you’re never done tweaking your roster and building out depth.
Stafford has multiple passing scores in 14 of his past 15 games, but he needs to be that good to matter for us due to a lack of rushing ability. He’s been in the MVP mix for the entire season, and he has just eight top-10 finishes at the position in the fantasy world.
Of course, we all would have taken “just” eight such games over the summer when we were sweating his back injury, though the limitations can serve as a good example of why we prioritize mobility in such a way during drafts.
Stafford has been great, but I’m still siding with athletic QBs in a major way.
If your name isn’t Joe Burrow and you don’t offer upside with your legs, you’re not in my top-12 for 2026.
Blake Corum, RB
After a non-descript rookie season where he was hardly used, Blake Corum ripped off four straight RB2 (or better) finishes in the second half of this season and wedged his way into a consistent role in an offense that has Super Bowl aspirations.
Not bad for a Year 2 back.
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The lack of versatility is my concern. Even if you think he pushes Kyren Williams for an even split, he’ll need to be awfully efficient to hit our lineups if one catch every other game is all we can count on (95% of his touches have been rushes this season).
The 5.2 yards per carry from this season will be hard to sustain, but his gain rate moving from 81% in 2024 to 86.4% speaks to an increase in comfort with the game at this level.
Maybe he’s Kyle Monangai to Williams’ D’Andre Swift? There isn’t a clean comparison across the league, and the trajectory changes a bit if Stafford hangs up his cleats, but Corum was involved last season, and he’ll be roster worthy as more than just a handcuff in 2026; that much I feel good about.
Davante Adams, WR
Davante Adams turned 33 years of age on Christmas Eve, and with 14 touchdowns this season, his stat line doesn’t look a day past 28.
His role as a scoring vulture, however, is tied heavily to Stafford, another greybeard that you have to worry about in terms of decline (or not playing altogether). Adams has been a yardage liability for the majority of this season (no more than 60 receiving yards in eight of 14 games this season), and those are the profiles I tend to fade.
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Give me volume, and I’ll figure out the variance that comes with touchdowns, not the other way around. In past years, lower-end options like Wan’Dale Robinson or even top-shelf options like Trey McBride have been able to survive the volatility of touchdowns because of their rock steady roles in a PPR setting.
That’s not the case here: if you take the cape off of Superman, you’re left with Clark Kent, a handsome reporter who is nice to be around, but not one who is saving the world from impending doom.
Clark Kent doesn’t win fantasy championships for you, and that’s what 2026 Adams figures to look more like. I’m just projecting at this point, but he’s outside of my top 30 right now.
Puka Nacua, WR
The Falcons did all they could against Puka Nacua on Monday Night.
Their combination of mixed-up coverages to safety helped speed up Stafford; they held LA’s WR1 to a 50% catch rate and under five yards per target.
Relative to the rest of the league, they locked him up, and yet, he tied the game with under three minutes to go, minutes after hauling in a bomb that was called back due to a holding penalty.
These star receivers can be slowed by possession, the quarter, or even the half, but the Tier 1 options can’t be stopped for a full 60 minutes consistently.
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Nacua has doubled his career TD total this season alone and seems destined to give 2,000 receiving yards a run one of these years. If Stafford calls it a career this winter, it’ll hurt my projection, but why couldn’t he be a version of Chris Olave, but 15% better?
That would work. I expect him to own a Round 1 ADP this summer, and I don’t think it’s a bad investment. There isn’t a lack of options toward the end of Round 1, so you won’t need to take on the risk if you don’t want to (again, assuming no Stafford), but I certainly wouldn’t blame you for wanting a receiver that is as versatile as any in the sport.
