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 Jacksonville Jaguars to help you craft a winning lineup.
Matthew Stafford, QB
If you removed clocks, we’d struggle to tell time, so with Puka Nacua compromised, it shouldn’t be a surprise that Stafford struggled to make the most of a seemingly perfect matchup.
Los Angeles was unable to stay on the field (under 23 minutes of possession), and that’s always going to kill the upside of a pocket-locked signal caller.
Stafford did what you’d expect and funneled 34.6% of his targets to Davante Adams, but this isn’t peak Adams, and without much depth around him, failure at this level (181 pass yards after throwing for 389 last week against a better defense) was likely to happen.
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We will see about the status of Nacua for the London game this week, but I’m not the least bit tempted to call Stafford’s number regardless. Allen is on bye, and so is Lamar Jackson, but you’ve been filling the Jackson void for each of the past two weeks.
The streaming options are weak this week, but Aaron Rodgers (at CIN) or even C.J. Stroud (at SEA) coming off the bye could be sold to me.
Blake Corum, RB
Corum is nursing an ankle injury that he suffered in Week 6, though it doesn’t sound like the type of situation that is going to cost him game time. In his second season, the former Wolverine has worked himself into a role that sees him handling 5-10 touches weekly, a role that isn’t enough to hold value by itself, but makes it clear that he is the next man up should something happen to Kyren Williams.
Maybe this coaching staff gets creative, should they be asked to move the ball without Nacua for an extended period of time, but outside of a significant injury, Corum is nothing more than a bench filler that can’t help your team in his current role.
Kyren Williams, RB
This offense is at risk if we assume Nacua sits (17 points against the gutted Ravens last week was proof of that). But we know that Williams will get his 15+ touches while being heavily featured in scoring situations, and that’s plenty to lock him into lineups.
He’s scored four times over the past four weeks and has had multiple receptions in five straight. The explosive plays may be few and far between, but Williams is picking up at least five yards on 41.1% of his carries this season, up from 36.4% in 2021, and enough to help him have access to an elevated floor.
He’s one of the least likely backs in my top 15 this week to give us a top-3 week, but the role in the red zone and my confidence in Matthew Stafford efficiently moving this offense give him a better chance to finish with a top-20 week than most in this tier.
Davante Adams, WR
The Davante Adams situation could be one of the more interesting for Week 7, with Nacua’s status (foot) trending in the wrong direction for this London game ahead of the Week 8 bye.
On one hand, it’s easy to look at the target distribution from the first six weeks and pencil in Adams for a vintage performance. This season, the Nacua/Adams duo has combined for 57.6% of Los Angeles’ receptions and 60.1% of receiving yards. Even if you transfer one-third of the potentially vacated production to the WR2 in town, you end up with an overwhelmingly optimistic projection.
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In theory, I could see doing that, but that’s not the approach I’m taking. Adams isn’t the player he once was, and the 47.3% catch rate is a clear indication of that. He’s settled into a more vertical role. While part of that could be the desire to leverage his playmaking abilities, I’m not ruling out the possibility that it’s the only way the 32-year-old can win these days, with quick-twitch routes less of an advantage.
If that’s the case, the increase in defensive attention figures to impact his fantasy stock more than an extra target or two.
We are picking nits. Three big-play receivers have cleared 22 PPR points against the Jags (Ja’Marr Chase, Collins, and Smith-Njigba), and Adams could, of course, add his name to that list. The former Packer has seen multiple end-zone targets in three of the past five weeks and is one of two players with a 20+ yard reception in all six weeks (the other: George Pickens).
Adams is a starter in all formats, whether Nacua suits up or not. That’s not the argument. I’m saying that he doesn’t turn into an All-Pro should the best receiver in the sport be sidelined.
Puka Nacua, WR
If you fly too close to the sun, sometimes you get burned.
Nacua has been fantasy’s best player this season, but there is no denying that, to make his style work, he puts his body on the line every time he is targeted.
We’ve seen him bloody and bruised, but he’s largely been like a prize fighter in that he’s always able to gut through things.
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The body has limitations, and it would seem that this foot injury is going to get the best of the star for at least this week in London. With the bye up next, the 4-2 Rams are likely to play the long game with their difference maker, and I think that’s what we want: lose the Week 7 battle and hope to win the 2025 war.
Tutu Atwell is the target in town that gains the most value should Nacua sit, but you should have better options at the ready on your bench.
Let’s hope for the best.
