Los Angeles Rams Team Preview 25-26

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  • Last Updated on June 17, 2025 1:24 pm by Jon Mosales | Published: June 16, 2025

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    The Rams are streets ahead as the cool kids say.  They remain competitive no matter what happens to their roster and do it all without every having a first-round pick.  Sean McVay gets more out of his team than any other coach in the NFL, but it’s not always pretty.  Before I dug into the stats, I really thought I was going to find that the Rams were a balanced squad that really relied on Kyren Williams to eat yards and control the clock.  While Williams was a workhorse, playing 81% of snaps and getting 70% of the rushing attempts, the end result wasn’t that great.  The Rams had a 43/57 run/pass split, but finished 31st in YPR (3.9) and 24th in rushing yards.  While Williams finished the drives, (5th in rushing TDs), the Rams moved the chains in the passing game.   Whereas some teams crave balance, the Rams like to hyper-focus, finishing 1st in WR targeting at 74% and second in WR FPPG.  Matt Stafford and co. was 10th in passing yards, despite losing Puka Nacua in Week 1 for half the season.  This team is very confusing on paper, but when you watch them play it makes sense.  Fantasy-wise they have more questions than answers because while Stafford proved he’s still one of the best QBs in the game, he was the QB19 and the team finished 29th in QB FPPG.  They were 30th in TE FPPG and targeted their RBs in the passing game only 10% of the time, good for last in the league.  To summarize, they didn’t run the ball efficiently, didn’t involve their running backs in the passing offense, had one-dimensional/mediocre QB play and ignored the TE position completely.  Yet, they finished 10-7 and came closer to beating the Super Bowl Champion Eagles than anyone else, so clearly something was working.  It wasn’t all roses as they lost Cooper Kupp to Father Time and eventually the Seahawks, but replaced him with similarly aged Davante Adams who at least showed he’s got something left in the tank.  When it comes down it this team is built around Puka Nacua and every other play is a bridge to the next time Nacua can touch the ball.

    Player most likely to beat ADP: Puka Nacua (ADP 8, WR4)

    This feels like a copout because I wouldn’t draft Nacua at eight, but is a world where he stays healthy, leads the league in targets and has a season similar to Kupp’s triple crown a couple of years ago.  I don’t love a lot of options in LA right now, but I will always love Nacua.

    Player most likely to fade based on ADP: Kyren WIlliams (ADP 23, RB11)

    He’s posting RB1 numbers, but he’s not an RB1 talent.  Williams could easily post similar numbers to last season, but we’ve seen how fickle the RB position can be.  I don’t trust that Williams is going to around for the long haul.

    Late-round Flier that could blow up: Blake Corum (ADp 142, RB50)

    Corum didn’t look great as a rookie and it’s a longshot for him to take over as the RB1, but we’ve seen crazy things happen before.  The rookie Jarquez Hunter might even be a better option if you are looking for lottery tickets.

     

    As much as the Rams used to be Kupp-centric, now they orbit around Nacua and not much has changed.  Nacua finished as the WR28 after only playing in 11 games and still almost hit 1000 yards rec (990).  He got hurt in the preseason, but apparently was healthy enough to suit up in Week 1, only to see his season get derailed essentially before it started. Part of the reason Nacua fell in NFL draft was his injury risk profile and that appears to still be an issue.  If he can stay healthy, I would feel comfortable taking him before everyone not named Ja’Marr Chase, but as a foundational piece of my fantasy team, he scares me.  With no risk you get no reward, and the potential remains tantalizing.  Nacua finished fourth in fantasy points per-game and in Weeks 8-18, he out scored all WRs except one. He was top-10 in red zone targets (despite only three rec TDs) and led the NFL in target share at 31% (10-plus targets per game) through the postseason. His full 36% target rate per route run was the highest in the NFL among qualified WRs.  Nacua hits every box and is still improving.  He finished second in broken tackles (10) and second in per-game YAC (16).  With an ADP of WR4, there are just too many names behind that are almost as elite without as much risk of blowing up your fantasy season.  Let’s not forget that Matt Stafford is 37 and constantly playing through a myriad of injuries.  The Rams also brought in Davante Adams to play the Cooper Kupp role, but Adams has never been a second-banana and finished 8th in the league in targets last season.  The Rams offense can easily support two elite WRs, but as much as I fear another injury to Nacua, I am terrified of Adam’s age and eventual decline.  This will be his third team in two seasons and that just isn’t the type of player I want on my fantasy team.  The decline hasn’t been that steep, (WR14, WR11, WR2, WR3, WR1), but it’s there and it took the Jets being on of the most pass-heavy teams in the league to prop Adams overall fantasy season.  Everytime I think it’s Davante Adams, aka one of the best WRs of the last decade, he will figure it out, I remember how Kupp looked last season and how he couldn’t get open downfield and had to settle for five yard completions while Puka lived beyond the sticks.  There’s always value on older players because people like the shiny new thing and there could be value at WR16, I know it just won’t be me.

    Los Angeles Rams win prediction 10-7

    This team lives on the razor’s edge and you’d think that would make them susceptible to an injury derailing their season as depth is a luxury they can’t afford.  They almost did go past the breaking point, starting 1-4 before the bye week, eventually getting Nacua and Kupp back into the fold to finish the season winning six of their last eight.  The offensive line wasn’t quite a strength, but also not a weakness, but the running game became predictable and more about wearing down the defense than being a viable method of attack.  When it comes to fantasy, Williams is impossible to predict.  If volume is king, than Williams is our new overlord.  He was on the field more than any other RB in the league and also third in broken tackles (13), but if we peel back one more layer, Williams might the more replaceable RB1 in the NFL.  His longest TD was 13 yards while every other stud RB had one from at least 30.  Williams lacks the explosiveness to get to the next level and then beyond.  He had two runs for 20+ yards, Derrick Henry had 20.  He’s got b2b top-10 finishes and for a RB, that counts as a solid track record and we know McVay likes to go old-school with one bell cow RB.  As great as that is for fantasy, how sure are we that Williams will continue to be that guy this season.  The veteran incumbent back usually starts the season with the position, but we saw Bucky Irving and Chase Brown elevate to RB1 over two RBs that resemble Williams in talent if not production.  At an ADP of 24 and RB11, there is some built-in upside as Williams only has to mirror the last two seasons to provide value at his draft capital.  That is enticing as we know the Rams are going to do what they do and double digit TDs is definitely on the table, we just have to make sure it’s Williams who scores them.  The threat to Williams is sophomore Blake Corum, who everyone thought could eat into the starter’s snap share as a rookie.  At an ADP of 141, RB49, it is imperative that you handcuff these two if you go and get Williams last season.  There is a reason Corum isn’t in the conversation again despite how inefficient Williams was.  He was bad last year, having one of the worst backup RB seasons in the league.  There is growing murmuring that rookie Jarquez Hunter might be a better dart throw late in the draft.

    How much does Stafford have left in the tank?  The Rams routinely have one of the best offenses in the league year-over-year.  Last year was a letdown when comparing overall stats, but considering they lost their two star WRs at the beginning of the season, it’s more surprising they were able to stay afloat than anything else.  Stafford hasn’t thrown for more than 4000 yards or 25+ TDs in any of the three seasons, but he still looks the same and he might be setting up for one last monster season.  He was the QB5 in 2021 with 41 TDs and 4886 yards.  If Nacua can stay healthy and Adams has one more elite season left in him, the Rams could be set up be a top-10 offense with a little injury luck.  Stafford has this weird quirk of starting seasons slow and he only had three passing TDs through the first six games last season.  Of course, not having Nacua and Kupp for almost all of that stretch plays a huge part, you are what your stats say you are.  Stafford isn’t really on the radar in QB1 leagues and he’s a solid QB2 in the right matchup who can still easily throw for 300 yards and multiple TDs.  The problem with this coming season is, the schedule doesn’t do them many favors.  They play the Texans, Eagles and Ravens in three of the first six games and that’s three of the top-five defenses in the entire league.  If I’m drafting Stafford, I’m playing the long game and looking to the fantasy playoffs when the Lions, Seahawks and Falcons are on deck, but a lot of things can wrong by that time.  I think the Rams are a playoff team and can hang with anyone, but it’s not a team I will be actively investing fantasy capital in due to how many question marks there are on the roster.

     

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    June 16, 2025, 7:27 pm