Fantasy Football Team Previews 2020: Los Angeles Rams

Must Own = Top 120

Value = 121-170

Deep Sleeper = 171 or later

All ADP data is courtesy of Fantasy Pros

Must Own:

Cooper Kupp, WR (ADP: 39): Kupp slowed down a bit after being red hot in the beginning of 2019, but he continued to provide steady value because he was a touchdown machine. Kupp played 14 games last year, finishing the season with 1,161 yards and 10 touchdowns. Normally, players who derive so much value from touchdowns are regression threats, but Kupp has been a consistent target in the end zone for the Rams since he was drafted in 2017. Kupp caught five touchdowns in six starts as a rookie, six touchdowns in eight starts as a sophomore, and finally cracked double-digits in his healthiest campaign ever. He’s averaged between 12-14 yards per reception, caught between 66%-72% of his targets, and flirted with 100 catches last year in a down year for the Rams offense. Lastly, this offense is likely to be more pass-happy in 2020 now that Todd Gurley is out of the picture. The one fly in the ointment would be if the Rams rely more on two-TE sets, it could limit Kupp’s time in the slot where he is most effective. It’s not really something to dig too deep into though; he’s a talented wide receiver and he’s going to succeed no matter where he lines up.

Robert Woods, WR (ADP: 57): Woods caught 90 passes for 1,134 yards last year, and was still a pretty big flop for a lot of fantasy owners. That’s because he caught just two touchdowns, and posted quite a few games where he was genuinely unstartable, including a zero-catch effort. For a guy who caught 90 passes, Woods was weirdly inconsistent and it wasn’t fun to own him. Still, 90 catches is 90 catches, and he’s still the No. 1 pass-catcher in a Sean McVay offense. Woods is a PPR darling, and he’s a big candidate for positive touchdown regression. He also was well-liked by PFF, who gave him an overall grade of 82.2, 12th among all WRs. In full-PPR formats, Woods has WR1 upside, and in all other formats he should be a high-end WR2.

Cam Akers, RB (ADP: 69): Akers’ ADP is a bit high for a rookie on a team with multiple contenders to lead the backfield of a team with one of the NFL’s worst offensive lines in 2019. The Rams were the seventh-worst offense in terms of RB yards, and it’s not all the fault of Todd Gurley’s knee. Akers put up monster numbers for Florida State – 231 carries, 1,144 yards, 14 rushing TDs – behind a shoddy line, but he’s not going to have preseason games to prove himself at NFL game speed, and he’s competing with an entrenched veteran (Malcolm Brown) and a 2019 third-rounder (Darrell Henderson) who entered last season with significant hype in this here fantasy community. I can’t deny the upside present here, but I’m not comfortable with this ADP for Akers.

Tyler Higbee, TE (ADP: 70): Don’t look now, but Higbee is the 7th TE off the board. If that seems crazy to you, it kind of is, seeing as how he was not only undrafted last year, he was considered buried behind another TE on his own team. He finished 2019 with 69 receptions, 734 yards and three touchdowns, but all this draft capital was obtained after the Rams switched their offense to run two TEs more. From Weeks 11-15, Higbee was unbelievable, averaging 8.6 receptions and 104.4 yards per game. Obviously, those numbers are drool-inducing from the TE position, and most of the pieces are in place to keep that going. On the other hand, those numbers came with fellow TE Gerald Everett out in some of those games, and with other Rams skill players not at 100%. Like Akers, Higbee clearly possesses a very high ceiling. But at this ADP you’ll need him to hit it to return value on the pick, and those aren’t the kinds of gambles I’d like to make, especially at a position with lots of upside much later on.

Darrell Henderson, RB (ADP: 110): Henderson was getting a lot of love last year with many fantasy owners hoping they’d strike gold since he was backing up the injury-prone Gurley. Instead, they got 3.8 yards per carry, a relatively healthy season out of Gurley, and a bunch of Malcolm Brown when Gurley wasn’t in. Henderson was unimpressive, and now they’ve drafted another early-round rookie (Akers). The upside we all loved last summer is still there, and Gurley was a tougher player to usurp than Akers is, so he makes some sense as a lottery ticket here. Ultimately though, this backfield has true committee written all over it, and McVay may just decide to kill the fantasy upside for all three RBs involved. I’m staying away, since it’s not even clear if he’s the right handcuff for Akers.

Value:

Jared Goff, QB (ADP: 149): Goff is the 20th QB off the board right now, which makes a lot of sense after last season. He disappointed tons of fantasy owners drafting him as a Top 10 players at the position, but we shouldn’t write him off. While he lost 10 touchdowns off his 2018 total, and gained four interceptions, Goff still threw for more than 4,000 yards and averaged about 290 yards per game. Goff also attempted 30 more passes in 2019; while that’s not a great sign for his 2019 efficiency, it does show that McVay is willing to let him sling it, and that should continue now that there’s no bell cow RB in place. Goff is probably going to be a value at this ADP, and while I’m hesitant to draft him as a locked-in, year-long starter, he’s not a bad player to gamble on late and potentially trade your starter as the season progresses to fill a need.  

Deep Sleepers:

Malcolm Brown, RB (ADP: 230): Brown scored five rushing touchdowns last season. That isn’t good for fantasy owners, but it needs to be noted that Brown is going to be involved in this offense. That involvement is unlikely to result in fantasy relevance without injuries, but there’s a universe in which Brown becomes a high-powered offense’s leader in rushing touchdowns. While I like Henderson much more as a talent, I think Brown is the RB to draft if you’re looking for a handcuff option in this backfield because he’s proven himself as a battering ram near the goal line, and he’s pretty much free.

Josh Reynolds, WR (ADP 260): Reynolds has flashed the ability to become fantasy relevant, but this is an offense with too many mouths to feed, especially if they commit to featuring two TEs. In 2018 Reynolds scored five touchdowns, taking advantage of the absence of Cooper Kupp. Last year was a healthier season for Rams’ receivers, and Reynolds finished with 21 receptions, 326 yards and a single touchdown. He needs an injury, and even then the offense may just shift to feature other players if that happens. You can leave him on waivers.

Gerald Everett, TE (ADP: 277): Everett is completely forgotten these days, but he could be the 2020 version of his teammate Tyler Higbee. Everett finished 2019 with 37 catches, 408 yards and two touchdowns. He averaged 4.6 receptions and 55.6 yards per game from Weeks 5-9, and saw double-digit targets in three of those games. Everett is probably not going to become a star in this offense because of the plethora of talent he’s competing with, but he’s relevant to the Rams’ real-life offense and should be a deterrent to overdrafting Higbee.