The NFL season is almost here. You know what that means. It’s fantasy football time. Which players should you draft? Who should you stay from? All 32 teams have guys you need to target for your team this upcoming season. So, we’ll cover all of them before the start of the season. Up next are the Los Angeles Rams.

*statistics from ESPN*

Players You Need To Target

WR Puka Nacua (projected 258.16 fantasy points)

No one expected the former BYU wideout to rise so fast. After being available in 99% of leagues before week one, he was one of the most added players after his debut. If his ten-catch, 119-yard performance in week one wasn’t enough, his 15 catches against the San Francisco 49ers in week two had fantasy managers on the waiver wire trying to pick him up.

As Matthew Stafford‘s favorite target in 2023, Nacua finished as the WR4 and accumulated 298.5 total fantasy points. With Cooper Kupp getting older plus his inconsistency last year when healthy, Nacua will likely be the team’s WR1 in 2024 and someone managers should target early in the second round.

RB Kyren Williams (projected 243.74 fantasy points)

Injuries forced the running back to miss seven games in his rookie year. But, Williams came out in 2023 and showed why fantasy managers should have drafted him from the start.

Despite missing games again last year, he was sensational as the team’s RB1.

Keep this in mind: Williams had two 100-yard efforts in the first six weeks of the season and a total of six touchdowns. Then, after missing weeks 7-11, he came back with a vengeance.

In the final six games played, he had four 100-yard performances, including a 152-yard effort against the Washington Commanders in week 15 with a score. His encore to end 2023 was an 87-yard performance and three touchdowns against the New York Giants in week 17.

Williams has a nose for the endzone. If he can stay healthy, fantasy managers should feel confident having him as their RB1.

Players To Avoid

QB Matthew Stafford (projected 240.0 fantasy points)

The 36-year-old did finish as QB15 after the 2023 fantasy season. But, he isn’t getting any older and isn’t a top-10 fantasy signal-caller anymore.

Take the first eight weeks of the season. He finished with at least 16 fantasy points only twice in that span. Even with Nacua’s emergence at wide receiver, Stafford struggled to remain relevant from a fantasy perspective to start.

But, it’s not about how you start. It’s about how you finish. Stafford finished with at least 20 fantasy points in four of the last six games played. After just eight touchdowns thrown in the first eight games, he had a total of 16 of them after week 11.

However, he just isn’t QB1 material anymore. It’s not realistic to see that hot streak of his be consistent throughout an entire season. There are many signal-callers worth drafting over Stafford. The days of selecting him in the mid-rounds of your draft are gone. A late-round pick is the soonest you should draft the Rams’ quarterback. The risk of injury at his age is risky enough for me to stay away from him.

Rookie To Target

RB Blake Corum (projected 105.58 fantasy points)

Considering Kyren Williams‘s injury history (14 games missed in two weeks), Corum is a must-have on your fantasy team.

The 2024 third-round pick out of Michigan was a machine in 2023, scoring 27 touchdowns and rushing for 1,245 yards for the Wolverines on their way to a national championship.

He is worth a late-round pick because of the possibility of double-digit touches and will eat into Williams’s touches. If Williams does end up going down, Corum slots in immediately into the starting lineup and you should pick him up as a handicap before others get to him on the waiver wire.

Thank you for reading! We have a lot more fantasy content for you in store, so make sure to check back soon for more team breakdowns in the coming days and weeks! Visit us at Belly Up Fantasy Sports so you don’t miss out! Also, check out me and my co-host Brian Germinaro on the Third and Ten Podcast, available wherever you get your podcasts!

Featured Image: Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images