The Los Angeles Rams are coming off of one of their best seasons in franchise history. The big draft pick trades, for players like Stafford and Ramsey, paid off with the franchise’s first Super Bowl ring in over 20 years. This is all well and good for the real-life Rams but what does it all mean for you and your fantasy football team? The Rams have a high-flying offense and many of their players could be impact makers on your lineup. Let’s find out which Rams belong in your starting group and which are better off on the waiver wire.

QB

Matthew Stafford

Stafford is a bit of an enigma this season. On one hand, he’s a veteran QB who’s coming off a career year winning a championship in a new system. On the other, he’s made a career of being inconsistent and we saw that carry over in LA. For most of last year, Stafford played like a set-and-forget QB1. However, after Week 14 failed to clear 20 fantasy points in a game. He went on to play quite well in the postseason but Stafford comes with risk. 

Aging only increases Stafford’s likelihood to decline. Dynasty owners may want to consider selling him, as I stated in my Dynasty Players to Sell article. His potential volatility simply makes him a bit too risky unless you feel ready to win now. He will be 34 this year, which relative to Brady seems young, but remember we’ve seen players fall off far earlier. 

Redraft Value: QB1in Standard PPR

Dynasty Value: See article

RB

Cam Akers

Cam Akers missed almost all of last season with an ACL injury and only returned for the last week and postseason. Akers performed pretty poorly in the postseason, coming away with 2.6 yards-per-carry on 67 attempts. Despite this rough stat sheet I still have to say he’s a player to add to your squad this year. He showed tons of potential in his rookie season with 4.8 yards-per-carry and a few excellent fantasy performances late in the year. 

Akers should still be valued more for his rookie year’s potential than the rough play from his 2022 postseason. It’s very important to remember that he was not expected to return to play at all last year, he was likely still hurt and that’s a factor here. He was also facing some of the league’s best defenses at their most motivated. Use Cam’s poor postseason to your advantage and buy low on a potentially excellent RB2 here. 

Redraft Value: RB2

Dynasty Value: Strong Hold here, Akers value should rise substantially over the next two to three seasons

Darrell Henderson Jr

Darrell Henderson Jr got a lot more opportunities than initially expected last season due to Cam Akers being unavailable. Henderson should still see a decent share of carries this year as a handcuff, but his health has been a concern. He played in just 12 games last season due to injuries, leading the Rams to sign Sony Michel and then draft Kyren Williams. 

Henderson played well last year but I think the Rams will focus on giving touches to Akers. Kyren Williams will also compete for touches as a backfield receiver, further harming his value. Henderson may have value as an RB2 but I don’t think owners who trade him will live to regret it. 

Redraft Value: Potential RB2

Dynasty Value: Strong Sell, Henderson is too likely to decline due to a loss of opportunities

Kyren Williams

Kyren Williams will likely be competing with Jake Funk for the job of RB3 in LA. The rookie had some historically rough testing numbers, but his tape was solid. He showed reliable hands and the ability to be dangerous once he gets going as well. Overall though, he’s a fifth-round rookie running back in an offense with a lot of mouths to feed. Williams may be worth a taxi spot in deeper leagues but I wouldn’t look to him for much fantasy production

Redraft Value: No real fantasy value at this time

Dynasty Value: Taxi

WR

Cooper Kupp

Kupp is firmly in the elite tier of WR1s at this point. He saw an unbelievable amount of targets last season and has elite ability after the catch as well. Kupp’s role in LA’s offense makes him almost bust-proof. Barring injury, which he does have a history of, Kupp should easily clear 110 receptions for the second season in a row.

Redraft Value: Top 3 WR1 in Fantasy

Dynasty Value: Strong Hold, his age and injury history makes buying in now a bit riskier but the potential reward is great

Allen Robinson II

Allen Robinson is finally on a team with a better than mediocre quarterback. He should shine much brighter this year filling the WR2 role left by Odell Beckham and Robert Woods. Robinson has made a lot of money making bad QBs look good, making the possibilities with Stafford exciting. His rocky stat line last year has his value far lower than it should be. It’s important to remember he was dealing with an offense that had totally stalled out and was heavily targeting Darnell Mooney. Snag Robinson in the later rounds of deeper redraft leagues.  

Redraft Value: WR2 or WR3

Dynasty Value: Buy low or hold, many managers will be looking to sell on Robinson after a rough season

Van Jefferson

Van Jefferson is a younger receiver with a very high ceiling in Dynasty fantasy leagues. Jefferson needs more targets but could continue to develop into a legitimate WR2 fantasy threat. For now, though, Jefferson remains best used as a Flex option. He simply doesn’t perform on a consistent enough basis to warrant WR1 or WR2 value quite yet. 

Redraft Value: Flex

Dynasty Value: Buy, Jefferson has great room for growth over the next few seasons

Tutu Atwell

Atwell is already looking like a disaster of a 2nd round pick by the Rams. He failed to catch a single pass as a rookie and only made an impact on special teams. The Rams going after Allen Robinson and the continued growth of Van Jefferson will continue to hold Atwell back from seeing action. The most foreboding sign however was the fact that fellow rookie Ben Skowronek saw many of the snaps we expected Atwell to see in that offense. As of now, Atwell has little to no value in any fantasy format barring a massive turnaround. 

Redraft Value: No real fantasy value at this time

Dynasty Value: Sell or Taxi, Atwell is unlikely to be able to make a serious impact in LA and cutting ties before his value is completely lost is smart. 

TE

Tyler Higbee

Higbee has had some issues staying healthy and struggled to be a productive fantasy option last season. While he’s a fine piece in the Rams championship system, he’s failed to take the next step to be elite. He averaged just 5.7 points per game in 2021 and that’s with a big boost from a two-touchdown game in Week 17. Higbee can be an option in deeper leagues but he should be seen as a TE 15-20. Being 29 makes a him tough sell for a trade to other Dynasty managers. 

Redraft Value: TE1

Dynasty Value: Hold, Higbee is worth holding onto mostly because the return for him will likely be less than his current value. 

Kendall Blanton & Brycen Hopkins

We’ll cover these two together here. Blanton and Hopkins are fighting for the TE2 spot on the Rams roster but neither should be on yours. If Higbee has a volume problem then these two definitely do. Blanton generated just 3.7 total fantasy points all year and Hopkins mustered just 0.9. Both flashed at times during the postseason but the Rams simply don’t use their tight ends enough to warrant any investment here. 

Redraft Value: No real fantasy value at this time

Dynasty Value: No real fantasy value at this time

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