The Los Angeles Rams will face the Minnesota Vikings in Week 8. Here’s fantasy football start-sit advice for every Rams skill player who has the potential to make a fantasy impact during the game.
Looking for more lineup advice? Head over to our Week 8 Fantasy Start-Sit Cheat Sheet, where we cover every fantasy-relevant player in every game.
Matthew Stafford, QB
Stafford opened the season with a QB13 performance but hasn’t been a top-20 option since. Of course, plenty of that had to do with the receiver injuries, and we get to correct some of that this week with Cooper Kupp expected back.
That’s the good. The bad is this matchup.
The Vikings ranked second in the league in blitz rate (41.6%, league average: 26%) and have brought the heat on at least 44.6% of dropbacks in four of their past five games (Week 7: season-high 55.2%). Stafford has thrown just two touchdown passes on 96 dropbacks against the blitz over his past nine games and the struggles extend even further than that:
Yards per blitzed pass attempt:
- 2021: 9.1 yards (137.6 passer rating)
- 2022: 7.5 yards (107.4 passer rating)
- 2023: 7.0 yards (82.4 passer rating)
- 2024: 6.7 yards (78.2 passer rating)
Stafford could work his way back into our good graces, but this is certainly a situation where I’ll be a week late rather than a week early.
Kyren Williams, RB
Death, taxes, and Williams end-zone dances. He became the sixth player over the past 25 years with a nine-game touchdown streak when he scored from 13 yards out in the second quarter last week. His role in close is as friendly as it gets into the league and with Cooper Kupp expected back, the overall success rate of this offense should tick up for the remainder of the season.
The lack of versatility combined with some offensive concerns keeps Williams out of my top tier at the position (Derrick Henry and Saquon Barkley). Over his last two games. He has 43 carries and just one target, a rate that is unlikely to improve as this team gets healthier.
Jahmyr Gibbs lit up the Vikings for 32 fantasy points last week, but that was just the third time this season an RB reached double figures against this aggressive unit. My Williams projection this week comes in lighter than weeks past, but not at such a level to knock him out of RB1 status.
Cooper Kupp, WR
The hope is that the return is coming soon, but Kupp was ultimately inactive (ankle) last week, a decision that came down to Sunday. The All-Pro should be penciled into fantasy starting lineups this week, as the Thursday night kickoff gives him the benefit of a mini-bye heading into Week 9 (at Seattle) to make sure his body reacts as expected.
It should go without saying that Kupp is a starter for you the second the Rams activate him. Even if there is a discussion of a snap count, his value for Los Angeles increases the closer they get to paydirt, making him a good bet to see snaps when fantasy points are imminent.
The Vikings have allowed opposing WR1s to catch a touchdown pass in three straight games (Jayden Reed, Garrett Wilson, and Amon-Ra St. Brown last week), and with Puka Nacua still a ways away from returning, Kupp is the unquestioned top threat in LA’s passing game and could threaten to be the weekly leader in targets.
Puka Nacua, WR
Updated on Thursday, October 24 at 7:00 PM ET
Puka Nacua is officially active for the Week 8 matchup vs. the Vikings.
Updated on Thursday, October 24 at 4:30 PM ET
ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports the Rams activated WR Puka Nacua off injured reserve with the idea that they plan to play him tonight. They won’t decide until pregame warmups how much he can play, but the plan is to play him.
Nacua is set to potentially make a surprise return, though it comes in a difficult spot. Not only is Cooper Kupp seemingly closer to full strength, thus shifting Nacua down the target hierarchy in an offense that already ranks middle of the pack in pass rate over expectation, but this matchup is prohibitive.
Through seven weeks, the Vikings are a top-5 defense in passer rating, TD/INT ratio, and points allowed per drive. With Kyren Williams soaking up the usage in close and Kupp projected to vacuum in the short-to-intermediate targets as he normally does, Nacua carries as much risk as reward into this matchup.
The odds are good, given the state of the position, that you don’t have the luxury of playing another option, so you’re simply hoping for the best from a health standpoint. I have Nacua labeled as a low-end WR2 who is unlikely to see his typical target share should he return tonight.
Rams Players Not Worth Starting
- Blake Corum, RB
- Tutu Atwell, WR
- Demarcus Robinson, WR
- Colby Parkinson, TE
