This game may feature the most impressive team from Week 1 and the most surprising team from Week 1. The Los Angeles Rams fantasy preview for Week 2 is a matter of looking at their receivers and if they can continue their fantasy football-friendly ways for a second consecutive week. On the other side, the San Francisco 49ers fantasy outlook is about trying to gauge how valuable the floor of Brock Purdy is.
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San Francisco 49ers at Los Angeles Rams
- Spread: 49ers -7.5
- Total: 45
- 49ers implied points: 26.5
- Rams implied points: 19
Quarterbacks
Brock Purdy: The NFL’s first player to ever go 6-0 while throwing multiple touchdown passes in each of his first six regular-season starts heads to Los Angeles to face a talent-short Rams team that overachieved last week. We were all down on the Rams entering this season, and one good game should not be enough to sway your opinion.
This is a plus matchup for Purdy. He’s smart. No, IQ points don’t count in your fantasy football box score, but on a team like this, there is a direct correlation.
Let me explain.
In this quick read of Kyle Shanahan’s scheme, Purdy is almost only looking at his elite playmakers. He has a quartet of high-end YAC guys at his disposal (Christian McCaffrey, Goerge Kittle, Deebo Samuel, and Brandon Aiyuk) … they saw 92.9% of his targets in Week 1. Purdy’s my favorite QB streamer of the week, but his limited ceiling has him settling in at QB15 this week in Los Angeles.
Matthew Stafford: It’s hard to throw for 334 yards in an upset win and not toss a TD pass.
But that’s exactly what Stafford did in a favorable spot against the Seahawks. And now, he gets a 49ers defense fresh off of beating the Steelers into the ground.
Without a bona fide pass catcher at his disposal or a reliable ground game, Stafford could be one of the five worst fantasy QBs in Week 2.
Running Backs
Christian McCaffrey: Just a casual 169 yards and a touchdown last week against the Steelers. Elijah Mitchell is a fine player but not one that is going to dent McCaffrey’s status as a fantasy God.
Elijah Mitchell: He got his hands on the ball just five times in the Week 1 blowout of Pittsburgh. If he isn’t going to hold standalone value in a spot like that, when is he? Hold him, but understand that Mitchell is nothing more than an insurance policy.
Cam Akers: Akers got a pity touchdown late in the game, and that, friends, is your full summary of things that went right for him last week in Seattle. When all was said and done, Akers’ 22 carries picked up 29 yards, with 12 of those coming on the fourth play from scrimmage.
If you’re a half-full-glass type of person, when Akers was on the field, the Rams made sure to get him the rock (touched the ball on 78.6% of his snaps).
But remember in the middle of last season when we weren’t sure the Rams were going to hold onto Akers? We aren’t there yet, and I’m not cutting him from fantasy rosters, but he’s firmly on fantasy benches until otherwise noted.
Kyren Williams: One of the premium adds after the first week of action, Williams out-snapped Akers 53-28 against the Seahawks. That’s not a snap share; that’s a featured role.
The problem, of course, is that the Rams aren’t going to score 30 points very often, and thus Williams’ sub-3.5 yards per carry is a problem.
Williams is my favorite RB in this backfield, but he ranks behind two other Williams and is outside of my top 30 at the position in this spot. Roster and hold.
Wide Receivers
Deebo Samuel: The rushing volume seems to be drying up, thus hurting Samuel’s floor. The ceiling remains, and his seven targets last week were a reminder of that. But with a low aDOT role, there’s more risk to this profile than those ranked around him.
I’m going to give the same analysis for the 49ers every single week. Play them until they break out, and then sell to the highest bidder. Brandon Aiyuk and Samuel are both WR2s for me in Week 2.
Brandon Aiyuk: Aiyuk is very much trending in the right direction, so I’m going to help you out. What I need you to do is screenshot the analysis below and send it with Aiyuk to a manager in your league to cash in.
Aiyuk was featured early and often in Week 1 against the Steelers. He finished off the first drive of the season with an eight-yard score and followed up with a gem of a 19-yard TD catch that came over Patrick Peterson.
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For the game, Aiyuk earned two more targets on four fewer rates than Samuel. He scored seven times in 12 games to end last season, and the momentum has carried over into 2023.
There you go. Kyle Soppe — man of the people.
This 49ers’ receiving corps is going to be a random number generator for Samuel, Aiyuk, and George Kittle on a week-to-week basis. Try to use the big games to your advantage to build a powerhouse team that carries a reliable weekly floor.
Cooper Kupp: Just a reminder … Kupp was placed on IR last weekend and will miss at least this game and two more with a hamstring injury. This situation could go several ways as the season progresses, but at the moment, all you can do is sit Kupp (ideally, your league has an IR slot) and wait.
The good news is that the Rams are taking a more cautious approach than first thought, so if/when he returns to the lineup, the hope is that he’s an instant lineup lock.
Van Jefferson: Nope. We thought Jefferson would assume the lead role with Kupp sidelined, but we thought wrong.
Jefferson turned five targets into 24 yards against the Seahawks, not exactly Kupp-in production in a plus-matchup that saw the Rams score 30 points. You’re never going to play Jefferson, so why hold onto him in a low-octane offense?
Puka Nacua: With 10 catches on 15 targets for 119 yards in his NFL debut, Nacua was the story of Week 1 and the most asked-about player in the PFN Discord. Nacua was just as impressive as the numbers suggest, but those numbers didn’t come against this 49ers defense and they didn’t come with a nagging injury.
I’m happy for you if you landed Nacua with your FAAB, but just because you spent to acquire him doesn’t mean you need to play him in this brutal spot. The rookie is not a top-40 receiver for me this week if he gives it a go: I’m starting exactly no one from this offense with confidence.
Wide Receivers to post 18+ PPR without a Touchdown in Week 1
Justin Jefferson
Chris Olave
Puka NacuaNacua had the MOST Targets by a Rookie in Week 1 EVER pic.twitter.com/QTK9Ysxlwu
— DynastyIM (@dynasty_im) September 14, 2023
Tutu Atwell: At 5’9” and 165 pounds, Atwell is facing an uphill battle when it comes to holding consistent fantasy value. Yes, his 6-119 line on eight targets last week was impressive, but I’d bet on that being his best game of this season.
I encourage you not to get caught up in the one-week sample and to be reasonable with your expectations for an undersized receiver in an offense with an implied total of under 20 points.
Tight Ends
George Kittle: The 49ers didn’t need Kittle to do anything, so we got a dud. It’s not the first time we’ve seen him uninvolved (19 yards), and it won’t be the last.
That said, it’s almost a guarantee that Kittle will break the slate at least twice this season. Maybe I’m oversimplifying it, but, like the receivers, you’re starting him every week and then selling him following his first big game.
Tyler Higbee: Remember seven days ago when we were deciding if Higbee would see 13 or 17 targets in a pass-heavy script against a bad defense with Kupp sidelined?
Life comes at you fast.
Higbee earned a pitiful 8.1% target share, and if not for an outlier 30-yarder, he would’ve been completely useless. With the volume no longer something we feel good about, Higbee shouldn’t be started in anything but 14+ team leagues.
Who Should You Start in Week 2?
Should You Start Puka Nacua or Drake London?
Nacua, if active, comes in a little higher than I am comfortable with in our PFN consensus rankings, but I still do think he is the right player in this spot. The rookie won’t repeat his debut, but 7-9 targets still feel reasonably safe and that’s all it takes to sell me in this head-to-head spot against a receiver whose team threw the ball 18 times in Week 1.
Should You Start Kyren Williams or Dalvin Cook?
Neither is a top-25 option for me this week, so hopefully you have better options on your FLEX radar. If backed into a corner, give me Dalvin Cook. I don’t think the Rams have much hope this week at keeping things close, whereas the Jets have a slim chance to compete if they can dominate on the ground like they did last week.
Breece Hall established himself as “the guy” in New York, though I am still skeptical about his ability to handle a featured workload.