Team Previews - Los Angeles Rams

Projected Starting Lineup

QB: Jared Goff RB: Todd Gurley WR: Brandin Cooks WR: Robert Woods WR: Cooper Kupp TE: Tyler Higbee

LT: Andrew Whitworth LG: Rodger Saffold C: John Sullivan RG: Jamon Brown RT: Rob Havenstein

Rams Offensive Profile Under Sean McVay 2017 Pass Attempts Rank: 24th 2017 Rush Attempts Rank: 9th 2017 Play Volume Rank: 20th 2017 Yards Per Play Rank: 6th Unaccounted for Air Yards from 2017 (Rank): 1,086 (17th) Unaccounted for Carries from 2017 (Rank): 70 (20th)

Sean McVay's average offensive production as an Offensive Coordinator in the NFL. (3 Seasons)

Passing: ATT COMP PCT YDS AVG YDS/G LONG TD TD% INT INT% SACK YDSL RATE

560 371 66.2 4422 7.9 264 84 28 4.9 10 1.8 26 194 99

Rushing: ATT YDS AVG LONG 20+ TD YDS/G FUM FUML 1DN

421 1738 4.2 57 11 14 109 9 4 89

Receiving: REC TAR YDS AVG TD LONG 20+ YDS/G FUM FUML YAC 1DN

371 560 4422 12 28 84 60 276 5 3 1929 206

Quarterback-

It's a miracle what coaching can do. First year quarterback Jared Goff with Jeff Fisher was looking like another massive 1st round bust. Bring in the best young offensive mind in football and he looks like he can play quarterback some. Goff's mental game is well below average, just ask him where the sunsets. When you race to the line of scrimmage and allow your OC (McVay) to tell you what play to check to, you can start moving the football. The Rams offense is once again loaded with talent and a brilliant play-caller. They substituted the brain-dead Sammy Watkins for one of the best young speedsters in the game Brandin Cooks. The offense should be even better in McVay's second year, and one that I will want plenty of shares in come this fantasy football season. Goff completed 62.1% of his passes for 3,804 yards and 28 touchdowns. McVay's average offensive production at quarterback as an OC (66.2% 4,422 28). Yes there is room to grow for Goff, however his 5.9% TD rate will drop. Goff's production was done so with the 24th most pass attempts in the league. With a Defense that added a ton on talent and returns Wade Phillips, there will not be many games in which the Rams will need to come from behind and throw the football. That is the main reason Goff stays a backend QB2 for me and why I will not be drafting him in any leagues this season.

Wide Receivers-

It usually isn't too tough to run projections for a position group, but the Rams wide receivers make it almost impossible. All three of there receivers could lead the team in targets, catches, and touchdowns.

Let's start with McVay's new toy Brandin Cooks. He was traded for this offseason and is coming off of three straight 1,050-plus-yard seasons. Having eclipsed 110-plus targets in three straight years, it will be interesting if he can make it a fourth. Not a single Rams receiver was targeted more than 95 times last season although Woods was on pace for 113 having only played in 12 games. I currently think Cooks will be targeted slightly over 100 times this season but with two other quality receivers in the lineup with him, his opportunities will be cannibalized. I currently see him as a WR2/3 and would not look to take him at his current ADP of 43.

Robert Woods looks to improve upon his career year last year. Catching 56 of 85 targets for 781 yards and 5 touchdowns in only 12 games, Woods was the favorite target of Goff last season. He played on 89.9% of plays last season and saw a target share of 22.5% which is WR1 territory. The addition of Cooks will hurt his target share, but Wood should still see close to 100 targets and provide you with a consistent WR3 player in the mid-part of your draft.

The third member of this elite trio is probably the one with the highest TD upside. Cooper Kupp led the team in targets (94), receiving yards (869) and red-zone targets (23). The Rams used three-receiver sets "11 personnel" a league high 81% of the time. This is great news for Kupp owners as works a ton out of the slot (54.8%) while playing on (85.4%) of team pass plays. The Rams face a ton of great cover corners this year which should lead to more targets for Kupp and less for Woods, Cooks. It starts with Patrick Peterson (2x), Darius Slay, Marshon Lattimore, Casey Hayward, Xavier Rhodes to name a few. While I think he finishes as the third most targeted receiver if Woods stays healthy, he should lead the team in red-zone targets and touchdowns. With an ADP of 93, I will be looking to add Kupp to my fantasy rosters.

Tight End-

Tyler Higbee will see the majority of the snaps at tight end as he is a much better blocker than Gerald Everett. The ability of Everett is off the charts, but with his inability to block he likely will not see the passing game volume needed to be a fantasy target. Higbee was only targeted 45 times and only ran a route on 48.7% of team passing plays. With three very good receivers, it would be hard to see Everett on the field for more than 40% of team plays as he only played 33.4% of team snaps last year. If Everett can become a much improved blocker he has breakout potential all over him. I think we still might be a few years away from that but just love the upside of Everett in the passing game. Running Back- No introduction needed here, Todd Gurley lead all non-quarterback fantasy players in points last season. Gurley carried the ball 279 yards for 1,305 (4.7ypc) 13 rushing touchdowns to go alone with 64 receptions for 788 yards and 6 more receiving touchdowns. If Jeff Fisher wanted to know why he is no longer coaching, go back and see Gurley sitting on the bench on 3rd downs while Benny freaking Cunningham was in the game. Gurley is a true work-horse back and is the top pick in the draft for me this season. With all five offensive line starters returning and McVay calling plays, you really do not need to question taking Gurley in any draft if you're lucky enough to have the opportunity. I expect the defense to be very good this season and a ton of opportunity to be given to Gurley when the Rams are trying to run out the clock.

Well with Gurley playing pretty much every single down we will take a look at handcuff options should something awful happen to Gurley. The Rams selected John Kelly in the 6th round this season to go along with Malcom Brown. I think Kelly is a tremendous NFL late round talent and think he will have an impact before his career is done. The rookie out of Tennessee is well-built at (5'10/215). He has good vision and great balance who is also very capable in the passing game (37) catches in his only season as the lead back. The Vols offensive line was abysmal last season, Kelly truly did make something out of nothing. He kept the Vols in the game down in the swamp vs Florida with 19 carries for 141 yards adding 6 catches for 96 yards clearly showing that he was the best player on the field. I will be taking Kelly as a lottery ticket in all drafts this season, as he has RB1 upside should Gurley go down. 2018 Vegas Win Total The Rams’ Win Total opened at 9.5. With the off-season acquisitions of Marcus Peters, Aqib Talib, Sam Shields, Ndamukong Suh and Brandin Cooks, the Rams clearly won the off-season. After an 11-5 season with a first year NFL coach it would be stunning if they did not win the division and win more than 10 games this season with a better roster. They will have to face the very difficult NFC North and improved AFC West this season which makes it a difficult road to 10 wins. This team is going one of two ways, 12+ wins and Super Bowl contender or a dreadful 4-12 type season with all of the difficult personalities that they acquired. I am on the positive side of things though and will gladly bet the over 9.5 wins this season.