You can watch Thursday Night Football: Rams vs. Vikings at 8:20 p.m. ET/5:20 p.m. PT on Amazon Prime Video.
There’ve been a lot of rumors of late involving the Rams and Vikings. The Rams are supposedly shopping Cooper Kupp. The Vikings are supposedly trying to trade Sam Darnold to the Rams for Matthew Stafford.
So, it’s ideal for these two NFC teams to be squaring off on Thursday Night Football in Week 8. Let’s go to the tale of the tape.
Cooper Kupp is back — what can we expect?
Wayyyy back in Week 1, Cooper Kupp looked like the steal of fantasy drafts the world over. While everyone was contemplating his injury history and his age-related regression, Kupp started the year off with a 25-fantasy-point outburst.
He looked well on his way to doing the same in Week 2 before suffering an ankle injury that would sideline him for the next six weeks (Rams had a bye in Week 6). But he’s back practicing in full and is expected to start tonight. Fantasy managers are undoubtedly relishing plugging him onto their starting lineups like Thanos with the time stone. The question is, will Kupp slide right back into otherworldly volume?
Well, let’s go back in time. Kupp missed two games in 2018 with a sprained MCL. He posted a 6-5-89-1 statline in his first game back. He was third in targets and second in catches behind Robert Woods and Brandin Cooks, respectively. Kupp would go on to suffer a torn ACL later that season.
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Now, with Puka Nacua on the shelf, the Rams’ receiving corps isn’t as strong as It was in 2018. Kupp’s involvement will be a necessity if the Rams have any chance against this high-flying Vikings offense. But we can’t be sure he won’t be used sparingly, as his ankle injury was much more serious than that MCL sprain in 2018 that cost him two games. For all we know, Kupp will be out there running decoy routes to help open things up for Tutu Atwell (more on him shortly), Demarcus Robinson and Colby Parkinson.
Or, Stafford will target Kupp off the bus and he’ll end up with something like 13-9-106-1.
TL;DR — you’re starting Kupp unless you have an embarrassment of riches at WR in your fantasy lineup, and you’re hoping he’s fully healthy and running wide-open crossing routes like he always does.
Will Kyren Williams make it 10 consecutive games with a TD?
Remember when everyone was talking up Blake Corum, saying he’d eat into Kyren Williams’ workload and eventually supplant him? We convinced ourselves that Sean McVay was looking to cut bait on Williams the moment he had someone who showed anything in the ground game.
That seems like a million years ago.
Since then, all Williams has done is show a preternatural magnetism for the end zone. He’s fourth in half-PPR RB scoring, and he’s tied with Derrick Henry for the most rushing touchdowns in the league (8). For what it’s worth, Williams also has a touchdown through the air.
Now, a couple of weeks ago, I might’ve said that this would be the matchup Williams’ touchdown streak ends. But after what Jahmyr Gibbs just did to them, I feel good about Williams making this 11 straight games. Sure, the Lions’ offensive line is lightyears better than the Rams’ and I think we can all agree that Gibbs is a better overall back than Williams, especially in the efficiency department.
But we can also all agree that a football maniac like McVay was likely watching the Lions’ Week 7 game plan closely. And considering Kevin O’Connell comes from the McVay coaching tree, I would not be surprised to see some run-game wrinkles shown by McVay in this game, especially with Cooper Kupp demanding defensive attention. And remember, Williams almost never leaves the field — he’s third among starting RBs in overall snap-count percentage this season — so even if the Rams fall behind, Williams will be out there for the comeback attempt.
This could be Aaron Jones’ best game of 2024
Aaron Jones looks like he’s going to go down as one of the best value picks of 2024, an RB1 on an elite offense who was drafted in the late fourth/early fifth rounds of drafts. The hesitance was understandable; the Vikings had quarterback questions, and Jones will turn 30 in December and has missed time with injuries throughout his career. He’s currently 13th on the overall RB leaderboard (half-PPR).
I’ll keep this one short and sweet: the Rams have been absolutely destroyed by opposing running backs this season. That’s not hyperbole; both Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery scored on them in Week 1. James Conner dropped 122 rushing yards and a score on them in Week 2. Jordan Mason rushed for 77 yards against them in Week 3. D’Andre Swift demolished them both through the air and on the ground in Week 4. Jones’ old team, the Green Bay Packers defeated the Rams in Week 5 with help from Josh Jacobs, who scored and rushed for 73 yards against them. The bye week didn’t help either; even in a victory over the Raiders, the Rams allowed 123 total yards to Alexander Mattison.
You can make the argument that the Vikings are the best overall offense the Rams have faced since the Lions in Week 1. Jones has overall RB1 upside this week.
Pickup and start: Tutu Atwell (13% rostered)
Very quietly, Tutu Atwell has led the Rams in targets in the absence of Kupp and Nacua. With Kupp back and expected to be at full health this week, Atwell returns to being a secondary target for Stafford.
But that’s the intriguing part.
The Rams’ offense has long been one of the few units that can support two fantasy-viable wide receivers. McVay’s system is super-friendly to wideouts. With Kupp back out there running around, the field will be opened up for another receiver to step up. And as potent a scoring threat as Kyren Williams has been, the Rams will need to throw to make this a competitive game, and the Vikings’ blitz-heavy defense has been bleeding production to receivers of late. With Jordan Whittington ruled out and Puka Nacua not a lock to play Thursday night (and if he is, he could be fairly limited in his return from injury), Atwell is firmly on the flex radar.
