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2020 Recap
Division: NFC West
2020 Finish: 10-6 (2nd in NFC West)
2020 Tendencies:
- Passing Ratio: 56% (26th)
- Neutral Game Script: 58% (16th)
- Offensive Scheme: West Coast
Personnel Groupings:
- 11 Personnel (1RB, 1TE, 3WR) = 65%
- 12 Personnel (1RB, 2TE, 2WR) = 29%
- 13 Personnel (1RB, 3TE, 1WR) = 5%
Coaching Room
Head Coach: Sean McVay
Sean McVay was the youngest head coach ever hired in the NFL, he was the youngest head coach to ever make it to the Super Bowl, and now he hopes to be the youngest head coach to ever WIN a Super Bowl. For the latter to happen, he would have to win the Super Bowl in 2021 and that is exactly what the game plan is entering his fifth season as the head coach of the Los Angeles Rams. McVay has a career record of 46-24 (including playoffs) and is considered one of the greatest offensive minds in the league. At the age of 35, he has led this team to the playoffs in three out of four seasons, won two NFC West Division titles, and played in a Super Bowl. We already know the defense is special with guys like Aaron Donald and Jalen Ramsey, but what will McVay’s offense look like in 2021? Sean McVay runs an offense that believes in running the football and building play-action concepts off the run game. The Rams have led the NFL in play action percentage since 2017 at 32.5% and consistently have finished in the top ten in run rate. What he doesn’t do a ton of is straight drop back concepts, but will that change with Matthew Stafford and the injury to Cam Akers? I don’t think it does and I believe that Matthew Stafford is a big upgrade over Jared Goff and will excel with weapons like Robert Woods, Cooper Kupp, and Tyler Higbee in this offense. Stafford brings a cannon to Los Angeles that will allow this offense to stretch the field a little more and attack defenses both over the middle and outside the numbers. Cam Akers was a huge loss in the run game so Darrell Henderson, Xavier Jones, and Jacob Funk will need to step up and play a pivotal role if this team is going to make a deep run in the playoffs.
Overall Rank: 5th/32
OL Room
LT Andrew Whitworth – PFF 86.8, Pass Blocking 84.7, Run Blocking 84.0
Andrew Whitworth is still going strong entering his 16th year in the NFL after being drafted in the 2nd round of the 2006 NFL Draft out of LSU. Whitworth is a four-time Pro Bowl selection and two-time First-Team All-Pro that just keeps coming back. He graded as the 6th best tackle in Overall PFF Grade, eighth in Pass Block Grade, and 8th in Run Block Grade in 2020, but he did miss seven games due to a knee injury. All reports indicate that he is fully recovered and ready to go for the start of training camp.
LG David Edwards – PFF 70.5, Pass Blocking 64.4, Run Blocking 68.8
David Edwards showed a lot of improvement in his second season in the NFL grading inside the top 20% in Overall PFF Grade and increasing his score by almost a full ten points from his rookie season. He allowed three sacks, six hits, and 22 total pressures in 605 pass-block snaps while being penalized only one time. He’s steady in both the run and pass game and should continue to improve heading into year three.
C Austin Corbett – PFF 70.9, Pass Blocking 60.0, Run Blocking 73.4
Austin Corbett played 1102 snaps in 2020 at right guard and will be making the transition to center after the departure of Austin Blythe. Corbett had his breakout season in 2020 ranking 11th in Overall PFF Grade and smashing his 2019 grade by over 21 points. Corbett was drafted by the Cleveland Browns in the second round of the 2018 NFL Draft, but after struggling in his rookie season and through his second season, the Browns traded him to the Rams where he has started 23 of 24 games including all 16 in 2020. He has now played all three interior positions on the offensive line and appears to have found his permanent spot at center.
RG Bobby Evans – PFF 49.4, Pass Blocking 52.8, Run Blocking 42.3
Bobby Evans was a third-round draft pick out of Oklahoma in the 2019 NFL Draft. He has not graded well in a limited number of snaps over the last two seasons scoring a 49.4 Overall PFF Grade in 2019 and a 43.6 in 2020 while only playing in 14 games during that time. The Rams will be counting on Evans to have a breakout season in 2021.
RT Rob Havenstein – PFF 80.6, Pass Blocking 70.4, Run Blocking 83.9
Rob Havenstein was a second-round draft pick out of Wisconsin in the 2015 NFL Draft. In his six seasons in the NFL, Havenstein has started 84 games including all 16 in 2020. He had his second best Overall PFF Grade in 2020 and was ninth in Run Block Grade. The Rams are counting on him to have a very good year in 2021.
New Toys: N/A
Old News: Austin Blythe (16/16)
Overall Rank: 6th/32
QB Room
Matthew Stafford (QB14)
Matthew Stafford, by the numbers, has had a great career throwing for over 45,000 yards and 282 touchdowns, but there is more talk about how he’s only played in three playoff games and holds an 0-3 record in those games. The Detroit Lions are one of the worst franchises in professional sports history and we have seen players like Barry Sanders and Calvin Johnson retire early and now Matthew Stafford finally gets out and joins one of the best play-callers in the NFL in Sean McVay. Stafford could reach career highs in completion percentage (67.2%), passing yards (5038), and touchdowns (41) in 2021 and that’s saying something for a guy that has already thrown for over 5,000 yards and 40 touchdowns in a single season. Stafford can attack every area of the field and in a heavy play-action offense we should see more explosive plays in 2021.
Fantasy Outlook
Passing: 620 attempts, 67.8%, 4924 yards, 36 touchdowns
Rushing: 39 attempts, 140 yards, 1 touchdown
Total Fantasy Points: 345.0
New Toys: Devlin Hodges
Old News: Jared Goff (15/15), Blake Bortles
Position Fantasy Rank: 15th/32
RB Room
Darrell Henderson (RB26)
Darrell Henderson is entering his third season in the NFL and after struggling to get consistent touches in his rookie season, he bounced back with a solid second season in 2020. He finished with 138 carries for 624 yards and five touchdowns in the rushing game to go along with 16 receptions for 159 yards and a touchdown in the passing game. The Rams, it appeared, were showing confidence in Darrell Henderson by not bringing in any free agents to compete for his job, but that has all changed now with the trade to acquire Sony Michel. This is now an open competition for touches as we move into the start of the 2021 season, but I still expect Henderson to play the lead role more often that not.
Fantasy Outlook
Rushing: 219 attempts, 987 yards, 6 touchdowns
Receiving: 43 targets, 30 receptions, 216 yards, 2 touchdowns
Total Fantasy Points: 198.7
Sony Michel (RB43)
Sony Michel arrives in Los Angeles via trade with the New England Patriots and will immediately bring some veteran experience and a winning mindset to the Rams. With the loss of Cam Akers for the 2021 season and Darrell Henderson battling a thumb injury, Michel should provide an immediate return on investment in Los Angeles. He missed 7 games in 2020 but over 9 games averaged 5.7 yards per carry with 79 carries for 449 yards and a touchdown. In 2019, he finished with 247 carries for 912 yards and seven touchdowns and has averaged over 14 carries/game throughout his career. Michel has never been much of a receiving threat with only 26 receptions in 3 years thanks to James White so do not expect much volume there. He makes for a very solid addition in a backfield that very much needed it entering the 2021 season.
Fantasy Outlook
Rushing: 141 attempts, 636 yards, 6 touchdowns
Receiving: 25 targets, 16 receptions, 147 yards, 0 touchdowns
Total Fantasy Points: 130.4
New Toys: Jacob Funk
Old News: Malcolm Brown (16/0)
Position Fantasy Rank: 20th/32
WR Room
Robert Woods (WR13)
Robert Woods has thrived in the Rams offense after spending his first four years in the NFL with the Buffalo Bills. Over the last three season he is averaging 133 targets, 89 receptions, 1096 yards, and 4.7 touchdowns. Woods saw a decrease in his ADOT (average depth of target) in each of the last three seasons as the Rams have used him more in the screen game, but with Stafford at quarterback we should see that number improve. Woods has finished over 1000 yards receiving in two of the last three seasons and we could see a new career high in 2021.
Fantasy Outlook
Receiving: 137 targets, 93 receptions, 1207 yards, 9 touchdowns
Rushing: 15 attempts, 99 yards, 1 touchdown
Total Fantasy Points: 283.4
Cooper Kupp (WR19)
Cooper Kupp is one of the best in the NFL at creating yards after the catch after finishing third in 2020 with 507 yards and fourth in 2019 with 525 yards. Kupp should be the security blanket for Stafford in this offense as he excels in running away from defenders and in the short to intermediate areas of the field. Kupp only saw eight deep targets in 2020 with Jared Goff and only one was catchable, but that should change with Stafford.
Fantasy Outlook
Receiving: 143 targets, 100 receptions, 1219 yards, 7 touchdowns
Total Fantasy Points: 263.8
DeSean Jackson (WR85)
DeSean Jackson is the definition of a deep threat in the NFL. He has led the league in yards per reception four times and has a career average of 17.4 with 612 career receptions and 56 touchdowns. The issue with DeSean Jackson has always been his inability to stay healthy. Jackson has missed 24 games over the last two seasons and has only played a full slate of games twice in his career. He has never hit double digits in touchdowns or had more than 82 receptions in a single season. His role is clearly defined in this offense.
Fantasy Outlook
Receiving: 50 targets, 30 receptions, 524 yards, 5 touchdowns
Total Fantasy Points: 112.2
New Toys: Tutu Atwell
Old News: Josh Reynolds (16/13)
Position Fantasy Rank: 3rd/32
TE Room
Tyler Higbee (TE19)
Tyler Higbee could be the biggest benefactor with the change at quarterback and Gerald Everett no longer on the roster. Higbee was great at the end of the 2019 season with five games over 67 yards with Gerald Everett out, but he has only had six such games during his career. The Rams did add Jacob Harris through the draft and return Brycen Hopkins who has yet to catch an NFL pass. The emergence of Jacob Harris in camp and his unique skill set will give him opportunities to take touches away from Higbee who just doesn’t have the same upside.
Fantasy Outlook
Receiving: 74 targets, 52 receptions, 594 yards, 5 touchdowns
Total Fantasy Points: 141.5
Jacob Harris (TE38)
Jacob Harris was selected in the fourth round of the 2021 NFL Draft after spending three years at the University of Central Florida. He is a wide receiver that the Rams will convert to TE and use in the slot with Higbee as the inline TE in multiple tight end packages. Harris finished his time at UCF with 49 receptions for 987 yards and 9 touchdowns with a career average of 20.1 yards per reception. Harris was very impressive at his Pro Day finishing in the 99th percentile or better in the 40-Yard Dash (4.48), Burst Score (137.4), Agility Score (10.82), and Catch Radius (10.59). Harris was very impressive in camp and will look to make a splash in the preseason on a team that used 12 personnel 29% of the time.
Fantasy Outlook
Receiving: 37 targets, 24 receptions, 257 yards, 3 touchdowns
Total Fantasy Points: 67.8
New Toys: Jacob Harris
Old News: Gerald Everett (16/7)
Position Fantasy Rank: 12th/32
2021 Full Player Projections
Make Your Own Projections With Our Template!
Strength of Schedule (SOS): #12 (.504 129-127)
2021 Predicted Finish: 12-5 (1st NFC West)
Note: all projections are PPR scoring
