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It’s difficult to make a name for yourself when you play in the best division in football, alongside arguably the two best teams in the league. The St.Louis Rams finished with a record of 7-9 in 2013, but flew under the radar a bit, giving teams fits seemingly all season long. Their defensive unit is one of the top-10 in football, especially the defensive front. But what about the offense? One of the youngest in the NFL, there are plenty of question marks with this unit.
Let’s break down the fantasy implications.
Depth Chart
Quarterback
Regarded as a bust thus far in his career, former first round pick Sam Bradford actually started off the 2013 campaign in strong fashion. He averaged more fantasy points per game than the likes of Colin Kaepernick, Russell Wilson, Matt Ryan and Tom Brady during the first seven games of the season, while sporting a career-high 60.7 completion percentage, to go along with a career-high 90.9 passer rating. During that span, he had four top-12 fantasy finishes, making him a QB1 almost halfway through the season.
This was all very, very quietly, of course.
Using the RotoViz Game Splits App, I looked at Bradford’s fantasy production during those seven games.
Bradford was actually really good to start the season, but a torn ACL ended his season early, and the Rams offense transitioned to a run-oriented offense. Bradford has shown flashes, but injury concerns are legitimate, as he’s missed nearly 25 percent of his career games already. Many people are calling him a sleeper, and I don’t mind it, but he plays in the toughest division in football, has one of the worst receiving corps in the league and, according to Pro Football Focus, has averaged just 0.39 and 0.27 fantasy points per dropback over the last two years, nearly the lowest among qualified passers during that span. Draft him in two-quarterback leagues, maybe stream him in a solid matchup, but other than that, I’ll respectfully decline.
Quarterback is too deep.
Running Back
You may think you love Zac Stacy more than me, but you’re wrong.
You just are.
This time last year, I pegged Stacy as the guy who would emerge out of the Rams backfield, while posting a similar breakout fantasy campaign to that of Alfred Morris’ from 2012. Through the first four weeks, Stacy struggled to get onto the field, but once he did, he was nearly impossible to get off. Since taking over the job in Week 5, Stacy averaged more than 20 carries per game, ultimately finishing with 250 carries, the 11th-most in the league, despite not starting the first four weeks of the season. He’s a true workhorse and was incredibly productive and safe for fantasy owners last year.
There were only two weeks as the starter where Stacy didn’t finish as at least a running back two for fantasy owners, while he posted six games as a top-12 fantasy back. During the same span, only six running backs accumulated more rushing yards than the Vanderbilt product. He was incredible, and while many are worried about the presence of another rookie running back, I’m not sold.
Head coach Jeff Fisher loves Stacy, as well as running the football. He recently stated that he envisions Stacy as a 70 percent of the workload type of back, and it’s also telling that this was the first time in Fisher’s coaching tenure that he used a first round pick on an offensive lineman (Greg Robinson), perhaps showing he wants to provide more protection and help for his starting back. Sure, is Tre Mason a talented back? Of course. He may actually be more talented than Stacy. But he’s not a better back. Mason may take five to eight carries a game away from Stacy, but Zac will get the touches where it counts the most. Last year, six of his touchdowns came from inside the five-yard line, and while many may consider him strictly a volume back, if that volume is going to be there, what’s the issue?
Fisher and Brian Schottenheimer both want to run the football. Schotty was the offensive coordinator for the ground-and-pound Jets from 2006-2011, and during those seasons, the Jets ranked 10th, 12th, 18th, 1st, 2nd and 17th in rushing attempts. Meanwhile, Fisher already stated he wants to pound the rock, and has a history of doing such.
Stacy should still be considered a low-end RB1 in my book, and if his value continues to fall, the better.
Wide Receiver
It’s difficult to ignore speed, and this Rams receiving corp has plenty of it.
First, there’s sophomore Tavon Austin, who’s 4.34 speed is elite. But his fantasy reliability is not, as he had a stretch of three games where he posted over 60 fantasy points, but had less than 20 in all other games. Austin is incredibly talented, but he’s the prototypical type of player I would rarely own in fantasy football. If he doesn’t break the long play, he likely won’t find the end zone very often, and I don’t see the targets consistently being there. Draft him in the later rounds and hope he hits in a big way.
There also may be some deeper intrigue with Kenny Britt, who will be reunited with his former head coach from his Titan days. Britt has had a troubled career thus far, but a rejuvenation is possible, though not something you’d want to invest in. However, he does have upside, as his 4.8 vertical fantasy points per game ranked 27th in the NFL over the course of his first four seasons, according to ESPN.
This receiving corp stinks, folks.
Tight End
Trolled.
During his first year with the Rams, Jared Cook absolutely trolled us all. After a monstrous first game against the Cardinals, who eventually finished as the worst defense at defending the tight end, Cook accumulated 24 fantasy points in his first outing, while scoring just 64 during the final 15 games. He has serious speed, but he has difficulty creating separation, and his hands are below average. Some might fall back into the Cook trap, seeing that he still caught over 50 balls and had 83 targets, but there are much better options at the tight end position.
Adam Pfeifer is a lead fantasy sports writer for Rant Sports. You can follow him on Twitter @aPfeiferRS.
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