The fantasy football landscape shifts each week, bringing fresh opportunities and unexpected challenges that separate the prepared from the pretenders. Savvy managers know that last week’s performance tells only part of the story, and diving deeper into the underlying metrics reveals the accurate picture.
This week presents some intriguing decisions. Here’s insight about key Los Angeles Rams players heading into their matchup with the Arizona Cardinals to help you craft a winning lineup.
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Matthew Stafford, QB
Shake it off and move on.
Matthew Stafford threw an end zone interception early against the Panthers and followed it up with a Pick-6 on the next drive. Yes, that means he had as many picks in the first quarter on Sunday as he had in the first three months of 2025.
Yikes.
He would later add in a lost fumble for good measure.
Take a step back and think about what you’re complaining about. Back in August, we weren’t sure if Stafford was going to play because of the back injury. And now, one bad week after months of dominance (six top-8 finishes), and we are let down?
It’s a blip on the radar. He still got his two short-range TDs to Davante Adams and threw one-third of his passes to Puka Nacua. He’s as reliable a pocket-locked QB as we have in the game and a true MVP front-runner.
None of that has changed, and I expect his video game numbers to return this weekend against a Cardinals defense that has allowed a touchdown on 27.7% of drives over the past month, the sixth-highest rate.
Blake Corum, RB
Blake Corum ran hard for a two-yard score last week, a touchdown he earned with a second effort.
That was the most valuable carry of the best day of his pro career (81 rush yards against the Panthers), but it was a third straight game with under 10 touches. Until Kyren Williams gives the Rams a reason to lengthen the leash of his backup, Los Angeles has shown no interest in doing so.
Week 13 Participation Data
Corum: 33.3% snaps, 8 routes, 7 touches (2 red zone)
Williams: 66.7% snaps, 16 routes, 13 touches (5 red zone)
In essence, Corum is Tyler Allgeier, but without the TD vulture portion of that role, which is consistent.
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He’s rosterable because of where his value would sit if something were to happen to Williams, not because he’s in the flex conversation in this backfield as it currently stands.
Kyren Williams, RB
Williams was banged up in the second quarter last week, and that paved the way for a Corum score, but he did return and got a score of his own after Nacua made one of the best catches you’ll see.
First Half Usage Splits at Panthers
Kyren Williams: 17 snaps, 7 touches (3 in the red zone)
Corum: 15 snaps, 5 touches (2 in the red zone)
That split wasn’t all the result of the injury. I don’t think Sean McVay is looking for a committee, but he is a forward-thinking coach, and taking some of the wear-and-tear off of his RB1 is a logical desire (four straight games with under 15 carries)
Without consistent involvement in the passing game (eight catches in the two months following his eight-catch game against the 49ers), Williams relies more on touchdowns than I think most want to admit.
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In the past, that hasn’t been an issue, but the presence of Adams certainly introduces week-to-week risk in this Williams profile. We can worry about that over the next two weeks (Lions and Seahawks) more than we can about this zone (Cardinals: fifth-worst rush defense after contact).
We saw Williams used like a bellcow in the second half last week, despite the success of Corum (17-2 snap edge with all of the routes and red zone touches for the position), and that has me ranking him as a low-end RB1 in this plus-matchup.
Davante Adams, WR
Adams is battling a minor hamstring injury, and maybe that lowers his ability to elevate on touchdown celebrations. Still, I’m otherwise not worried until the coaching staff gives me reason to be.
We are witnessing one of the most unique seasons by a receiver in recent memory, and there are no signs of it slowing down.
The play designs and single coverage situations that present themselves in tight are elite. Still, his ability to uncover and connect with Stafford in a scramble drill for a seven-yard score last week was just another way for him to leverage his savvy.
Adams now sits alone in the seven-spot for career touchdown receptions after passing Antonio Gates last weekend and is as reliable an option in close as I can remember.
Puka Nacua, WR
Adams scores twice, and Stafford plays his worst game of the season.
That was the Week 13 runout for the Rams, a combination of events that allowed Nacua to bust, but he still caught six passes for 72 yards. With everything working against him, he finishes the week with more PPR points than Justin Jefferson, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, and DK Metcalf.
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Combined.
He made one of the catches of the year with a back-handed stab down the field, just a reminder of the talent he has access to. Shake off the inefficient outing (66.7% catch rate, down from the 81.6% figure he entered the week with) and be thrilled that you have one of the few stars who has as high a floor, when healthy, as any player in the sport.