2024 Fantasy Franchise Focus | The Los Angeles Rams

Intro it's hard to to know exactly what his role is going to be I mean at this time puka was kind of establishing himself as maybe a breakout guy especially with um cup getting hurt in Camp um but Jordan Whittington he's kind of that versatile like blocking receiver who does the dirty work and he can do some stuff on returns and um really just kind of be a versatile receiver not necessarily someone who's going to be a deep threat over the top or um or any type of specialist but um Cooper cup talked about it yesterday in his interview he he's been really impressed with Whittington and and Whittington ran with the ones yesterday at times and he made a catch against travius white in practice um on a throw for Matthew Stafford so that's kind of surprising to see him Rising that quickly what what why you shaking your head you're welcome [Music] the Rams lost perhaps the best defensive player of this Century to retirement but their veteran quarterback is still playing at the highest level around Matthew Stafford the Rams have some very productive fantasy players but does third round rookie running back Blake corm throw a wrench into Kiren Williams League winning potential and are you underrating LA's third wide receiver Demarcus Robinson USA today's cam D Silva gave me all kinds of insight into Shawn mcvey's boys my name is Joe Dolan like this video leave a comment and subscribe to the fantasy points YouTube channel for 32 fantasy football breakdowns of all 32 NFL teams this is the fantasy franchise Focus for the Los Angeles Rams so Cameron um obviously right here on this podcast last year this this YouTube series whatever you want to call it you kind of put us on to Kyren Williams Shawn McVey loves Kiren Williams loves them turns out Kiren Williams ends up being one of the single most valuable Assets in all of fantasy football last year and the Rams tend to get that out of their backfield whether it's been Todd Gurley Sony Michelle Daryl Henderson CJ Anderson like they they kind of go through cam Acres they go through these phases of guys being bcal running backs and then they kind of move on to the next one so Kiren Williams production last year dictates he basically should be a first round pick for Fantasy but he's not he's a third round pick because they drafted Blake corm what is your read on this back field this season should we still expect Kiren to be the guy or is Blake corm a significant threat to kyon's upside no I think kirn's still gonna be the guy um interestingly sea mcy has talked several times about how similar korm and and Kiren are as players and I mean you can see it when you watch them play they're kind of smaller backs still have some good power um plenty of of shiftiness and just kind of a nose for the End Zone but um with Blake being a similar player I think I think that almost bodess better for kirn than it would have been if they drafted like a third down Specialist or like a PowerBack or someone who has a completely different skill set where they're they have a plan to get him on the field in different ways than Kiren with Blake corm I think he's almost like an insurance policy for Kiren because Kiren has gotten hurt several times he broke his foot as a rookie sprained his ankle as a rookie um what was it his ankle again last year he h hurt his foot in OTAs this year broke his hand in the playoff loss to the Lions so he's not the most durable guy and they want someone who can just get plugged in when kyon's out and operate the same offense so um I still think kon's gonna be the guy as you mentioned sea McVey loves bcow he doesn't like to rotate these backs he likes to to ride the guy who's playing well and has established himself as a starter and we saw Daryl Henderson as a third round pick when he was a rookie with Todd Gurley still there and I mean he didn't really do much as a rookie so it's not like just because Blake is a third round pick he's guaranteed to have this this massive role uh behind kirn or that he's gonna unseat him um he might be more athletic or a little bit faster what have you but Kiron is established in this offense and sea McVey again like you said loves him I mean he's such a big fan of this guy so um obviously The Pick of Korum is not encouraging if you're a Kiren fan or you have him in Dynasty but I wouldn't worry too too much um as long as Kiren does stay healthy what's going on with Matthew Mathew Stafford’s Contract Stafford um with the contract I we're recording this by the way on July 26 so by the time you listen to this um we could get the full details out there but I believe Shawn McVey said he's complet he's agreed to a restructure do we know what that is at this point yeah he yeah we don't have the details yet but the deal is agreed to at least it's not necessarily put pen to paper I haven't seen any official numbers or anything like that um interestingly Matthew was not seemingly very excited when he was talking about it at his press conference this week just kind of like I'm happy to be here happy to play in football it was a good agreement yada y not super thrilled about it I don't know if that's just his nature or if it really wasn't a great uh deal for him but um yeah I mean it's agreed to what he wanted was security beond on the 2024 season he wanted some more guaranteed money to kind of ensure that the Rams were going to stick by him and I think that's an indication of him wanting to play longer than maybe some people expect him to um if you watched him last year there's no sign of him slowing down at all I mean he was as good as any quarterback I watched last year and even though the numbers don't show that he was just picking apart defenses throwing everywhere all over the field I mean obviously having Cooper cup and puka niua helps but um those guys I don't think would be the receivers that they are without Stafford so um Charles Robinson of Yahoo reported some details about the contract where he gets um more money this year up front and then it almost it lowers the cap hit for Stafford in 2025 if the Rams do move on or if he retires which is interesting because that sounds like the opposite of what Matthew wanted to accomplish um but we'll wait to see kind of what the full details are on that deal so um in terms of Matthew Stafford Mathew’s Yearly Contract Deal are are are you operating as somebody who covers the Rams as if this is a year-to-year proposition with Stafford and it's just he could be here next year he could decide that after this year it's it is that is that an accurate read I I think yeah to an extent because I I don't remember if it was McVey or sne kind of indicated that earlier this offseason but um like I mentioned he's playing so well and as long as he can stay healthy I mean the arm strength is still there he reads defenses well he he really cut down on the turnovers last year in a significant way I think he had 11 interceptions but didn't fumble the ball once not even just dropping the ball I mean he he didn't lose a fumble he didn't have any fumbles so he's really elevated himself in that way um this contract is kind of gonna give us an indication of how serious he and the Rams are about continuing Beyond 2024 because if Robinson's report is accurate and and they lowered the cap hit the dead money if he retires or if he gets cut that doesn't really give him any security for coming back next year but but um the Rams love having him as as their quarterback sea McVey loves him they're they're uh they're a great team essentially between him and him and McVey and Stafford and um I I personally can't see him going anywhere in 2025 but that's kind of dependent on a this contract and B how he plays this Cooper Kupp and Puca Nacua year so uh let's talk those receivers we obviously know cooper cooper cup is is an all-tim um had the Triple Crown a couple of years ago and pukan AA is an all great rookie like breaking all kinds of Records just from a fantasy perspective pukan Neu is a first round pick Co Cooper cup is going in like the third or fourth round do you think that's fair it's so hard to get a feel of what these guys are going to be when they're both healthy and playing all season together um when they were both playing last year I think the target split was pretty similar puka might have had like 10 more targets than Cooper um but cup was not healthy I mean he said last offseason he was just not healthy with the hamstring he started the year late and he just he just never got back to being himself and you could see him hobbling a little bit you McVey said earlier this offseason that people don't realize what he was battling through so I think we can almost kind of throw away last season as as any sort of sign of what's to come for cup I think he's going to be much healthier this offseason he's talked about it how good it feels to be fully healthy for an offseason program for the first time since 2021 um so he's kind of on the right track and uh we know how much Matthew Stafford loves him in the Red Zone they're they have such a good rapport where cup knows where the ball's going to be and and Stafford knows where cup is going to be so their Rapport in the red zone is is really really good better than what Stafford has with cup or U excuse me nakua um so I they're neck and neck to me honestly I I wouldn't separate them by two rounds like they're being separated right now Cooper Kupp’s issues personally so but then my question would be the the the issues that Cooper cup has had do we worry that they linger um he is getting older he just turned 31 in June um hey look I turned 38 two days ago and like I have my core is sore from coughing too much the last two weeks so I'm not trying to criticize the shape Cooper cup is in but he is playing professional football um do you worry that maybe these are long-term issues for him yeah it's just it's always something with him um he's had the ACL he's had ankle Springs he had the hamstring last year it just always seems like there's a little something nagging at him other than 2021 when he was healthy and he had a record setting season um I think a good handcuff if you are going to go with cup is is uh Demarcus Robinson he's their number three receiver and kind of getting slept on a little bit um so with cups concerns about durability a little bit if you can't get puka I think Demarcus Robinson is a good handcuff to have along with cup and um I I mean you never know how healthy a guy's going to stay puka was banged up a little bit last year even though he didn't miss a game he just plays such a physical style but um you just got to kind of hope that cup is over this little injury bug and and gets back to the way he was in Demarcus Robinson 2021 I want to talk a little bit more about Demarcus Robinson he's a guy who's bounced around the NFL I mean he's been on what four or five teams and never really we we saw flashes with him especially when he was with the Chiefs a couple of years ago but never really what we saw on a consistent basis the way he did with the Rams what did he give to this offense and what what why do you think Shawn McVey or is Shawn McVey kind of said uh uh anything about how they've unlocked his skill set yeah I don't I don't know specifically what it was cup talked about it yesterday he just thinks it took Demarcus a little bit of time in training camp and early in the season to kind of grasp the offense because it is such a such a unique scheme um but in the second half of the Year particularly like the last five or six games he emerged as their number three receiver and really played well um he's kind of sneaky fast he's got some downfield speed he can run a good route tree and his rapport with Stafford really improved throughout the year and um especially working over the middle like these dig routes and Slants and almost these like physical catches over the Middle where you're in traffic uh Stafford can really trust Robinson to make those plays and uh with so much attention being paid to cup in in puka um Demarcus kind of flies under the radar a little bit doesn't get double teamed he can play the ex receiver spot he can line up in the slot so they can do a few different things with him and um I I think he played really well at the end of last season the Rams liked him enough to bring him back and uh he's just kind of a glue guy in the locker room uh among those receivers and someone who's never missed the playoffs in his career so um he has experience in these big games too um obviously everybody wants to know Who is next year’s Puka Nacua? from the th fantasy guys who's who's next year's Cooper Cup right well the easy answer is there isn't one because he just broke every rookie receiving record there is but I have to ask because the Rams did draft a wide receiver in the sixth round and Jordan Whittington what does he bring what have you seen from him and have the coaches said anything about him yeah it's it's hard to to know exactly what his role is going to be I mean at this time puka was kind of establishing himself as maybe a breakout guy especially with um cup getting hurt in Camp um but Jordan Whittington he's kind of that versatile like blocking receiver who does the dirty work and he can do some stuff on returns and um really just kind of be a versatile receiver not necessarily someone who's going to be a deep threat over the top or um or any type of specialist but um Cooper cup talked about it yesterday in his interview he he's been really impressed with Whittington and and Whittington ran with the ones yesterday at times and he made a catch against travius white and practice um on a throw for Matthew Stafford so that's kind of surprising to see him Rising that quickly on only the second day of camp granted they do have puka and Cooper cup and Demarcus Robinson and two two outwell still there but um maybe Whittington has already overtaken 2 two kind of as that fourth receiver and and someone who might just be one injury away from being a starter because of how frequently the Rams use 11 personnel and always have three receivers on the Tutu Atwell field we saw tut2 out make more plays last year than he had before still just 24 years old it feels like he's been around since ozak was in a ram uniform um but at well do you think he's a guy who benefits and his roster status benefits from the fact that there's the new kickoff return rule this year yeah he talked about it um earlier this week that we're going to see him on kickoff returns I don't know if that's necessarily just in practice or if the Rams are committed to him as being their um kick returner but with it being more like an offensive play and you can get him in space a little bit and um it I mean it might benefit him and keep him on that roster even if he isn't one of those top three top four receivers on on the team um he's got to find a way to carve out a roll somehow which you don't exactly want to say about a second round pick in his fourth season but they got to find ways to kind of incorporate him and it it feels a little bit like Tavon Austin when McVey was there just kind of get him involved any way they can but um he just hasn't been able to carve out a role I mean he did some things last year when cup was injured but um just didn't stick around after cup came back and um we we'll see how he does this this season so um I'm this statement I'm about to make is gonna let you know how big a fantasy football sicko I am and it might tell have you convinced Colby Parkinson that I am absolutely nuts we have not named the LA Ram I have drafted the most for Fantasy Football yet I think I know his name is Colby Parkinson yeah I knew you were GNA say that and they they signed him to a three-year deal 22 and a half million obviously some of those numbers are phony fake numbers Tyler higgy tour his ACL in January I mean he's over 30 he might be for all we know Davis Allen is in his second year but they went out signed a guy in Parkinson who they saw two times a year across the field with Seattle am I nuts for he's a last round pick for Fantasy so I'm not I'm not like drafting him in the fifth round or anything am I nuts for investing in Colby Park no in the last round how many starters are you gonna find I mean he's G he's going to be a starting tight end unless Higby miraculously recovers from a torn ACL and MCL and in eight months um Parkinson is going to be the starting tight end and as much as Davis Allen has promise and potential as a seconde guy they don't really run two tight end sets very much they use 11 personnel with three receivers a running back and a tight end and Colby Parkinson is a big Target he's got a wide catch radius he can be a really good weapon for Stafford especially in the Red Zone um I he's a guy I really really like and he didn't do much in in Seattle kind of blocked by other guys on the on the depth chart at tight end but like you mentioned the Rams saw him twice a year their former offensive coordinator uh Shane Waldren was the OC in Seattle so um maybe some insight there about what type of player he can be and um I mean like I mentioned that late in the draft how many how many guys are you going to find their are legitimate starters in the NFL at a at tight end um so he's a guy I would certainly watch in the beginning of the season and and see how he does because we don't know when Hick's going to be back what's Davis Allen's skill set what does he need to work on just because I feel like that's the biggest threat to Parkinson having a role here yeah I mean unfortunately for Fantasy guys looking at Parkinson Allen is a better receiver than he is a blocker um he's got a a big catch radius as well just kind of like a big wiry frame and um he did get some playing time last year as a rookie and and played well and made some important catches and looked pretty agile on his feet after he did make catches and get into the open field um so that might be a threat to Parkinson a little bit Parkinson's a better blocker which you need your tight end to be especially an 11 personnel when you're going to be running the ball out of those um out of those packages but Allen is he's a promising young player who who has a a wide catch radius and and some good hands and um he could be a guy to to watch in the red zone as well um You' mentioned Kiren Williams injury history which is one of the reasons they certainly drafted Blake Corum um Blake horm has an injury history himself though of Boston Scott Ronnie rivers and Zack Evans who has the best shot to be the number three running back here I I would go with Ronnie Rivers um Boston Scott might be a guy to keep for the ramps to keep for the new kickoff rule he has some some return experience so he might be someone who can work on kickoff returns Ronnie Rivers is kind of a a little bit of a different back he's smaller but he's shiftier he's a good receiver Um Zack Evans I just he's a he's a fun player but the Rams just didn't trust him last year even after Kiren went down even after Ronnie Rivers went down they went out and signed darl Henderson who just did not look good and really didn't give Zack Evans any opportunities to to carry the ball so um I would go with Ronnie Rivers out of that group as being the third Aaron Donald back so um we I haven't talked a lot about defense on this because it doesn't really matter that much for Fantasy purposes but obviously the Rams just lost maybe the best defensive player of the 21st century uh to retirement in Aaron Donald could this unit give up a decent amount of points which would then indicate that they have to score more points to try to to to compete I mean replacing Aaron Donald is not easy uh what's your outlook for the defense yeah I mean it's there there's some questions about the defense especially without Donald like you mentioned um the pass rush is something that's going to need to improve and you have a lot of young guys Kobe Turner Byron young Jared verse um so those guys are going to have to step up up the secondary should be better um it just wasn't a great group last year with Aela Witherspoon and Darren Kendrick um they brought in Trey white they brought in Darius Williams so the secondary should be better against the past especially with with the teams that they're going to be facing this year um but it's not going to be the same without Aaron Donald I mean he draws double and triple teams all the time and the other guys around him are not going to have that luxury of getting one-on-one matchups all the time so um the defense could take a little bit of step back but I think overall the the whole group is collectively better than it was last season even without Donald uh offensive line injuries the last couple years have been a disaster for the Rams um they go out they make a couple of draft picks but day three guys the big addition is left guard Jonah Jackson do you think he's going to be somebody who can that this line can kind of coales around and make it a better unit than it has been in recent years yeah I mean the Rams don't get talked about a lot with their offensive line but I think it could be one of the better groups in the league um Steve Aila is moving from left guard to Center um because they did sign Jonah Jackson to play left guard which surprised me I mean I saw that news come down on free agency the first day and I was surprised by it um but I think collectively it's a really good group um really big big offensive lineman in the middle so um when you have a smaller back like Karen Williams you can almost get he can almost get lost behind those guys in the middle when they do run these inside zones and and up the- middle carries um aleric Jackson on at left tackle is a little bit of a question mark they brought him back on that one-year tender and then Rob havenstein at right tackle is a really solid underrated player in the league um so I I think it has the potential to be one of the better offensive lines in the league yeah Jonah Jackson by the way you mentioned how they have these big strong powerful guys inside Jonah Jackson 63 and 315 he's by far the smallest of the Interior I aila's a massive Center I mean he's going to be a big big guy in the middle which is different from the Rams have had yeah that's going to be fascinating to watch um but obviously Cameron D Silva is going to be watching and updating you on everything LA Rams in training camp the preseason and of course into the regular season he is the managing editor of the Rams wire with USA Today and you could follow him on Twitter at cam dilva Da Silva cam thank you so much for joining me go enjoy Rams training camp and we'll catch up with you soon thanks man I appreciate you having me on woo