Davante Adams definitely wants to see Matthew Stafford (back) return to practice sooner rather than later. That’s because Adams doesn’t have a great history with Rams backup quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo.
The two were together with the Raiders in 2023, and Adams had a frustrating experience when Garoppolo was the quarterback to say the least. Adams was featured on the Netflix series “Receiver,” and he offered this commentary on the situation during that time.
“I gotta get the f— out of here before I lose my f—ing life,” Adams said. “I ain’t never been hit this many f—ing times in my career. Every game, I get f—ed up.”
Adams also agreed that Garoppolo should be benched in favor of Aidan O’Connell during that season.
“Well, my opinion on that was that I signed off on that, and that’s just the reality of it,” Adams said.
The two are reportedly fine now — Garoppolo said he was “pumped” to be reunited with Adams in Los Angeles — and that’s important. There’s a chance Garoppolo could start some games if Stafford’s back injury lingers into the season.
On Saturday, Rams coach Sean McVay stated that Stafford is week-to-week with the back injury he has been dealing with since the start of training camp. He was expected to return Monday, but the Rams want to be cautious and make sure Stafford is ready for Week 1.
“He’s still good,” McVay said via the NFL Network. “Rushing him back, where you could potentially have an unnecessary setback, you know, doesn’t make sense.”
For now, we’re not going to panic on the Rams skill players. Stafford was always a late-round pick in deep, one-quarterback leagues, and he’s a mid-round selection in Superflex and two-quarterback formats.
The addition of Adams is a plus for Stafford, but he only averaged 15.9 Fantasy points per game in 2024 and hasn’t been above 19.4 Fantasy points for the past three seasons. He’s a backup in one-quarterback leagues coming into the season and nothing more, especially since he’s 37 and now banged up.
Puka Nacua is worth drafting in Round 1, and he should still be the No. 1 receiver for the Rams. He averaged at least 17.6 PPR points per game in each of his first two seasons, and I’m not worried about his production if Stafford is healthy, even with the addition of Adams.
Adams is worth drafting in Round 3 as a high-end No. 2 receiver in all leagues. The biggest concern for Adams is his age (32), but he’s shown no signs of slowing down yet. And he’s a great addition for the Rams as the running mate to Nacua.
Last season, after joining the Jets via trade from the Raiders, Adams looked like a star again. He closed the year with at least 17.6 PPR points in five of his final six outings, including three games with at least 20.8 PPR points over that span. Stafford should lean on Adams, and McVay should keep Adams heavily involved.
Now, as far as how Adams did with Garoppolo, it was mixed results. In six games together with the Raiders in 2023, Adams averaged 15.1 PPR points over that span. But he had two games with at least 20.4 PPR points and three games with 8.5 PPR points or less.
Adams and Nacua would see their value decline with Garoppolo under center — along with secondary options like Tutu Atwell, Tyler Higbee and Terrance Ferguson — so let’s hope Stafford is OK for 17 games. And I wouldn’t change the outlook much for the running backs no matter who starts at quarterback.
Kyren Williams remains a low-end No. 1 running back worth drafting toward the end of Round 2 or beginning of Round 3 in all leagues. Williams might lose some work to Jarquez Hunter or Blake Corum, but Williams averaged 21.9 touches per game in 2024, which was third in the NFL last season. And Williams has averaged at least 17.0 PPR points per game in two seasons in a row with the Rams, which is hard to overlook.
Hunter or Corum are worth a late-round flier in all leagues, but we need to see who wins the backup job to Williams. I’m hopeful that it’s Hunter, the fourth-round rookie from Auburn, who just had 187 carries for 1,201 yards and eight touchdowns and 21 catches for 155 yards and a touchdown in 2024. Hunter is an explosive runner, and he had more rushes of 10-plus yards last season at Auburn (42) than the Rams did as a team (37) on 450 attempts.
The Rams offense has immense upside thanks to McVay and a talented cast of characters. But Stafford needs to be healthy, and we hope his back is ready for Week 1. It’s something we’ll continue to monitor over the next several weeks.
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