Thursday Night Football Rams vs. Vikings: Fantasy Football Analysis

You can watch Thursday Night Football: Rams vs. Watch Vikings at 8:20 PM ET/5:20 PM PT on Amazon Prime Video.

There have been a lot of rumors lately about the Aries and Vikings. That's the Aries so-called shopping Cooper Kupp. That's the Vikings so-called I'm trying to trade Sam Darnold to the Rams for Matthew Stafford.

So it's ideal that these two NFC teams will face off on Thursday Night Football in Week 8. Let's get to the story of the tape.

Cooper Kupp (and Puka Nacua?!) is back, what can we expect?

Wayyyy, in Week 1, Cooper Kupp looked like he was stealing fantasy drafts all over the world. While everyone was thinking about his injury history and his age-related decline, Kupp started the year with a 25 fantasy point outburst.

He looked well on his way to doing the same in Week 2 before suffering an ankle injury that would sideline him for the next six weeks (Rams had a bye in Week 6). But he is back in full practice and is expected to start tonight. Fantasy managers will undoubtedly enjoy plugging him into their starting lineups, like Thanos with the time stone. The question is: will Kupp slide right back into an otherworldly volume?

Well, let's go back in time. Kupp missed two games in 2018 due to a sprained MCL. He posted a statline of 6-5-89-1 in his first match back. He was third in targets and second in catches, behind Robert Woods and Brandin Cooks, respectively. Kupp would suffer a torn ACL later that season.

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With Puka Nacua likely limited in his first game back, the Rams' receiving corps isn't as strong as it was in 2018. Kupp's involvement will be a necessity if the Rams have any chance against this high-flying Viking offense. But we can't be sure he won't be used sparingly, as his ankle injury was much more serious than that MCL sprain in 2018 that cost him two games. For all we know, Kupp will be running bait routes there!

Or Stafford will target Kupp off the bus and he'll end up with something like 13-9-106-1.

TL; DR, you start Kupp unless you have an embarrassment of riches at WR in your fantasy lineup, and you hope he's fully healthy and running wide open crossing routes like he always does.

Nacua, on the other hand, went from opening his practice window to activating via IR and was ready to play in this game in the amount of time it takes most of us to put together a lineup.

I have no idea how this will go, but it reminds me of the age-old fantasy fear: When you start it, it gives you something like 3-30. If you bench him, he goes to 6-120-1.

Fantasy is rough sometimes.

Will Kyren Williams make it ten straight games with a TD?

Remember when everyone turned on Blake Corum and said he would eat up Kyren Williams' workload and eventually oust him? We convinced ourselves that Sean McVay wanted to trap Williams as soon as he had someone who showed something in the ground game.

That seems like a million years ago.

Since then, Williams has shown nothing but a preternatural magnetism for the end zone. He ranks fourth in half PPR RB scoring and is tied with Derrick Henry for the most rushing touchdowns in the league (8). For what it's worth, Williams also has a touchdown through the air.

Now, a few weeks ago, I could have said this would be the end of Williams' touchdown streak. But after what Jahmyr Gibbs just did to them, I feel good about Williams making these 11 games in a row. Sure, the Lions' offensive line is light years better than the Rams' and I think we can all agree that Gibbs is an overall better defender than Williams, especially in terms of efficiency.

But we can also all agree that a football maniac like McVay was probably keeping a close eye on the Lions Week 7 game plan. And considering Kevin O'Connell comes from the McVay coaching tree, I wouldn't be surprised if McVay sees some run-game wrinkles in this game, especially with Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua demanding defensive attention. And don't forget that Williams almost never leaves the field. He ranks third among starting RBs in overall snap count percentage this season, so even if the Rams fall behind, Williams will be ready for the comeback attempt.

This could be Aaron Jones' best game of 2024

It appears Aaron Jones will go down as one of the top picks of 2024, an RB1 on an elite offense who was drafted in the late fourth/early fifth round of the draft. The hesitation was understandable; the Vikings had quarterback questions, and Jones will turn 30 in December and has missed time due to injuries throughout his career. He is currently 13th in the overall RB rankings (half-PPR).

I'll keep this one short and sweet: the Rams have been absolutely destroyed by opposing running backs this season. That's not an exaggeration; both Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery scored on them in Week 1. James Conner dropped 122 rushing yards and a score on them in Week 2. Jordan Mason rushed for 77 yards against them in Week 3. D'Andre Swift destroyed them both through the air and on the ground in Week 4. Jones' old team, the Green Bay Packers, defeated the Rams in Week 5 with help from Josh Jacobs, who scored and rushed for 73 yards against them. The bye week didn't help either; even in a win over the Raiders, the Rams allowed 123 total yards to Alexander Mattison.

You can make the argument that the Vikings are the best overall offense the Rams have faced since the Lions in Week 1. Jones has the overall edge at RB1 this week.