I got sniped in a best-ball draft this morning, planning to select Davante Adams a few picks into the fourth round. Extra painful because the guy who took him timed out; I don't even know if he wanted to take him. I did.
I guess I've been writing some about older wide receivers lately, Stefon Diggs and the like. I don't trust all older players. But Davante has certainly earned a degree of trust, and so have the Rams when it comes to having a pair of top-performing wide receivers.
Adams is 32, but he's been pretty durable. In his 11 seasons, he's played at least 14 games nine times, and 13 and 12 the other two. He's had over 140 targets in five straight seasons. And I think he'll get plenty even as Matthew Stafford's No. 2.
Sean McVay has been the head coach of the Rams for eight years, and those years have been very productive for his No. 1 and No. 2 wide receivers, particularly when they've been able to stay healthy. Four times in the last five years (the exception was the year Stafford got hurt) they've put both of their top 2 in the top 20 in PPR leagues on a per-game basis. The two years before that, they put their No. 1 and No. 2 wideouts in the top 15, and the previous year (McVay's first), they were both in the top 25 on a per game basis.
Table shows the team's No. 1 and 2 wideouts in the McVay Era.
| RAMS TOP 2 WIDE RECEIVERS, 2017-2024 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Player | G | Tgt | Rec | Yds | TD | Rk |
| 2017 | Cooper Kupp | 15 | 94 | 62 | 869 | 5 | 25 |
| 2017 | Robert Woods | 12 | 85 | 56 | 781 | 5 | 33 |
| 2018 | Robert Woods | 16 | 130 | 86 | 1219 | 7 | 11 |
| 2018 | Brandin Cooks | 16 | 117 | 80 | 1204 | 6 | 13 |
| 2019 | Cooper Kupp | 16 | 134 | 94 | 1161 | 10 | 5 |
| 2019 | Robert Woods | 15 | 139 | 90 | 1134 | 3 | 14 |
| 2020 | Robert Woods | 16 | 129 | 90 | 936 | 8 | 14 |
| 2020 | Cooper Kupp | 15 | 124 | 92 | 974 | 3 | 26 |
| 2021 | Cooper Kupp | 17 | 191 | 145 | 1947 | 16 | 1 |
| 2021 | Van Jefferson | 17 | 89 | 50 | 802 | 6 | 36 |
| 2022 | Cooper Kupp | 9 | 98 | 75 | 812 | 7 | 23 |
| 2022 | Allen Robinson | 10 | 52 | 33 | 339 | 3 | 85 |
| 2023 | Puka Nacua | 17 | 160 | 105 | 1486 | 6 | 4 |
| 2023 | Cooper Kupp | 12 | 95 | 59 | 737 | 5 | 40 |
| 2024 | Puka Nacua | 11 | 106 | 79 | 990 | 4 | 26 |
| 2024 | Cooper Kupp | 12 | 100 | 67 | 710 | 6 | 38 |
If Nacua and Adams stay healthy -- and Stafford too, I guess -- they should both be very good in fantasy leagues. I'm regretting just missing out at Adams.
(I'll post partial results of this best-ball draft later in the week.)
--Andy Richardson