It could be argued that the fantasy playoff values for Puca Nacua, Kyren Williams, and Matthew Stafford hinged on last night's result. A loss might have turned the last-place Rams into sellers before the upcoming trade deadline, with Cooper Kupp the most likely big name (and big contract) to jettison. Signed thru the 2026 season, the 31-year-old can still fetch a nice haul from a playoff contender with sufficient cap space.
It reminds me of the 1981 soccer film "Victory," starring Pele (always deserving top billing), Sylvester Stallone, and Michael Caine as WW2 prisoners. From what I can recall (I watched it on HBO about 40 years ago, so my memory's fuzzy), the good guys were down 4-0 before scoring right before the half. In the locker room, they had to decide whether to try to win or implement their escape plan. That last-second goal before halftime led them to believe they could win. So they postponed their escape for 45 minutes. Or something like that.
This morning, with Nacua and Kupp healthy, surely the 3-4 Rams believe they can keep winning. There's probably a better than 50/50 chance they keep Kupp. It also increases the odds that they'll be in the playoff hunt by the start of the fantasy playoffs in Week 15 (for most leagues). That's good news for managers rostering the "Big Three" of Kyren-Nacua-Kupp, and it's great news for those rostering (mostly Superflexers, but all some one-QB deep-leaguers) Stafford.
In the 13 games he and Nacua and Kupp have started together, Stafford has compiled a 3,332-26-8 passing line. Across a 17-game season, that would be 4,357-34-10. For context, in 17 games last season, the similarly slow-footed Jared Goff was the overall QB7 with a comparable 4,575-30-12 line. So yes, strange as it might sound, Stafford can be a top-10 QB the rest of the way if his Big Three are healthy.
As for Demarcus Robinson, who knows what to make of it. Kind of a fluke, kind of not. With everyone healthy, he needs to score to be useful, and last night he was very useful. Still, I wouldn't want to bet on him week to week.
In the backfields, Kyren proved me wrong, while Aaron Jones was more predictably low-ceiling. Advancing age is a factor in Sunday-Thursday RB regressions. Jones is one of the most efficient running backs of his generation. He'd averaged 3.5+ yards per carry in 20 of his last 21 starts. His one blemish was in a 24-touch outing. It marked only his third 24+ touch performance in the previous 3 1/2 seasons. As highlighted yesterday, he's never been a weekly workhorse -- not in the traditional sense. And it reinforces why we've seen more letdowns than successes from him on Thursday nights.
Kyren's seven targets are notable. He'd averaged only 2.1 in his previous eight contests. A sign of things to come? Who knows. But at first (and second) glance, Stafford has looked his way a lot more when Nacua and Kupp have been active, dating back to last year.
Back to the Vikings: not too much of a surprise, although it has to hurt some managers to see Jalen Nailor out-targeting Jordan Addison. The latter now has four or fewer targets in four of five games. I'd like to buy low, and yet Sam Darnold's continually low passing volume -- plus the impending return of T.J. Hockenson -- make Addison more of a hold-and-hope WR than a capitalize-on-your-opponents'-doubts-and-trade-for-him WR.
And congrats to Harley Swan and Matthew Kennedy for picking the closest final scores. They're always tough to beat in this contest. Well, I don't know. But it's a nice thing to say about a pair of deserving winners.
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