Thursday Night Football Rams vs. Vikings: Fantasy Football Breakdown

You can watch “Thursday Night Football: Rams vs. Vikings” at 8:20 p.m. ET/5:20 p.m. PT on Amazon Prime Video.

There have been a lot of rumors about the Rams and Vikings lately. The Rams are allegedly Shopping Cooper Kupp. The Vikings are allegedly tries to trade Sam Darnold to the Rams for Matthew Stafford.

So it's ideal for these two NFC teams to face each other on Thursday Night Football in Week 8. Let's get to the history of the tape.

Cooper Kupp is back – what can we expect?

Wayyyy, in Week 1, Cooper Kupp looked like the steal of fantasy drafts around the world. While everyone was thinking about his injury history and age-related regression, Kupp started the year with a fantasy 25-point outburst.

He seemed on track to do the same in Week 2 before suffering an ankle injury that sidelined him for the next six weeks (Rams had a bye in Week 6). But he is back in full training and is expected to start this evening. Fantasy managers undoubtedly enjoy adding him to their starting lineup like Thanos with the Time Stone. The question is: Will Kupp immediately slip back into an unearthly volume?

Well, let's go back in time. Kupp missed two games in 2018 with an MCL sprain. In his first game back he posted statistics of 6-5-89-1. He was third in targets and second in catches behind Robert Woods and Brandin Cooks, respectively. Kupp suffered a torn ACL later that season.

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Now with Puka Nacua out, the Rams' receiving corps isn't as strong as it was in 2018. Kupp's commitment will be a necessity if the Rams have a chance against this high-powered Vikings offense. But we can't be sure he won't be used sparingly, as his ankle injury was much more serious than the MCL sprain in 2018 that cost him two games. For all we know, Kupp will be out there engaging in deception to facilitate Tutu Atwell (more on him shortly), Demarcus Robinson and Colby Parkinson.

Or Stafford targets Kupp from the bus and he ends up with something like 13-9-106-1.

TL;DR – You start with Kupp unless you have an embarrassment of riches at WR in your fantasy lineup and you're hoping he's fully healthy and running wide open cross routes like always.

Will Kyren Williams make it 10 consecutive games with a touchdown?

Remember when everyone denounced Blake Corum, saying he would eat up Kyren Williams' workload and eventually replace him? We are convinced that Sean McVay wanted to lure Williams once he had someone who showed everything in the base game.

That seems like a million years ago.

Since then, Williams has shown nothing but a preternatural attraction to the end zone. He is fourth in half-PPR RB scoring and is tied with Derrick Henry for the most rushing touchdowns in the league (8). By the way, Williams also scored a touchdown through the air.

A few weeks ago I might have said this would be the end of Williams' touchdown streak. But after what Jahmyr Gibbs just did to them, I have a good feeling Williams made it through 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 a better defender overall than Williams, especially in terms of efficiency.

But we can also all agree that a football nut like McVay was probably keeping a close eye on the Lions' Week 7 schedule. And considering Kevin O'Connell comes from the McVay coaching line, it wouldn't surprise me to see McVay see some run game wrinkles in this game, especially with Cooper Kupp demanding defensive attention. And remember, Williams almost never leaves the field – he's the third-ranked RBs in overall snap count percentage this season – and even if the Rams fall behind, Williams will be there for the comeback attempt.

This could be Aaron Jones' best game of 2024

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

I'll keep it short and sweet: The Rams have been absolutely destroyed by opposing running backs this season. This is 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 ran 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, beat the Rams in Week 5 with the help of 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 Alexander Mattison a total of 123 yards.

You can argue that overall the Vikings are the best offense the Rams have faced since the Lions in Week 1. Jones is up RB1 overall this week.

Pick up and start: Tutu Atwell (13% of the squad)

Quietly, Tutu Atwell led the Rams on the scoresheet in the absence of Kupp and Nacua. With Kupp back and expected to be at full health this week, Atwell will once again become a secondary target for Stafford.

But that's the fascinating part.

The Rams' offense has long been one of the few units that can support two capable wide receivers. McVay's system is super friendly for wideouts. If Kupp runs around out there again, it will open the field for another receiver. And as strong as Kyren Williams has been as a scorer, the Rams will have to throw to make this a competitive game, and the Vikings' blitz-heavy defense has hurt the receivers' performance of late. With Jordan Whittington out and Puka Nacua ineligible to play on Thursday night (and if he is, his return from injury could be quite limited), Atwell is firmly on the flex radar.