It should be a time of pure jubilation for fans and fantasy managers of Cooper Kupp. He’s returning tomorrow for Thursday Night Football—a primetime island game, no less!—for a home game against Justin Jefferson and the Minnesota Vikings. Hopes should be high. Rams fans should be rejoicing.
Unfortunately, though, the air in LA has grown quite thin. Trade rumors with Kupp himself and quarterback Matthew Stafford hang like southern California haze over the franchise. Keeping both Cooper Kupp and Matthew Stafford is absolutely untenable come the end of this season. Trying to maximize return value for both of them at the trade deadline might be the organization’s best course of action.
Especially if they lose tomorrow night against the Vikings. That makes ugly decisions all too easy. And I don’t think McVay, Nine & Dime (as Stafford and Kupp are so named on their breakfast-brothers podcast via the Rams social media account), or this young, scrappy Rams defense are going to play this game like a 2-4 team.
As for what that means for Kupp in fantasy lineups and DFS Contests? Well!
Analysis
It’s pretty simple here. We’re expecting the moon for Cooper Kupp. We’re expecting his absolute ceiling. This isn’t a start or sit decision. We’re just talking about whether or not we expect the Rams to potentially curb his workload, seeing as they are 2-5 and in need of forward thinking in the front office.
That’s noise. Let’s absolve any concerns about workload, shall we? Expect Kupp to be out there running routes like a madman; he’ll finish among the top names, if not as the foremost name, on the routes run stat for tomorrow night. Matthew Stafford and Cooper Kupp are all-time competitors and known for being tough, even-keeled veterans. They’re not going let all this business get in their way of trying to win tomorrow night’s game at all costs.
I will, however, briefly get into the business side of potentially wanting to preserve Cooper Kupp for a trade, and why I believe it’s unlikely. You can skip to the stats and the bottom line, should you only care about that.
The business of it all
Now—bear in mind I say the above as, above everything, a Matthew Stafford fan. As someone who’s not quite ready or at peace yet with the idea that the Rams are going to blow it up at the trade deadline.
You can decide for yourself whether or not my belief that the aging core of this era of the Rams is not ready to give up on the season yet, especially after having clinched a playoff berth in 2023 despite beginning the year 3-5, is biased and a projection of the stakes I’m placing on the game. That’s fine!
However, I earnestly believe this is a Rams team that believes it was dealt a crap hand. Devastating injury after devastating injuriy to begin the year. This is a roster comprised of largely the same group who ran the table after Week 9 in 2023; it’s fresh in their minds, and they know they can win.
Off the bye, I believe the Rams went into Week 7’s matchup against the Raiders thinking to themselves—with Kupp inactive, Whittington only seeing the field for nine snaps on offense, Kyren Williams touching the ball only 21 times, and Stafford only throwing the ball 23 times—that if the defense couldn’t win them this game, the Vikings game would be hopeless, anyways. The defense won them the game. McVay gave all three game balls to the secondary. Momentum.
This context is all too important because it means the Rams are unlikely to hold back in their offensive gameplan tomorrow. And, at the very center of that, of course, will be Cooper Kupp.
The stats of it all
Kupp’s stat lines the only times he’s ever played the Vikings:
- 2021 (with Stafford at QB): 13 targets, ten receptions, 103 yards; one carry for four yards
- 2019 (with Jared Goff at QB): 11 targets, nine receptions, 162 yards, two touchdowns
I’m going to bet Kupp’s third game against the Vikings as a Ram is going to look awfully similar, statistically, to his first two.
The only stat that matters: you do not want to be 0-for-1 on starting Cooper Kupp tomorrow against the Vikings.
Bottom line
Expect McVay and Stafford to go as deep in their bag as they’ve gone in a while. Kyren Williams is going to eat, and other receivers like Tutu Atwell and Colby Parkinson will get theirs, too.
So, too, will Cooper Kupp. On their post-Week-8 run in 2023, when they had to essentially win out to be competitive, Matthew Stafford threw the ball an average of 34.7 times per game. This year, he’s averaging just under 25 attempts per game. His offensive line is not fully healthy yet, but it’s getting healthier. He’ll clear 25 attempts tomorrow night with ease.
Encouraging stat: in Week 1 against the Lions, when Stafford last had his full compliment of offensive weapons and was working with a gameplan that featured his entire offensive line, he threw the ball 49 times. I honestly would not be surprised if Stafford eclipses 40 passing attempts tomorrow night.
Which means Cooper Kupp shoud see at least fifteen targets. Expect an easy WR1 performance tomorrow night. Set it and forget it. Kupp wants to stay a Ram as much as you want him to carry your team.
Barring aggravation of Kupp’s injury, I’m calling a nuclear performance out of Nine & Dime. Legacy games incoming.
Set your DraftKings fantasy football lineups here: NFL $2.75M Fantasy Football Millionaire [$1M to 1st].
All odds provided by DraftKings Sportsbook and all odds subject to change.
I am a promoter at DraftKings and am also an avid fan and user (my username is thegreatdansby9) and may sometimes play on my personal account in the games that I offer advice on. Although I have expressed my personal view on the games and strategies above, they do not necessarily reflect the view(s) of DraftKings and do not constitute a representation that any particular strategy will guarantee success. All customers should use their own skill and judgment in building lineups. I may also deploy different players and strategies than what I recommend above. I am not an employee of DraftKings and do not have access to any non-public information
