Denver Broncos vs. Los Angeles Rams Matchup Breakdown For Fantasy Football Week 3

• Spread: Rams -2.5
• O/U: 46.5
• Score Prediction (from the Fantasy Life NFL Betting Model):  DEN 22, LAR 20

LA Rams Fantasy Preview

Puka, Puka, wherefore art thou, Puka? Whenever dealing with Sean McVay, bake in a certain degree of obfuscation when it comes to questions. Last week marked another perfect example of playing the will he, won’t he game for days straight — even when most of us assume he knew the answer the whole time. The thing with Nacua is he can still score 30 fantasy points without practice in spite of the doubtful tag on his player page.

Another thing about McVay is a willingness to adapt and eventually offer honest assessments of past performance. In a noble gesture beyond some other more stubborn leadership, he took full responsibility for the Rams’ ineptitude due to poor travel plans. And where we might have reasonably expected a nice bounceback, not sure I imagined one to this degree without their undisputed top option — the Rams gained over 480 yards from scrimmage at a ridiculous 8.0 yards/play. In other words, toss the Australia box score in the waste bin.

With or without Nacua, Davante Adams is a start regardless, except now we know the veteran WR can still go nuclear when pushed. Age is just a number apparently. More interesting is the usage downstream. For starters, just ignore any other WRs not named Adams or Nacua — the remaining cast of characters combined for a (3-39-0) box score on 83 routes run. Talk about a cardio club.

Tight ends, however, are infinitely more interesting in this case.  Perhaps a function of missing Puka, McVay went back to running +2-TE sets more than half the time after a surprisingly low rate in Week 1. The main benefactor? Industry darling Terrance Ferguson, who didn’t just go (6-54-1) for a TE8 finish but ran the second-most routes on the team while serving as the primary slot WR. This is exactly what the T-Ferg dream of on draft day, but will it remain a reality? At cost, it’s definitely worth a stab to find out, though I’d like more information before starting him, especially if Nacua returns.

The backfield's easy as 1-2-3. Start Kyren wherever you drafted him, while the Blake Corum crowd continues to insist he’s not even the best RB on his own team (they aren’t wrong). However, Kyren Williams has the trust of his coaches to go with a pristine 100% of all goal-to-go work thus far. Frustrating as it may be, keep kicking the tires on acquiring Corum — he’s on the shortest list of contingency players who could straight up win leagues with a solo role in this offense.

Denver hasn’t had a QB top 190 passing yards this season, though Patrick Mahomes was responsible for 3 total TDs. Start your star Rams, but understand everyone’s ceilings are significantly lowered versus the Broncos, especially in their building.

• Start: QB Matthew Stafford, RB Kyren Williams, WR Puka Nacua, WR Devante Adams
• Sit: RB Blake Corum, TE Colby Parkinson
• Sleeper: TE Terrance Ferguson

Denver Broncos Fantasy Preview

Three halves of football into 2026 left myself with most of the Bronco faithful wondering what in the world was going on. We’re here for fantasy, but everything about this franchise begins with the defense. First, Kenneth Walker absolutely torches them on the ground in Week 1 before Trevor Lawrence starts off with a strong first half (12-17; 122-0-0) in their own building. Then, like gangbusters, or Hawk from Over The Top, they flipped the switch.

Watching back the tape, knowing what I know about the players/coaches involved, it’s hard to believe they’re bottom-5 in scoring and turnovers. Maybe we overlooked the Nix injury, which happened deep into their playoff run, costing him an appearance in the conference championship. Usually a bit more spry under center, Nix currently rushed for fewer yards than Jared Goff. Oh no. And it’s not like their conventional run game produced, or stay healthy — I’m officially worried.

Mix in opting too often for the underneath route (6.6 ADoT, 33.9% attempts to sticks) plus some ugly interceptions — and it’s quarterback play holding back a team that needs to capitalize on those critical scoring opportunities. The interception versus JAX to close the second half, back-pedaling in the red zone, was particularly egregious. Yikes. No, double yikes.

Interested to see if the Rams pivot away from a generally passive attack plan on defense (12% blitz) in order to create more pressure, something Nix continues to struggle with mightily. Under duress, he’s (8-22; 74-0-1) at just 3.4 yards/attempt and a 27.5 passer rating this season. Have to think McVay’s going to look to push him to the platform in the one.

Jaylen Waddle erupted Week 2 for (8-138-0), but you were starting him anyway. On the other hand, reality may be setting in for Courtland Sutton managers. Their WR3 is burning plenty of calories out there, but has the same number of catches and fewer yards than Evan Engram. Oh no. Plus, the Broncos’ alleged deep threat earned exactly zero +20-yard targets so far. With rapidly declining advanced metrics (15.8% target/route, 0.63 yards/route), how long can you hang on? Without a major change, we’re approaching drop territory …

Hard to get too excited for anyone else in bright orange, maybe excluding Pat Bryant. The former third-rounder’s emerging as an underneath target from the slot, who’s also getting mixed into 12-personnel as well. Bryant’s a great buy-low target who’s trending toward an eventual full-time role, if you ask me.

• Start: WR Jaylen Waddle
• Sit: QB Bo Nix, WR Courtland Sutton, RB JK Dobbins, TE Evan Engram
• Sleeper: RJ Harvey

Next Week’s Bold Headline, Today

Los Angeles keeps the offensive octane flowing, able to do just enough against a stout Denver D, as the Broncos’ offense continues to struggle for answers. No serious football people are calling for Jarrett Stidham, but some of the less serious ones are…