Los Angeles Rams vs Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Date/Time: November 23, 8:15pm ET
Spread: Bucs -4
Over/Under: 48 points
Implied Vegas point totals: Bucs 26, Rams 22

Los Angeles Rams

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Tampa Bay Buccaneers

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Quarterback

Los Angeles: Goff hasn’t finished higher than the QB18 in his past four games. Even in a smash spot last week against Seattle, Goff wasn’t able to get it done for fantasy football. Now up against a stout defense in Tampa Bay, Goff should only be viewed as a low-end QB2.

Tampa Bay: Brady came back to life last week and was able to finish as the No. 1 overall QB on the week. While Brady should still be viewed as a solid start this week, it’s going to be a tough outing against the 3rd most difficult matchup for opposing QBs from a fantasy perspective. Brady can be viewed as more of a low-end QB1 versus a top-5 lock.

Running Backs

Los Angeles: With Akers riding the bench previously, there was a bit more clarity with this backfield. However, last week, Akers came back out of nowhere and led this backfield in rush attempts. While he wasn’t particularly effective with them, it’s clear that the Rams want to try and prove that they were correct in taking Akers in the 2nd round of the 2020 NFL Draft. With Akers getting this type of workload, he’s on the redraft radar, but this is going to be a pretty evenly split rotation. Akers can’t be trusted as anything more than a mid-range RB3. Henderson had been a steady fantasy option recently, but with Akers starting to receive more opportunity in this offense, it’s hard to trust Henderson moving forward. It appears that he’s going to be the goal line back in this offense, but those opportunities might not be plentiful here against the Bucs run defense. Henderson can only be played as a mid-range RB3 that you’re hoping comes away with a score. Brown should be involved in this offense as well, but this is too much of a mess to look Brown’s way for fantasy this week.

Tampa Bay: We go from one mess of a RB situation in this game to another. After the fumble last week, everyone and their mother would’ve predicted that Jones would never see the field ever again. However, Arians kept him out there and it paid off with a huge 98-yard run. Moving forward, it appears that Jones is the safer bet from a fantasy perspective. However, that should be taken with a grain of salt. Jones can be viewed as a low-end RB2 this week, but he obviously comes with huge risk due to the unknown of what Arians is going to do with this backfield on a weekly basis. Fournette saw his involvement in the offense fall off a cliff last week. While he can certainly step back into the lead back role if Arians calls for that, there’s no way we can predict that going into this matchup. Fournette’s a risky RB3 play against the Rams.

Wide Receivers

Los Angeles: In a smash spot last week, both Woods and Kupp let fantasy managers down. While neither option necessarily burned fantasy lineups, they fell drastically short of expectations. Now, in this matchup against the Bucs stout pass defense, it’s hard to trust either of them as anything more than low-end WR2s. Reynolds has now seen 27 targets over his last three games and he’s emerging as a viable fantasy option week in and week out. It’s hard to trust him in this tough matchup, but if you’re in need of a FLEX option this week, Reynolds is a solid bet based on his recent target workload.

Tampa Bay: All three Bucs receivers were able to feast last week against the Panthers defense, but they do have a more difficult matchup in front of them here. The Rams are currently the 2nd most difficult matchup for opposing WRs this season. Evans should draw coverage from Jalen Ramsey here, which downgrades him to a low-end WR2. He can certainly find the end zone, but it’s going to be a tough test this week. Godwin has the most favorable CB matchup against Troy Hill this week and Brady should look his way early and often. Godwin can be started as a mid-range WR2 with upside this week. Brown was highly efficient last week and he’s back in the low-end WR3 conversation. He comes with obvious upside, but it’s going to be difficult to trust him as anything more just yet.

Tight Ends

Los Angeles: If both Gerald Everett and Tyler Higbee are playing, it’s probably best to just avoid this TE room altogether.

Tampa Bay: Gronkowski wasn’t targeted much last week, but he was able to cash in and find the end zone. Gronk should be viewed as a low-end TE1 this week that will need to find the end zone to finish much higher than that.

FantasyProjection Buster: Brady has a wide range of outcomes in this game. He could be a fantastic fantasy play this week with all of the receiving weapons he has around him and the way the offense is clicking, but the matchup is really tough.

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Kyle Yates is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Kyle, check out his archive and follow him @KyleYNFL.