Rams vs. Broncos Fantasy Football Worksheet, Week 3

The Worksheet, a comprehensive fantasy football preview by Rich Hribar, breaks down everything you need to know about the Week 3 matchup between the Rams and Broncos on Sunday Night Football.

Find a breakdown of every Week 3 NFL game in our Worksheet Hub.

Trust = spike production for that player

Rams vs. Broncos Fantasy Quarterback Preview

Matthew Stafford

After a down Week 1, Stafford bounced back on Monday night, completing 22 of 31 passes (71%) for 327 yards (10.5 Y/A), 4 touchdowns, and an interception.

After the Rams threw 12.3% below expectations in Week 1 (31st), they threw 8.8% over expectations (7th) against a depleted Giants defense.

On throws of 10 or more yards downfield, Stafford was 10 for 13 for 224 yards (17.2 Y/A) with 3 touchdowns.

That was also without Puka Nacua available.

Stafford will look to keep things rolling against a strong Denver defense.

While Denver's run defense was awful in Week 1, its pass defense has been strong both weeks.

Given how Patrick Mahomes looked in Week 2, holding him to a 55.6% completion rate and 184 yards (6.8 Y/A) is more impressive than it seemed at the time.

In Week 2, they shut down a red-hot Jacksonville offense.

The Broncos held Trevor Lawrence to a 58.6% (17 of 29) completion rate for 189 yards (6.5 Y/A) with no touchdowns and an interception.

I prefer Stafford as a QB2, though at the high end of that range.

That is putting respect on the Denver defense.

Stafford has had two monster games against Seattle in the last calendar year, so we know this offense can punch up in a strength-on-strength matchup.

But without Nacua, his overall ceiling is lowered.

Denver has Patrick Surtain to battle with Davante Adams, so Sean McVay needs to be in his bag to create opportunities for the remaining pieces against this defense.

This is the first time that Stafford has faced Denver since 2015.

With the Rams, Stafford faced Vance Joseph four times as the Cardinals' defensive coordinator.

In those games, Stafford completed 70.8% of his passes for 9.0 Y/A with 7 touchdowns and 1 interception.

This Denver defense is different from those teams.

Bo Nix

Nix also played significantly better in Week 2 than in Week 1, completing 22 of 31 passes (71%) for 288 yards (9.3 Y/A) and a touchdown.

He did have 1 rough interception in the end zone.

Nix also took zero sacks in Week 2 after four in the opener.

After throwing 20% of his passes 10 or more yards downfield in Week 1, Nix threw 42.9% of his passes 10 or more yards downfield last weekend.

Nix went from a 21.3% rate under center in Week 1 to 47.5% in Week 2, which drove play action up from 21.4% to 29%.

The Rams had a bit of a pass on Monday night, with Jaxson Dart injured early.

Jameis Winston came in and was horrendous, completing 40.7% of his passes for 4.1 yards per attempt.

They also held Brock Purdy to 6.0 yards per attempt in Week 1, despite allowing 3 touchdowns in the opener.

That Week 1 matchup against Purdy makes me wonder if we will see another short-area passing game from Nix.

Purdy had a 26.5% screen rate in Week 1 and threw 52.8% of his passes within 2.5 seconds from the snap to neutralize the Los Angeles pass rush.

The Rams did lose Myles Garrett since then, but they still had a 50% pressure rate in Week 2, second in the NFL.

Aaron Donald returned for 19 snaps in Week 2.

Denver has run a quick passing game with Nix many times, so that wouldn't be surprising.

I do prefer Stafford to Nix head-to-head here, and I already docked Stafford to the QB1/QB2 range.

That makes Nix more of an outright QB2.

Rams vs. Broncos Fantasy Running Back Preview

Rams RBs

This backfield was dominant on Monday night as Kyren Williams (14 touches for 97 yards and a touchdown) and Blake Corum (13 touches for 92 yards) combined for 189 yards and a score on 27 touches.

Once again, the Rams ran the ball 55.6% of Corum's snaps compared to 39.4% when Williams played.

Corum caught a pass on Monday (the 16th of his career) but was tied to rushing efficiency to produce points.

Corum ran a route on 21.9% of dropbacks compared to 46.9% for Williams.

Williams also played 100% of the snaps in the red zone.

Corum has yet to play a red zone snap through two games.

It is a bummer that both of these guys hurt each other for fantasy.

With no real runway for receptions or scoring equity, Corum is still a low-ceiling FLEX who has to run hot.

Williams shares touches, but he has more wiggle room to have a poor rushing game as an RB2, since he can chip in as a pass catcher and has owned the goal-line work.

After being trampled in Week 1 for 197 rushing yards on 31 runs (6.4 YPC) to Kansas City backs, Denver played the run better in Week 2 against Jacksonville, allowing 89 yards on 22 backfield runs (4.0 YPC) with a touchdown.

The Rams have a more potent attack than the Jags, so this will reveal more about last week's turnaround.

No team runs more man/gap runs than the Rams (66%).

Denver has allowed 5.1 YPC on those runs through two weeks, but that's a 9-carry sample size.

But in 2025, Denver allowed 4.8 YPC on those runs (27th) with a run of 10 or more yards on 14.3% of those attempts (30th).

Broncos RBs

Denver enters the week with J.K. Dobbins (ankle), R.J. Harvey (hamstring), and Jonah Coleman (ankle) all working through injuries.

Harvey missed Week 2 with his injury.

Dobbins exited after 19 snaps, elevating Coleman to his first real opportunity in the NFL.

Coleman turned 13 touches into 58 yards and a touchdown.

He had two runs of 10 or more yards and gained yardage on 80% of his attempts.

Did Coleman do enough that he cannot be put back in the bottle?

We will have to monitor the availability of these backs this week, so circle back here as we get more information.

Assuming all three play, this is a potential headache.

In that event, all of the Denver backs are touchdown-dependent FLEX plays.

After allowing 133 yards on 24 runs (5.5 YPC) to San Francisco backs in Week 1, the Rams held the Giants backfield to 51 yards on 19 attempts (2.7 YPC).

Rams vs. Broncos Fantasy Wide Receiver Preview

Davante Adams

Early reports this week suggest Puka Nacua will remain sidelined for at least another game, if not longer.

With Nacua sidelined on Monday night, Adams dropped a hammer, catching 8 of 10 targets for 195 yards and 2 touchdowns.

This was the third time in his career (with three different teams) that Adams has had 190-plus receiving yards and 2 touchdowns in a game.

Adams has now run 135 routes without Nacua on the field with the Rams.

On those plays, he has been targeted on 39.3% of his routes with 3.70 yards per route run.

His huge game last week came against a depleted Giants secondary.

This will be a different matchup.

Adams played 91.5% of his snaps out wide last week.

If the Rams don't change that, he will be seeing a ton of Patrick Surtain.

Surtain has been targeted only 4 times in two games, allowing 20 yards in coverage.

Adams is no stranger to Surtain, based on his time with the Raiders.

In four career games against the Broncos with Surtain on the field, Adams was targeted on 30.9% of his routes with 2.55 yards per route run.

He had games of 5-46-1 (8 targets), 6-66-0 (9 targets), 7-141-2 (13 targets), and 9-101-0 (13 targets).

Some spike weeks and usable floor weeks there.

Adams is a little older now, but he also has Stafford and McVay on his side.

If Nacua is out again this week, Adams is a WR2 with upside.

Jaylen Waddle

Making his debut in Denver, Waddle got going in a big way on Sunday, catching 8 of 10 targets for 138 yards.

He accounted for 34.5% of the targets and 53.5% of the air yards.

After playing 64.7% of his snaps from the slot in Week 1, Waddle played 68.6% out wide last week.

He played 13 snaps at LWR, 13 at RWR, 10 in the slot, and 2 in the backfield.

Waddle is an upside WR2 here.

The Rams had no respect for the Giants after Jameis Winston entered the game, playing man coverage on 36.4% of the snaps (4th highest in Week 2) after a 9.4% man coverage rate in Week 1 against the 49ers (25th).

That was the most man coverage the Rams have played in a game under Chris Shula.

The Rams did acquire Trent McDuffie and Jaylen Watson this offseason, but we would only be guessing if that were to roll over here.

With Waddle's speed, I don't think it will.

For his career, Waddle averages 2.04 yards per route run against man coverage.

When the Jaguars went to man coverage last week, Waddle caught 3 of 4 targets for 57 yards.

Courtland Sutton

Sutton has caught 5 of 9 targets for 36 yards over the opening two games.

With the addition of Waddle, Sutton has been targeted on 15.8% of his routes early this season.

That would be a career low.

Waddle will not have as gaudy a target share every week, but we already saw Sutton shed work last year to worse players.

The positive news is that he is still playing on 87.7% of dropbacks, so he's still a threat to get into the end zone.

Sutton is a WR4/FLEX here.

Pat Bryant

After 22.2% of the targets in Week 1 (4-42-0), Bryant only saw 3.4% on Sunday.

He was held without a catch.

We have one game where Waddle received no work, and one where he got all of it.

There will be a middle ground in the big picture, but Bryant is still the No. 3 option.

He has run a route on 69.2% of the dropbacks, leaving him as an option only for single-game DFS.

Rams WRs

With Nacua out last week, Konata Mumpfield ran 21 routes (65.6%), catching 1 of 2 targets for 12 yards.

Xavier Smith ran 19 routes (59.4%) with no catches (1 target).

Tutu Atwell ran 10 routes (31.3%) and caught 1 for 19 yards (2 targets).

That is nothing to latch onto outside of a single-game Hail Mary in DFS hoping for a touchdown.

Jordan Whittington also could return to shake up that rotation.

Rams vs. Broncos Fantasy Tight End Preview

Terrance Ferguson

Without Nacua last week, the Rams played 13 personnel on 53.3% of their snaps.

They ran 13 personnel on 31.3% of their pass plays.

Ferguson was the primary beneficiary there, running 23 routes (71.9%) compared to 10 routes for Colby Parkinson (31.3%), 5 for Davis Allen, and 4 for Tytler Higbee.

Ferguson saw a career-high 30% target share, catching 6 of 9 targets for 54 yards and a touchdown.

Ferguson played 40% of his snaps from the slot, where he drew 7 of his targets and his touchdown.

With Nacua expected to miss another game, Ferguson is in play as an upside TE1.

Going back to last season, Denver has allowed 8.8 yards per target to tight ends from the slot (23rd), but only 1 touchdown.

The remaining tight ends here are touchdown-or-bust swings.

Evan Engram

Engram has had games of 4-43-1 (5 targets) and 1-17-0 (1 target) to start the season.

After running a route on 66.7% of the dropbacks in Week 1, that dropped to 40.6% on Sunday.

Since last season, Denver has run the ball on only 33.9% of Engram's snaps, so the team needs to be in a trail state like Week 1 for his routes to spike, since he doesn't play as much in the base offense.

That leaves him as a touchdown-dependent TE2.

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