How Puka Nacua’s Injury Impacts His Fantasy Outlook as a First-Round Pick

Should Puka Nacua's knee injury affect how fantasy football managers target him in drafts? Or Is it business as usual in Los Angeles?

Jan 14, 2024; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Puka Nacua (17) scores a touchdown against Detroit Lions safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson (2) during the first half of a 2024 NFC wild card game at Ford Field. Mandatory Credit: David Reginek-USA TODAY Sports / David Reginek-USA TODAY Sports

Puka Nacua suffered a knee injury in joint practice with the Chargers last Sunday, and he is  week-to-week in the preseason. According to head coach Sean McVay, there is no structural damage, it's a burst bursa sac. Bursa are fluid filled sacs used to prevent a tendon from rubbing on a bone.

Should this affect how you draft the sophomore pass-catcher? 

How Puka Nacua's Injury Affects His 2024 Fantasy Football Outlook

Puka Nacua took the fantasy world by storm last year, seemingly out of nowhere to finish as the fantasy WR4. He tallied 1,486 receiving yards in 2023 and if it weren't for some guy named CJ Stroud, Nacua would have walked away with an Offensive Rookie of the Year award.

Nacua fits perfectly into the Sean McVay offense, and Matt Stafford remains one of the league’s best quarterbacks. The Rams averaged the 10th most passing yards per game (239) and the 14th most passing attempts last season. 

In his rookie season, Nacua averaged 9.4 targets and 87.4 receiving yards per game with six total touchdowns. He was also a yards-after-catch monster, with 632, the fifth-most in the league. Nacua was able to take advantage of Cooper Kupp’s injury, grabbing the alpha role from the onset.

Nacua saw 35.38% of the team's air yards in 2023. That makes up for his 9.1 average depth of target (aDOT) being in the bottom 32% of the league. 

It’s also worth mentioning that he led the league in drops with 13. 

However, early reports from camp say Kupp looks good and he is “completely back” from his injuries. In his last fully healthy season (with no Nacua), Kupp was the WR1 in fantasy football. 

Nacua is coming off the board as the WR7, just ahead of Garrett Wilson, in fantasy drafts. He’s often going on the turn between the first and second rounds. 

Puka Nacua's physical play style could make him more prone to injury, but he did not miss a single game during his rookie season. In addition, Rams wide receiver coach Eric Yarber said Nacua's off-season training program has been effective. Yarber says he has "lost so much body fat and gained so much lean muscle, which enables him to move more efficiently now."

Nacua is expected to be ready to start the regular season, and for now we will not hold this minor preseason knee injury against him.

Instead, I am dropping Nacua in my rankings behind Garrett WIlson because of Cooper Kupp’s bounceback  potential. Kupp had 145 catches and 1,947 receiving yards in 2021. Even if he returns at only 70%, that will eat into Nacua’s opportunity.