How Should the Puka Nacua Injury News Reshape Your Fantasy Football Board?

Puka Nacua of the Los Angeles Rams is considered week-to-week after sustaining a knee injury in practice on Sunday.

Football injuries are inevitable and challenge us to reshape our stock for affected players. Nacua's injury may be described as "not serious", but a week-to-week timetable means something considering the Rams are a little less than five weeks away from their first regular-season game opposite the Las Vegas Raiders.

How should we approach this situation in fantasy football drafts?

Puka Nacua Injury Outlook

Nacua set an NFL rookie record for receiving yards and receptions in his freshmen campaign. He notched 1,486 receiving yards (fourth-most in the NFL) in Matthew Stafford's offense and is a main candidate to see positive touchdown regression this season.

When last season's WR4 is primed for more scoring success, it makes sense that they'd be high on draft boards. In turn, Nacua is currently being taken as WR7 at pick 13, via FantasyPros' consensus ADP data.

Given the injury news, should we be lower on Nacua in favor of other wideouts? Not necessarily.

Six wide receivers are currently being selected ahead of Nacua in drafts -- CeeDee Lamb, Tyreek Hill, Justin Jefferson, Ja'Marr Chase, Amon-Ra St. Brown, and A.J. Brown.

FanDuel Research's fantasy football projections expect Nacua to finish this season as WR7, right in line with his ADP. Like clockwork, they have the six aforementioned wideouts finishing ahead of Nacua. Brown is expected to outdo Nacua by less than one point, but since Nacua will miss key practice time, it's fair to still rank Brown ahead of him.

Garrett Wilson is being selected as WR8 and is stamped as WR8 on our season-long projections. However, he is expected to log 225.59 fantasy points as WR8 while Nacua is expected to earn 241.77 fantasy points as WR7, both of which are assuming a full 17-game season. Since Nacua's injury isn't considered serious, which would indicate a Week 1 start, we shouldn't place Wilson or any other lower-drafted wideout ahead of Nacua unless he encounters a setback.

However, his injury means that LAR's practice will look different in the coming weeks. How will this affect Stafford and the wideouts on the Rams?

Personally, I'm not concerned with how this could affect Stafford's fantasy outlook based on what we know about the injury. Stafford is entering his 16th season in the NFL. The reliable and veteran signal-caller doesn't need quality practice time with each wideout in order to connect with them when it matters. If Nacua is a full-go Week 1, I don't think the missed practice time will be any skin off of Stafford's back.

Cooper Kupp's stock, on the other hand, should perhaps rise given Nacua's injury. Kupp himself has been marred with injuries and underperformance in his last two seasons with the Rams. He's played only 21 out of 34 regular-season games in this span. The 31-year-old finished as WR1 in his last fully healthy season (2021).

Currently, Kupp is being selected as WR21 at pick 41. Our projections, meanwhile, expect a WR14 finish over a full season. The public is low on him given the injury history, but Kupp is said to be "on an absolute mission" for the upcoming year. It's fair to shine doubt on injury-prone players, but Kupp is hellbent on returning to elite status, and our projections support that he is going undervalued in fantasy drafts.

Nacua's injury serves as a great way for Kupp to kickstart a bounce-back campaign. The next few practice weeks could be fruitful for Kupp in Nacua's absence.

In summation, Nacua's draft stock shouldn't be too affected based on what we know about his injury. A week-to-week status doesn't sound too harsh because we have five weeks until kickoff, and the words "not serious" grant even more encouragement. I'm satisfied taking him as the seventh wideout on draft boards given the projected scoring gap between him and the rest of the pack. Granted, I'm approaching this under the assumption that he will be ready for Week 1.

Most importantly, Nacua's injury reinforces that we should be higher on Kupp. The last two seasons have left us with a sour taste in our mouths on all things Kupp, especially if you drafted him, but Stafford's number-one target in the coming practice weeks could remind everyone who he is this season.

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The above author is a FanDuel employee and is not eligible to compete in public daily fantasy contests or place sports betting wagers on FanDuel. The advice provided by the author does not necessarily represent the views of FanDuel. Taking the author's advice will not guarantee a successful outcome. You should use your own judgment when participating in daily fantasy contests or placing sports wagers.