Cooper Kupp returned against the Eagles on Sunday, and yet Puka Nacua didn't vanish. The Rams rookie WR trailed Kupp by just one target (12-11), snagging 7 receptions for 71 yards and a TD. His score came from 22 yards out late in the second quarter. Nacua drew a target on 29.7% of QB Matthew Stafford's attempts. No other Ram exceeded 5 targets. Consider Nacua a weekly fantasy starter until something changes. A Week 6 meeting with the Cardinals looks good for the whole L.A. offense.
Rams HC Sean McVay confirmed on Friday that WR Cooper Kupp (hamstring) will play vs. the Eagles this weekend. The team has seemingly played it safe with Kupp's return from his recurring hamstring injury, so we'd expect him to be at least close to 100%. It's still possible that he's on some type of snap count on Sunday, but Kupp would be tough to leave out of Week 5 fantasy lineups considering his dominance since 2021. His return is an obvious threat to WR Puka Nacua and WR Tutu Atwell's volume -- although Nacua would also be nearly impossible to bench. See where all those guys sit in the Week 5 WR Rankings.
Rams WR Puka Nacua is incredible. His 39 catches through the first four games of his NFL career are the most all-time, and the rookie closed out Week 4 with his first career TD vs. the Colts. He led the team in receiving with 9 catches on 10 targets for 163 receiving yards. TE Tyler Higbee also paid off for fantasy managers, logging 5 catches on 11 targets for 64 yards. While his final stat line was a bummer (5 catches, 24 yards), WR Tutu Atwell remained heavily involved and should be a good candidate to bounce back next week vs. the Eagles. This Rams’ passing attack is turning out to be among the best in fantasy.
Rams WR Puka Nacua came back down to earth on Monday night, recording 5 catches on 7 targets for 72 yards vs. the Bengals. Week 3 also saw a solid effort from TE Tyler Higbee. He caught all 5 of his targets for 71 yards in the loss. Not to bury the lead here, but WR Tutu Atwell was extremely impressive in this one. He had an excellent 22-yard rush that nearly resulted in a TD to go on top of his 4 catches for 50 yards and a receiving score on a team-leading 9 targets. While the Rams may have lost this game, fantasy managers who roster these pass-catchers came out as winners. Let’s see if they can keep this production rolling in Week 4 vs. the Colts.
Rams WR Puka Nacua (oblique) is active for tonight's game vs. the Bengals. He played through this injury last week, catching 15 balls for 147 yards.
Rams WR Puka Nacua (oblique) is listed as questionable for Monday night's game vs. the Bengals. Nacua remained limited in Saturday's practice, but HC Sean McVay confirmed that he expects the rookie to play on Monday. Nacua played through this injury last week, catching 15 balls for 147 yards. He's safe to keep in Week 3 fantasy lineups, despite the late kickoff.
Rams WR Puka Nacua (oblique) returned to a limited practice on Friday. He's fully expected to play vs. the Bengals on Monday night, but check back tomorrow to see how he's listed on the final injury report.
Rams WR Puka Nacua (oblique) did not practice on Thursday. This injury didn't stop him from catching 15 balls in Week 2, so Nacua should be fine for Monday night's game vs. the Bengals.
Rams WR Puka Nacua snagged 15 catches for 147 yards in Sunday's loss to the 49ers. That gives the rookie 25 receptions through his first two games, a new NFL record. Nacua drew a whopping 20 targets in the game, doubling his nearest teammate and accounting for 36.4% of Matthew Stafford's 55 pass attempts. RB Kyren Williams ranked second, catching six of 10 targets for 48 yards and a TD. WR Tutu Atwell ranked third with 9 targets. He snagged 7 catches for 77 yards. Nacua now stands as a must-start at least until Cooper Kupp returns. We'll see how the WR corps changes at that point.
Rams WR Puka Nacua (oblique) is active for today’s game vs. the 49ers. He was added to the injury report and sidelined on Thursday but returned to a limited practice on Friday. We haven’t heard anything about Nacua being limited today. But between the injury and difficult matchup, he’s just a low-end WR3 in our Week 2 rankings.
Rams WR Puka Nacua (oblique) is listed as questionable for this weekend's game vs. the 49ers. He got in a limited practice on Friday after being sidelined on Thursday. HC Sean McVay said Friday afternoon that he expects Nacua to play against San Francisco. That's a 4:05 pm ET kickoff, but we'll look for an update on Nacua's status on Sunday morning.
Rams WR Puka Nacua was added to Thursday's injury report with an oblique and did not practice. Uh oh. Fantasy football's hottest waiver add is suddenly in question for Sunday's game vs. the 49ers. We'll look for further updates on Nacua's injury and see how he's listed on the final injury report tomorrow.
The Rams will place WR Cooper Kupp (hamstring) on IR, according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport. That knocks Kupp out for at least the first four games of the season. Hopefully he's ready to go come Week 5 and the hamstring trouble doesn't resurface. Kupp is certainly worth stashing in all fantasy leagues. Van Jefferson figures to operate as Los Angeles' No. 1 WR with Kupp out. We'll see how the WR corps shakes out behind him. TE Tyler Higbee should also see a bunch of targets sans Kupp.
Rams Wire's Cameron DaSilva says "no one should sleep on [Demarcus] Robinson or [Tyler] Johnson as the Rams' No. 3 receiver." He adds that either has a chance to "leapfrog" Ben Skowronek, Tutu Atwell, and Puka Nacua in pursuit of that third spot, joining Cooper Kupp and Van Jefferson. We wouldn't recommend investing heavily into any of those competitors -- and we're not even especially interested in Jefferson. But we'll be watching to see who emerges as that No. 3 wideout.
Rams rookie WR Puka Nacua has continued to be heavily involved on offense with the start of training camp. Jordan Rodrigue of The Athletic called it a "substantial workload" Thursday. That came minutes before Stu Jackson of the team website called it "very apparent the Rams are continuing to test and give [a] big workload" to Nacua. This follows buzz on the rookie in spring workouts. Nacua recently landed among our dynasty rookie sleepers. The Rams' thin receiving corps gives him a shot at immediate fantasy relevance as well, from a no-risk ADP. We'll keep watching his progress -- and ADP -- through summer. For now, the rookie remains low in our 2023 WR rankings.
Rams beat writer Cameron DaSilva writes that “in all likelihood,” the team will use a rotation at WR3. Van Jefferson holds the WR2 role behind Cooper Kupp. But we’ll see training camp sort the depth chart beyond that, with Tutu Atwell, Ben Skowrenek, and Puka Nacua as leading contenders. Atwell brings big-play appeal, making him a late-round option in best ball leagues. Nacua, though, has drawn the most buzz this offseason. The real takeaway is that Kupp remains a strong candidate to lead the NFL in targets.
Rams OC Mike LaFleur praised rookie WR Puka Nacua for his efforts at OTAs. “He’s a good-sized kid. He’s got a good frame to him. He catches the ball really effortlessly,” LaFleur said on Wednesday. “He can stay grounded through the catch and so he is doing a good job with it. And particularly moving him around quite a bit, not babying him at all with the motions and the alignments and stuff like that and so he’s doing a good job. You can tell, all you have to do is look at these – especially the young guys – just look at their eyes when they’re in the huddle and you can tell the guys that are swimming, the guys that aren’t and he definitely has a calm demeanor about himself and is fitting in nicely.” Nacua will compete for rotational snaps behind Cooper Kupp and Van Jefferson. The 5th-round pick is much more intriguing in dynasty formats.
Search
