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    Is Puka Nacua Playing Today in Week 2? Latest Injury Updates, Fantasy Analysis, and More

    Puka Nacua was the Week 1 fantasy sensation. So much so, that many fantasy managers blew a ton of FAAB to acquire him. But will Nacua play in Week 2?

    Los Angeles Rams WR Puka Nacua was the Week 1 fantasy sensation. So much so that many fantasy football managers blew a ton of FAAB to acquire him. But will Nacua play in Week 2?

    Let’s look at Nacua’s latest injury update, whether he’s likely to play in Week 2, and what his fantasy outlook will be against the San Francisco 49ers if he does play.

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    Is Puka Nacua Going To Play Week 2?

    Fantasy managers raced to the waiver wire this week to spend a fair amount of FAAB dollars and waiver priorities on Nacua this week. In most leagues I play in, he was going for north of 30% of FAAB. I even saw some fantasy managers spend almost — or in a few cases — all of their FAAB to acquire him in their fantasy leagues.

    Therefore, it would have been a shock to those fantasy managers to see Nacua on the injury report coming into Week 2. That’s because, on Thursday, he didn’t practice due to an oblique injury. He’s now listed as questionable to face the 49ers today.

    However, it appears that Nacua will likely start today and that the Rams are just being cautious with him. According to an interview with Stu Jackson on the team’s website, Rams head coach Sean McVay said, “We’re being smart with him.”

    He then added, “You guys saw what a physical performance he had last week. He’s been involved in every part of it. We just wanted to make sure that we’re doing everything we can to get him feeling as good as possible by Sunday.

    “Today’s even more of an above-the-neck emphasis, which he will be part of. So we feel good about that. But we will list him as questionable.”

    Therefore, it seems Nacua is likely to play today. So, what does that mean for his fantasy outlook?

    Update: Nacua is active for the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday.

    What Does This Mean for Nacua’s Fantasy Outlook?

    While it looks like Nacua will play today, does that mean we should start him?

    He’s currently WR38 in the PFN Consensus Rankings. Some of that might be down to his injury status. However, another factor is we only have one professional game to judge him on.

    MORE: Week 2 Last-Minute Fantasy Start/Sit Advice

    Nacua was one of the standout players in Week 1, catching 10 passes for 119 yards off a league-high 15 targets in Week 1. He also ran routes 90% of the time, which tied for a team high. That translates to Nacua seeing targets on 43% of his routes run, which was by far the highest on the Rams last week.

    It appears Nacua has slotted into the role vacated by Cooper Kupp after the veteran moved to injured reserve (IR) just before the season started. Fantasy managers, meanwhile, truly believe Nacua could be playing in this role for much longer than the potential four weeks that Kupp is on IR.

    Nacua appears to be the first read for quarterback Matthew Stafford in this offense. Unfortunately, they have a different level of opposition today in the 49ers compared to the Seattle Seahawks last week.

    It’s hard to see Nacua having the same level of efficiency against San Francisco that he saw in Week 1. However, even if his ceiling is capped due to playing one of the best defenses in the NFL, Nacua’s 39.4% target share cannot be overlooked.

    Therefore, while there are a few question marks about Nacua heading into today, if he’s healthy enough to start, he should be in fantasy managers’ lineups in a PPR-scoring league due to his volume. In standard formats, Nacua represents more of a Flex play, meaning fantasy managers will need to evaluate their bench before deciding on whether to start him or not.

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