The Los Angeles Rams will face the Seattle Seahawks in Week 9. Here’s the latest fantasy football news and advice to help you with your lineups this week and moving forward, especially regarding WR Puka Nacua.
Is Puka Nacua Playing in Week 9?
Puka Nacua just returned from a knee injury after a five-game absence. The Los Angeles Rams held their collective breath when Nacua left Thursday’s practice with another knee issue.
While NFL Network reported that the second-year wideout isn’t dealing with a severe injury, Nacua is officially questionable for Week 9. He did not participate in Friday’s practice.
Rams head coach Sean McVay said Nacua “banged his knee” on Thursday but added he would not bet against the 2023 fifth-round pick suiting up against the Seahawks on Sunday. McVay also noted that there’s nothing structurally wrong with Nacua’s knee.
While Nacua continues to battle knee issues, McVay doesn’t think the Rams will have to manage his injury throughout the season. Instead, L.A.’s head coach hopes Nacua’s injury was more of a “scare.”
Nacua returned last week to catch seven passes on nine targets for 106 yards. He finished as the WR14 in PPR leagues in Week 8. If Nacua can’t play this week, Cooper Kupp could secure one of the largest target shares of any WR this season.
We’ll continue to monitor the Rams’ injury report. You can also visit and bookmark our NFL Injury Tracker and Fantasy News Tracker for the latest updates.
Should You Start or Sit Puka Nacua in Week 9?
It was a wild 12 hours ahead of kickoff last week, as Nacua’s status improved rapidly, and he was able to help the Rams potentially save their season with a 30-20 win over the Vikings.
The questions came flooding in once the whispers of his activity came out, a good reminder to stay fluid with your lineup at all times and to always reach out when drastic things like that happen.
Nacua went on to lead this team in catches (seven), targets (nine), and receiving yards (106), capitalizing on a game plan that was pretty clearly designed to make him comfortable (targeted on three of Matthew Stafford’s first throws). His two carries didn’t do much damage (five yards), but that’s not something the team schemes up if not fully confident in his health.
His stat line might not reflect limited reps. But after being on the field for 86.8% of offensive snaps as a rookie, his time spent on the field was certainly watched with a careful eye on Thursday:
Week 8 WR snap rates:
- Demarcus Robinson: 83.3%
- Cooper Kupp: 56.1%
- Puka Nacua: 53%
- Tyler Johnson: 40.9%
- Tutu Atwell: 13.6%
What the team is unable to control, however, is this man’s ability to open up windows for Stafford to throw him the ball. Nacua was targeted on 40.9% of his routes, an absurd rate that ranked as the second-best showing of his career and 12.9 percentage points ahead of his historic rookie season as a whole.
We could waste time in arguing which receiver is the alpha in this offense (I like the slot against Seattle and Kupp was there nearly three times as often as Nacua last week). But no matter your stance there, if you have one of them, you’re plugging him in with the utmost confidence in a game that could easily be a shootout.
Are you looking for start/sit advice for other players in your lineup? Read our Week 9 Fantasy Start-Sit Advice Cheat Sheet for every fantasy-relevant player in every game.
Puka Nacua’s Fantasy Points Projection in Week 9
Nacua is projected to score 17 fantasy points in PPR formats. This includes 6.7 receptions for 81 yards and 0.2 touchdowns.
Check out the free PFN Fantasy Start-Sit Optimizer for the latest projections and advice for your lineups this week.
PFN Insights: Seattle Seahawks Defense
The Seattle Seahawks padded their stats nicely in the early part of the season, but there were some warning signs that this defense might not last, which has proven to be the case. They have now ranked in the bottom half of teams in each of the last five weeks and have allowed 28 points or more in four of those games.
The hope was that their ability to generate pressure without blitzing, which they rank fourth in this season, would see them improve as the year went on, but that has not been the case. Based on the way this is trending, this could be a bottom-10 unit before long. That could still be an improvement on last year’s 29th-ranked performance, but it would be a hollow “win.”
For more insight on all other team defenses, head to our PFN Defense+ Metric Analysis.
Puka Nacua’s Week 9 Fantasy Ranking
Our Weekly Consensus PPR Rankings are below — both positional and overall. They were last updated at 3:45 AM ET on Wednesday, December 25. If you're in a Superflex league, make sure you check out our Weekly Consensus Superflex Rankings.
Week 17 WR PPR Rankings
1) Ja'Marr Chase | CIN (vs. DEN)
2) Puka Nacua | LAR (vs. ARI)
3) Amon-Ra St. Brown | DET (at SF)
4) Justin Jefferson | MIN (vs. GB)
5) Mike Evans | TB (vs. CAR)
6) Nico Collins | HOU (vs. BAL)
7) A.J. Brown | PHI (vs. DAL)
8) CeeDee Lamb | DAL (at PHI)
9) Terry McLaurin | WAS (vs. ATL)
10) Davante Adams | NYJ (at BUF)
11) Tyreek Hill | MIA (at CLE)
12) Tee Higgins | CIN (vs. DEN)
13) Brian Thomas Jr. | JAX (vs. TEN)
14) Courtland Sutton | DEN (at CIN)
15) Ladd McConkey | LAC (at NE)
16) Drake London | ATL (at WAS)
17) Jaxon Smith-Njigba | SEA (at CHI)
18) Malik Nabers | NYG (vs. IND)
19) Cooper Kupp | LAR (vs. ARI)
20) Garrett Wilson | NYJ (at BUF)
21) Jauan Jennings | SF (vs. DET)
22) Zay Flowers | BAL (at HOU)
23) DJ Moore | CHI (vs. SEA)
24) Jakobi Meyers | LV (at NO)
25) Keenan Allen | CHI (vs. SEA)
26) Jordan Addison | MIN (vs. GB)
27) DK Metcalf | SEA (at CHI)
28) George Pickens | PIT (vs. KC)
29) Calvin Ridley | TEN (at JAX)
30) DeVonta Smith | PHI (vs. DAL)
31) Khalil Shakir | BUF (vs. NYJ)
32) Adam Thielen | CAR (at TB)
33) Jameson Williams | DET (at SF)
34) Deebo Samuel Sr. | SF (vs. DET)
35) Jayden Reed | GB (at MIN)
36) DeAndre Hopkins | KC (at PIT)
37) Xavier Worthy | KC (at PIT)
38) Marvin Harrison Jr. | ARI (at LAR)
39) Jaylen Waddle | MIA (at CLE)
40) Darnell Mooney | ATL (at WAS)
41) Jerry Jeudy | CLE (vs. MIA)
42) Josh Downs | IND (at NYG)
43) Jalen McMillan | TB (vs. CAR)
44) Hollywood Brown | KC (at PIT)
45) Rome Odunze | CHI (vs. SEA)
46) Romeo Doubs | GB (at MIN)
47) Amari Cooper | BUF (vs. NYJ)
48) Michael Pittman Jr. | IND (at NYG)
49) Rashod Bateman | BAL (at HOU)
50) Quentin Johnston | LAC (at NE)
51) Jalen Coker | CAR (at TB)
52) DeMario Douglas | NE (vs. LAC)
53) Wan'Dale Robinson | NYG (vs. IND)
54) Christian Watson | GB (at MIN)
55) Nick Westbrook-Ikhine | TEN (at JAX)
56) Elijah Moore | CLE (vs. MIA)
57) Marquez Valdes-Scantling | BUF (vs. NYJ)
58) Calvin Austin III | PIT (vs. KC)
59) Joshua Palmer | LAC (at NE)
60) Robert Woods | HOU (vs. BAL)
61) Parker Washington | JAX (vs. TEN)
62) Tim Patrick | DET (at SF)
63) Ray-Ray McCloud III | ATL (at WAS)
64) John Metchie III | HOU (vs. BAL)
65) Keon Coleman | BUF (vs. NYJ)
66) David Moore | CAR (at TB)
67) Devaughn Vele | DEN (at CIN)
68) Michael Wilson | ARI (at LAR)
69) Tre Tucker | LV (at NO)
70) Kendrick Bourne | NE (vs. LAC)
71) Mike Williams | PIT (vs. KC)
72) Marvin Mims Jr. | DEN (at CIN)
73) Andrei Iosivas | CIN (vs. DEN)
74) Kayshon Boutte | NE (vs. LAC)
75) Malik Washington | MIA (at CLE)
76) Olamide Zaccheaus | WAS (vs. ATL)
77) Brandin Cooks | DAL (at PHI)
78) Sterling Shepard | TB (vs. CAR)
79) Tyler Lockett | SEA (at CHI)
80) Demarcus Robinson | LAR (vs. ARI)
81) Adonai Mitchell | IND (at NYG)
82) Dyami Brown | WAS (vs. ATL)
83) Dontayvion Wicks | GB (at MIN)
84) Alec Pierce | IND (at NYG)
85) Allen Lazard | NYJ (at BUF)
86) Van Jefferson | PIT (vs. KC)
87) Darius Slayton | NYG (vs. IND)
88) Ricky Pearsall | SF (vs. DET)
89) Jalen Tolbert | DAL (at PHI)
90) Jamison Crowder | WAS (vs. ATL)
91) Tyler Boyd | TEN (at JAX)
92) Troy Franklin | DEN (at CIN)
93) Kevin Austin Jr. | NO (vs. LV)
94) Mack Hollins | BUF (vs. NYJ)
95) Tutu Atwell | LAR (vs. ARI)
96) Jalen Nailor | MIN (vs. GB)
97) KaVontae Turpin | DAL (at PHI)
98) JuJu Smith-Schuster | KC (at PIT)
99) Michael Woods II | CLE (vs. MIA)
100) Justin Watson | KC (at PIT)
Los Angeles Rams at Seattle Seahawks Insights
Los Angeles Rams
Team: Over their past three games, the Rams have coveted seven-of-nine red zone drives into touchdowns (prior: seven-of-17).
QB: Matthew Stafford posted his best EPA against zone in a game since Week 6, 2021 (it was the first time he posted a positive number since Week 1, the last time he had both Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua)
Offense: In the return of their two star receivers, the Rams operated at their slowest pace of the season and it worked – they averaged a season-best 5.8 yards per play.
Defense: In Weeks 5-8, Los Angeles has allowed opponents to convert just 20% of third downs (Weeks 1-4: 50%).
Fantasy: Puka Nacua dropped the first target on Thursday night, but in his return to action, three of Stafford’s first four passes were directed toward the second-year weapon.
Betting: The Rams kicked off Week 8 on Thursday night – they are 6-15-1 ATS (28.6%) since the beginning of 2019 when playing on extended rest (only the Jets and Texans have been worse in such spots over that stretch). They’ve failed to cover each of their past eight games (average cover margin: -6.1 points)
Seattle Seahawks
Team: This is Seattle’s fourth home game in a five-game stretch—they’ve lost the first three and been outscored 96-54 in those contests (Giants, 49ers, and Bills).
QB: In the first four weeks this season, Geno Smith completed 81% of his out-of-pocket throws. Over the past four weeks, that rate has regressed in a major way: 35.7%.
Offense: Seattle went three-and-out on 55.6% of their drives against the Bills, their second-highest rate since November 1, 2021 (Week 9, 2023, at Ravens).
Defense: In Weeks 1-3, the Seahawks took advantage of their schedule (DEN, NE, and MIA) and allowed just 1.03 points per drive. In their five games since (DET, NYG, SF, ATL, and BUF), they are allowing 2.61 points per drive (up 153.4%)
Fantasy: Kenneth Walker III is already three receptions away from setting a career-high for a season – he has over seven PPR points as a pass catcher in all five of his games back from injury.
Betting: The Seahawks are a league-worst 14-25-1 ATS (35.9%) after Halloween since 2020 (the Rams are 23-19-1 ATS over that stretch, eighth-best).
Betting: Since 2021, the Seahawks are just 3-7 ATS in home divisional games (unders are 7-3 in those games).