Los Angeles Rams WR Cooper Kupp exited the Week 11 contest against the Seattle Seahawks after suffering an ankle injury, which immediately saw rookie WR Puka Nacua put up his best fantasy football performance since Week 7.
Unfortunately, Nacua picked up an injury in the same game, which has his fantasy outlook heading into their game against the Arizona Cardinals a bit uncertain. Let’s take a closer look at his most recent injury update and the potential fantasy fallout of his injury.
Latest Injury Update on Puka Nacua
Nacua’s fantastic rookie campaign has been plagued with minor injuries throughout the 2023 season, which now includes a new shoulder injury. According to a recent report from Jourdan Rodrigue, Rams HC Sean McVay detailed that Nacua would be a limited participant in Wednesday’s practice.
Another relevant report to Nacua’s fantasy value in Week 12 pertains to the status of Kupp, where a recent report from Dianna Russini stated that Kupp was on the field and expected to practice on Thursday.
Will Nacua Play This Week?
Prior to sustaining a shoulder injury last week, Nacua dealt with both an oblique and knee injury earlier this season but managed to play through both injuries. His appearance on the practice field to start the week of practice certainly inspires some confidence that the injury isn’t too serious.
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If Nacua continues to make it on the practice field throughout the week, chances are pretty favorable that he will be able to play in Week 12. Fantasy managers will want to monitor his participation in practice as the week progresses.
What Does This Mean for Cooper Kupp and Tutu Atwell’s Fantasy Ranking?
When trying to fully analyze the fantasy outlook for the Rams WRs heading into Week 12, there are multiple hypothetical situations to address.
If Kupp is unavailable for the game against the Cardinals, Nacua is a must-start for your fantasy team. His four games of production to start the season without Kupp in the lineup were quite literally historic. Through those games, Nacua led the league in both targets (52) and receptions (39) and trailed only Minnesota Vikings WR Justin Jefferson in receiving yards prior to Kupp’s return.
If Nacua is unavailable but Kupp manages to take the field, then Kupp is a certified top-10 play at the WR position on Sunday. In this scenario, WR Tutu Atwell would also receive a small bump up in the fantasy rankings and would become a top-30 play in Week 12.
If both Nacua and Kupp are inactive against Arizona, then Atwell would see a huge jump in the fantasy rankings and enter the WR2 conversation. We would likely see TE Tyler Higbee enter the low-end TE1 conversation for the first time this season, as well.
If both Nacua and Kupp are both active, then Nacua would fall right around the top 25 in my weekly rankings at the WR position, while Kupp would still fall into the low-end WR1 conversation.
Did you get all of that? A big reason why the injuries to these Rams WRs are so influential to the fantasy rankings is because of the favorable matchup against a Cardinals secondary that is allowing an average of 29.5 fantasy points per game.
With starting RB Kyren Williams expected to return to the starting lineup, the Rams’ offense certainly has plenty of fantasy upside if Nacua and Kupp can make it onto the field in Week 12.
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