Fantasy football managers dropped significant amounts of FAAB this past week on Puka Nacua after a dominant NFL debut. The fifth-round rookie WR reeled in 15 targets from Matthew Stafford and put up over 100 yards the first time he’d ever stepped foot on the field for a regular season game!
Nacua seemed in line to be a fantasy breakout with Cooper Kupp sidelined for the next three weeks — at least. But an injury that sidelined him from practice on Thursday could put his Week 2 status in jeopardy.
Here’s the latest on the rookie WR and what it means for fantasy football.
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Latest News Surrounding Puka Nacua
As mentioned above, fantasy managers were excited to plug Nacua into their starting lineup after making him a priority pickup on the waiver wire this past week. However, a recent report from Adam Schefter that Nacua was sidelined on Thursday with an oblique injury puts that in jeopardy.
Rams’ WR Puka Nacua did not practice today due to an oblique injury..
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) September 14, 2023
It’s unknown at the time of writing just how severe the injury is or whether or not this means he will miss Week 2’s matchup against the San Francisco 49ers. The practice report from Friday will be critical to determine whether or not he can be trusted in starting lineups for fantasy this week.
Update: Nacua will be limited in practice on Friday, but the expectation is that he will play on Sunday.
Will Nacua Play This Week?
It’s currently unknown whether or not Nacua’s oblique injury is serious enough to cause him to miss this matchup against the Rams’ division rival. All reports coming out of Rams camp after the Week 1 victory over Seattle were positive regarding Nacua, so it’s possible this happened during a recent practice.
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We’ll update with more information as it becomes available, but fantasy managers that picked Nacua up off of waivers should begin to put a backup plan into place.
What Does This Mean for Nacua’s Fantasy Rankings?
As of right now, Nacua moves from a high-end Flex option in Week 2 to more of a mid-tier one. He’s someone who could still be started in Week 2 — assuming he practices on Friday — but there’s a possibility that this injury bothers him during the game.
With that being said, the opportunity still remains with Kupp sidelined. If you need a backup plan, Tutu Atwell may very well have made it through waivers unclaimed in your league. He could be a nice stash as a replacement if Nacua can’t suit up.
Make sure to watch our PFN Consensus Rankings to see where the rookie wideout lands going into Week 2 if he is able to suit up.