Puka Nacua’s introduction to the fantasy football space was with a boom as a rookie and he hasn’t looked back. He leveled up in 2025 with Matthew Stafford playing at an MVP level for four months and with essentially the same offense returning, you have every reason to bring him up in the conversation for the most valuable assets in this game of ours.
Should I Draft Puka Nacua in Fantasy Football?
Nacua has played 44 professional games and has earned 432 targets. He came out of BYU without tremendous expectations as a fifth-round pick, but he’s been finding seams and making plays since the second Sean McVay unleashed him in 2023.
Why would that change as he enters his age-25 season?
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Even with Davante Adams serving as a goal-line receiver last year, Nacua added to his already expansive fantasy production buffet. The volume and YAC abilities were a given after two years, but only nine of his 184 catches resulted in touchdowns, something that was keeping him from truly ranking among the elite.
That concern is no more after he scored 10 times on 129 grabs last season. Personally, I’m penciling in regression for the aging Adams, and that puts Nacua in the triple crown conversation if he is active for the entire season.
Critics will point to Stafford’s battle against Father Time and worry about the stability of this offense as a whole. I don’t disagree with that, but if the 38-year-old QB can give us even 75% of what he did a year ago, Nacua figures to produce Tier 1 numbers.
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I favor running backs at the tippy top of the draft, but that’s more of a positional thing than a slight to the wideouts. Through drafting, I’ve found that I’m less comfortable with the RB2-3 tier than I am the WR2-3-4 tier, and that has me ranking Bijan Robinson and Jahmyr Gibbs as the top two assets this season.
That said, it wouldn’t be hard to make the Nacua case, and if you feel good about going RB-RB in Rounds 2-3 of your specific draft, I’d fully endorse the selection of your WR1 (be it Ja’Marr Chase or Nacua) with the first overall pick.
Kyle Soppe’s WR Fantasy Rankings 2026
- Ja’Marr Chase | CIN
- Puka Nacua | LAR
- Jaxon Smith-Njigba | SEA
- Amon-Ra St. Brown | DET
- Nico Collins | HOU
- Drake London | ATL
- A.J. Brown | NE
- Justin Jefferson | MIN
- CeeDee Lamb | DAL
- Malik Nabers | NYG
- George Pickens | DAL
- Rashee Rice | KC
- Zay Flowers | BAL
- Jaylen Waddle | DEN
- Chris Olave | NO
- Ladd McConkey | LAC
- Tee Higgins | CIN
- Emeka Egbuka | TB
- DeVonta Smith | PHI
- Tetairoa McMillan | CAR
- Luther Burden III | CHI
- Terry McLaurin | WAS
- Garrett Wilson | NYJ
- Christian Watson | GB
- Jameson Williams | DET
- Rome Odunze | CHI
- Jakobi Meyers | JAX
- Michael Wilson | ARI
- Carnell Tate | TEN
- Parker Washington | JAX
- DJ Moore | BUF
- Marvin Harrison Jr. | ARI
- DK Metcalf | PIT
- Brian Thomas Jr. | JAX
- Quentin Johnston | LAC
- Davante Adams | LAR
- Stefon Diggs | WAS
- Jayden Reed | GB
- Josh Downs | IND
- Alec Pierce | IND
- Courtland Sutton | DEN
- Mike Evans | SF
- Michael Pittman Jr. | PIT
- Matthew Golden | GB
- Khalil Shakir | BUF
- Wan’Dale Robinson | TEN
- Rashid Shaheed | SEA
- Jordyn Tyson | NO
- Makai Lemon | PHI
- Romeo Doubs | NE
