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 You Draft Puka Nacua in Fantasy Football?
Puka is currently being drafted in PFN’s Free Fantasy Mock Draft Simulator at an ADP of 3.8, somewhere between the third and fourth overall picks. PFN’s fantasy football analysts Jason Katz and Kyle Soppe have him as the fourth overall prospect on their board for the upcoming fantasy season.
He’s one of just four skill-position players, or flex-position players, projected at over 20 points per game in PPR formats. He’s projected at 20.89 points per game.
Puka is coming off a tremendous season, extremely heavily targeted in the Rams’ offense. Davante Adams can steal some touchdowns from him, but it doesn’t change the fact that Puka is by far the WR1 in one of the best offenses in the NFL, with Matthew Stafford coming off an MVP season and Sean McVay as the offensive play caller. He’s incredibly well positioned to succeed.
Throughout his entire time with the Rams, but especially last season when he was able to stay healthy for the full year, Nacua has been a fantasy football mismatch compared to a vast majority of wide receivers. Unless he gets hurt, unless it’s a repeat of 2024 and he misses a few games, I absolutely think Nacua is worthy of a top-five selection. I would take him at his current ADP.
He’s currently, from an ADP perspective, being selected as the second receiver off the board behind Ja’Marr Chase. I’d honestly take Puka over Chase, and it’s close, because when Joe Burrow’s healthy in Cincinnati, Chase can put up some big numbers.
Puka can miss some time due to injury, but he’s shown that no matter the situation, when he plays, he’s going to be nothing short of phenomenal. The Rams are going to heavily target him no matter who’s at quarterback. Puka is somebody I’m absolutely taking at his current ADP.
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Puka Nacua’s Week 1 Fantasy Outlook
Analysis provided by PFN Analyst Kyle Soppe.
Eight top-5 finishes. Nine top-12s. 14 top-24s.
Nacua averages 95.3 receiving yards per game for his career and was able to more than double his TD reception total last season despite playing alongside Davante Adams in what will be remembered as one of the great touchdown-vulturing roles at the position in history.
He scored in both games against the Niners last season and has been featured in a video-game-like way to open two of his three NFL seasons.
2023: 35 targets and 25 catches through 2 games
2025: 62 targets and 52 catches through 5 games
This is a read-and-react league. The Rams have been at the forefront of three-tight-end sets, and they are largely ahead of, not chasing, trends. As far as I’m concerned, they could put four tight ends on the field if they want: until someone gives us a blueprint as to how to consistently prevent Nacua from earning targets (and no, hoping that he walks through a glass windowpane doesn’t qualify), I’m going to assume that it doesn’t exist.
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Where Nacua Ranks Among 2026 Wide Receivers
- Ja’Marr Chase | CIN
- Puka Nacua | LAR
- Jaxon Smith-Njigba | SEA
- Amon-Ra St. Brown | DET
- Justin Jefferson | MIN
- CeeDee Lamb | DAL
- Malik Nabers | NYG
- Drake London | ATL
- Nico Collins | HOU
- A.J. Brown | NE
- George Pickens | DAL
Want more? PFN’s 2026 PPR Rankings have 200+ players ranked.
