RADIO
Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Puka Nacua (knee) burst onto the fantasy football scene in 2023, breaking the rookie receiving yards record with 1,486 yards and finishing as the WR4 overall in PPR. Nacua was a late 1st to early 2nd round draft pick in many PPR fantasy drafts this year.
Unfortunately, Puka didn't make it through a full game before going down with an injury in the game against the Detroit Lions on Sunday night. Puka attempted to return to the game but was eventually carted off the field and declared "out" for the remainder of the game.
Will Puka be available for Week 2 when the Rams face the 49ers? What is currently known about Puka's injury? Let's dive in.
Be sure to check all of our fantasy football rankings for 2024:- Quarterback fantasy football rankings
- Running back fantasy football rankings
- Wide receiver fantasy football rankings
- Tight end fantasy football rankings
- Kicker fantasy football rankings
- FLEX fantasy football rankings
- Defense (D/ST) fantasy football rankings
- Superflex fantasy football rankings
- IDP fantasy football rankings
- Dynasty fantasy football rankings
Puka Nacua Injury Update for Fantasy Football
Nacua injured his knee during Sunday night's game against the Detroit Lions. These likely happened on the plays shown below. In the first play, Nacua first bangs his knee on the turf. In the second, his knee is impacted first by the defender, then by falling on the turf again.
Puka Nacua Knee
1. Bangs R knee on turf
2. Defender hits knee + bounces off turf
-Biggest concern: “bursa sac” is also a PCL
-Worst case: 8+ weeks *Highly unlikely*
-Mid case: 3-4 weeks
-Comp: Andre Ellington (3 weeks)
-Best case: 0-1 weeks
-Comp: Eric Decker (1 week) pic.twitter.com/YBCCUWJBhG
— Edwin Porras, DPT (@FBInjuryDoc) September 9, 2024
It's always possible that the extent of Puka's injury wasn't fully revealed. He burst the bursa sac in his right knee during training camp, and the videos seem to show the same knee being impacted three times. It makes sense that if his knee wasn't fully healed, he could have been more prone to re-injury.
This is a concerning injury. Nacua originally injured the knee on August 4, so he's had over a month to recover. If that's not enough time, it's worth speculating whether or not the injury is more serious.
Puka Nacua Fantasy Football Outlook
Nacua is still an excellent receiver, but a fully healthy Cooper Kupp had a fantastic game against the Lions Sunday night, hauling in 14 catches on 21 targets for 110 yards and a touchdown. Kupp provides significant target competition for Nacua, and if Puka isn't 100% healthy when he returns, Kupp could continue his target share dominance.
BREAKING: #Rams star wide receiver Puka Nacua was CARTED off to the locker room, and has already been ruled OUT by the team.
He was visibly frustrated and angry.
Just awful… 👇pic.twitter.com/WF0oEoAItU
— MLFootball (@_MLFootball) September 9, 2024
It appears his injury is more serious than originally reported by Rams head coach Sean McVay, so Puka could see a dip in his numbers when he returns. He's still worth starting, especially with the draft pick that managers had to invest to acquire him, but it will be an uphill battle for him to put up his 2023 numbers again.
Download Our Free News & Alerts Mobile App
Like what you see? Download our updated fantasy football app for iPhone and Android with 24x7 player news, injury alerts, rankings, starts/sits & more. All free!
More Fantasy Football Analysis
