Puka Nacua 2024 Fantasy Outlook: Is Puka Overvalued?

The 2024 fantasy football season is fast approaching and many drafts will be taking place in the next few weeks. A question that is being asked by many in the fantasy community is whether Los Angeles Rams rookie sensation Puka Nacua can repeat his record-breaking season in his sophomore year. Can he catapult himself into the upper tier of wide receivers like Tyreek Hill and Ceedee Lamb?

In this article, we’ll dive into Nacua’s 2024 fantasy football value, analyzing last year’s performance, his current team dynamics, and his potential for the upcoming season. We’ll explore his strengths, and areas of concern, and compare him to other elite wide receivers in the league.

Whether you’re contemplating drafting him early trading for him or trading him to another manager in your dynasty league, this comprehensive analysis will help you make an informed decision on whether Nacua can truly reach the upper echelon of fantasy football wide receivers this season.

WR Puka Nacua Fantasy Value

Nacua is heading into his second season in the NFL and is coming off a sensational rookie season. He was drafted in the 5th round by the Rams and was an afterthought in many fantasy football rookie drafts in 2023 and most likely was on your league’s waiver wire entering the season.

However, that quickly changed in the first two weeks of the season when he scored 21.9 and 30.1 PPR points. Nacua became a hot waiver commodity and didn’t look back. Ultimately, he ended the season as the WR4 with 105 receptions, 1,486 receiving yards, and six touchdowns.

Fantasy Football Outlook

Entering into the 2024 season, Nacua is being valued as a WR1. His current ADP is WR7 and 10th overall. If you want Nacua on your fantasy team you’ll have to draft him with a late first-round pick.

A concern I have with Nacua entering his sophomore season is his splits with and without his wide receiver counterpart Cooper Kupp. In 12 full games with Kupp last year, he averaged 8.5 targets, 5.2 receptions, 78.7 receiving yards, and 0.3 touchdowns.

Furthermore, in five games without Kupp, Nacua averaged 11.6 targets, 8.6 receptions, 108.4 receiving yards, and 0.4 touchdowns. If we extrapolate his numbers with Kupp into a full season, Nacua would have finished as the WR13, just ahead of Michael Pittman and behind Nico Collins. By the way, Kupp is fully healthy entering into this season.

Dynasty Football Outlook

In dynasty fantasy football Nacua’s ADP is WR5 and eight overall. Many have him in the second tier of wide receivers behind Lamb, Jefferson, Chase, and St. Brown.

Nacua is also tied to an aging, and forever rumored to be retiring quarterback Matthew Stafford. There are concerns for Nacua’s future production when Stafford eventually retires because the backup QB Stetson Bennett is not the solution.

There is also the concern that Nacua may have had his best season last year in his rookie year and that you may be drafting or trading for him at his peak

Conclusion

Overall, I am less concerned with Nacua in redraft leagues (although I am hesitant to draft him late in the first round) than I am in dynasty leagues. However, I am not actively looking to acquire Nacua as I believe his value is at its highest. Personally, if I were a Nacua owner, I would look to capitalize on his record-breaking rookie year.

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