The Los Angeles Rams' Puka Nacua had one of the best rookie seasons ever in 2023. Injuries prevented him from matching that success in 2024, but a bounce-back season is expected, especially with Cooper Kupp now suiting up for the Seattle Seahawks. So, what is Nacua's fantasy football outlook for the 2025 season?
Puka Nacua's 2024 fantasy football statistics
Nacua had 105 catches for 1,486 yards and six touchdowns as a rookie in 2023. Both his receptions and receiving yards marks were rookie records. The uber-productive season came in a year where Matthew Stafford was looking for a new favorite target while Kupp spent time sidelined due to injury.
Kupp was a former Triple Crown winner in his own right and returned to a bigger role in 2024. Nacua, meanwhile, was the one who dealt with injuries. In his second season, the BYU product was limited to 11 games. He caught 79 balls for 990 yards and three touchdowns last season.
Had he played a full season, he could have trumped his production from the year prior. Instead, he finished as the 33rd-ranked receiver in standard fantasy football leagues and the No. 26 receiver in PPR formats. Nacua had 127.6 standard fantasy points and 206.6 PPR points.
Puka Nacua's 2025 fantasy football projection
A return to form, and even an improvement from his rookie season, is expected from Nacua. The receiver is projected to catch 109 balls for 1,461 yards and seven touchdowns. Nacua is a PPR beast who could rack up a high volume of catches with a gunslinger like Stafford throwing him the football.
Kupp was also a high-volume catch expert, so in theory, plenty of targets should open up in Los Angeles. However, the team did bring in another elite receiver. Davante Adams is one of the best receivers of this generation. Adams is 32 years old, though, so he could start to slow down. Furthermore, Adams is more of a big-play, jump-ball receiver, so he and Nacua will have different roles with the Rams. His presence could even take some of the pressure off Nacua. After all, Adams is 6-foot-1, 215 pounds, so some teams might need to put their biggest and best cornerback on him.
Fantsay football receiver rankings
Nacua's expected revival solidifies him as a first-round fantasy football pick. His average draft position is 8.5, as he is the fourth-ranked receiver and No. 7 player overall, according to FantasyPros. Nacua can work in the slot or on the outside. He has some of the best hands in football, and his route running his crisp. Fans often forget that he is a big-bodied target, too. Nacua even has a play-calling genius in Sean McVay leading his team.
One concern with Nacua to monitor is the health of his quarterback. Stafford hasn't practiced in training camp yet because of an aggravated disc in his back. A back injury is nothing to mess around with for a quarterback, and the lack of training camp reps could lead to a slow start between Nacua and his signal-caller.
More likely, though, Stafford will rely heavily on Nacua early in the season while he tries to build a rapport with Adams, whom he hasn't played with before. Stafford's injury isn't expected to prevent him from debuting in Week 1 as he gets set to return to practice. Expect Nacua's fantasy trajectory to return in an upward direction. He is ranked below only Ja'Marr Chase, Justin Jefferson, and CeeDee Lamb this season, and although drafting him above them would be a controversial decision, he could comfortably outscore all of the receivers ranked below him.
