2025 Fantasy Football: Ja'Marr Chase Headlines Top 5 NFL Wide Receivers

5. Puka Nacua, Los Angeles Rams

Coming into the league in 2023, Puka Nacua was an afterthought for most draft rooms—mine included. His release against press coverage was inconsistent, and he lacked the deep speed scouts crave in a big-play threat. He fell to the fifth round, and truth be told, I let that draft capital cloud my judgment. I saw a limited ceiling and didn’t dig deeper into what made him truly special: elite body control, sticky hands, and a bulldog mentality after the catch.

At BYU, Nacua put up 91 grabs for 1,430 yards and 11 touchdowns in two seasons—plus added 357 yards and five scores on the ground. The versatility was there. The production was there. But I let his draft position overshadow his profile, and I paid the price.

When Cooper Kupp went down early in 2023, Nacua didn’t just step up—he erupted. He posted three monster games in his first four starts (10/119, 15/147, and 9/163/1), thanks to target avalanches of 15, 20, and 10. The Rams dialed things back a bit later in the year, giving him fewer than nine targets in nine of his final 12 regular-season games. That led to a few duds (like 4/26 and 3/32), but he still exploded in multiple matchups, including three separate 150+ yard outings and a massive 9/181/1 line in the playoffs.

Nacua ended the season fourth in fantasy points among wideouts (298.5 PPR) and ranked sixth in targets (160). That’s elite territory—and he did it in his rookie year.

Fast forward to 2024. Nacua battled a knee issue throughout August and reaggravated it in Week 1, missing five games. But when he returned, he was a machine: nine of his next 10 games featured WR1 production, highlighted by lines like 12/180/2, 9/117, and 10/129. That stretch alone netted 196.3 PPR points—averaging 21.81 per game.

If you stretched Nacua’s final 10 regular-season games across a full year, he would have finished as the WR2 behind only Ja’Marr Chase. The risk? His aggressive, tackle-breaking style invites contact, and his injury history (foot in 2019, multiple ailments in 2022, knee in 2024) can’t be ignored. Still, the Rams feed him across the formation, especially in high-percentage areas near the line of scrimmage—perfect for PPR formats.

Currently being drafted as the WR6, Nacua offers top-three upside if he stays on the field. He’s a legitimate 120-catch, 1,500-yard, 8-TD candidate—and if you’re willing to ride the volatility, he could be your fantasy league-winner in 2025.