Here Is What To Do With Puka Nacua In Fantasy Football
STACKED extracted the fantasy-relevant player signal from this video and kept the full transcript here for context.
18 min
Duration
Estimated from transcript
Sep 20, 2026
Published
Sun, September 20, 2026
18
Player insights
17
Players mentioned
Topics
Terrance FergusonBlake CorumChris GodwinChristian WatsonCourtland SuttonDavante AdamsEmari DemercadoIsaiah LikelyJake FergusonJaylen WarrenJordan WhittingtonMatthew StaffordNico CollinsPatrick Mahomes
Player analysis
Player insights
Blake Corum
PositiveProjection11:47
Blake Corum is a viable start with a decent chance of scoring a touchdown, estimated at 2.5 to 1 odds, despite having a modest overall fantasy projection.
Insight pageChris Godwin
PositiveValue6:55
Chris Godwin is a recommended replacement option for fantasy managers looking to bench Puka Nacua. Mattek ranks Godwin ahead of other available depth options like Courtland Sutton.
Insight pageChristian Watson
NegativeValue13:58
Mattek would prefer to trade away Christian Watson for Colston Loveland to maximize exposure to the Bears' offense.
Insight pageCourtland Sutton
NegativeValue6:56
Courtland Sutton is mentioned as a potential replacement option for Puka Nacua in fantasy lineups, though he is ranked behind Chris Godwin.
Insight pageDavante Adams
PositiveUsage3:51
Davante Adams is expected to see increased involvement as the primary outside wide receiver for the Rams if Puka Nacua is unavailable. Mattek recommends starting Adams over Travis Etienne in that scenario. Adams has confirmed he feels fine after returning from an Australian trip, despite being under the weather during a previous poor performance.
Insight pageEmari Demercado
PositiveValue25:31
Mattek identifies Emari Demercado as his favorite handcuff to own in fantasy football right now, advising against dropping him for other speculative adds.
Insight pageIsaiah Likely
PositiveUsage12:00
Isaiah Likely is considered a viable flex starter in fantasy lineups, particularly for managers who drafted him alongside Trey McBride.
Insight pageJake Ferguson
NegativeDepth Chart9:39
Mattek advises dropping Jake Ferguson for Tyler Johnson, reversing previous advice to add him as a waiver wire priority.
Insight pageJaylen Warren
PositiveUsage5:49
Jaylen Warren is considered an absolute smash start by Mattek, who expresses high enthusiasm for his current role in fantasy lineups.
Insight pageJordan Whittington
NegativeInjury2:09
Jordan Whittington is listed as doubtful and is not expected to play. While he serves as the direct backup to Puka Nacua in the Rams' offense and historically sees significant snap shares when Nacua is out, his own injury status makes him unavailable for fantasy consideration.
Insight pageMatthew Stafford
NegativeProjection13:52
Matthew Stafford's fantasy ranking has been downgraded following Puka Nacua's injury; Mattek notes he was already lower on Stafford than the consensus.
Insight pageNico Collins
NegativeInjury13:37
Nico Collins is cited as a cautionary comparison for Puka Nacua's injury, noting that Collins pulled up with a hamstring injury in practice and subsequently missed the game.
Insight pagePatrick Mahomes
PositiveProjection14:19
Patrick Mahomes is ranked higher than Matthew Stafford in weekly quarterback rankings.
Insight pagePuka Nacua
NegativeInjury0:00
Puka Nacua is dealing with multiple injury complications, including missing practice on both Friday and Saturday. Mattek estimates only a 30% chance he plays on Monday night, noting he is closer to doubtful than questionable. Fantasy managers are advised to remove him from lineups, as the balance of probability suggests he will not play.
Insight pageTerrance Ferguson
PositiveBreakout4:03
Terence Ferguson is identified as the most direct beneficiary if Puka Nacua is out, as the Rams historically shift to heavier 12 and 13 personnel groupings in those scenarios. He is a recommended target in tight end premium leagues.
Insight pagePositiveBreakout4:03
Terrence Ferguson is the most direct beneficiary if Puka Nacua is out, as the Rams historically shift to heavier 12 and 13 personnel groupings. He is a recommended waiver wire pickup and start, particularly in tight end premium leagues (1.4 points per reception).
Insight pageTyler Johnson
PositiveRole25:16
Mattek identifies Tyler Johnson as the primary beneficiary for targets if Puka Nacua is sidelined, explicitly recommending him as a start over Golden and advising managers to drop Jake Ferguson for him. Mattek believes Johnson can grow into a meaningful role within the offense.
Insight pageZay Flowers
NegativeInjury13:36
Zay Flowers is used as a historical comparison for Puka Nacua's injury, specifically regarding players who pull up with injuries during practice.
Insight pageFull transcript
Episode Transcript
0:00All
0:00right, we got to figure out what is
0:02going on with Puka Nakua. It has been a
0:04cascading stream of reports that have
0:07been coming in. Puka did not practice on
0:10Friday. Generally speaking, I would say
0:13the non-practice on Friday for a
0:15receiver is always bad when you get the
0:18late practice edition. And we do know
0:20that Pukah has been banged up in the
0:22preseason. We knew that he had the soaz
0:24thing. We knew that he had some general
0:26soreness. It was reported that what he
0:28is being listed as questionable with
0:30right now is not the same thing that was
0:33bothering him in the preseason is not
0:35the soaz. However, there are multiple
0:38things that are complicating what you do
0:40with Pukanua if you have him in fantasy
0:42football because the classic move that
0:45you could do which by the way if you
0:47don't know if you're sending your lineup
0:48he plays on Monday night so he is the
0:49last game of the entire slate. There's
0:51no other game. I mean we might be able
0:54we might get news later right? So, I'm
0:56recording this right now, Saturday,
0:58September 19th, 6:46 p.m. Central time.
1:01So, maybe tomorrow morning, we wake up
1:03and Adam Shaper tweets, "Hey, Puka, he
1:06tried everything. He woke up feeling
1:08more sore on Sunday. He's not going to
1:10be able to go." I would say based on
1:14that, I would say 30% chance Pukanakua
1:18plays right now. I would lean on him
1:19more being doubtful than questionable.
1:22He's currently listed as questionable.
1:23He did not practice Friday. He did not
1:25practice Saturday. A complicating factor
1:29here, his direct backup inside the Los
1:31Angeles Rams offense. We've actually
1:33seen this before. Um, a young man by the
1:36name of Jordan Whittington who graduated
1:38from the University of Texas at Austin
1:40was actually uh teammates with my guy
1:43Xavier Worthy was teammates with uh
1:45Gunnar Helm, Javian Sanders, these guys.
1:47So, we've actually seen this multiple
1:49times and I will actually pull up his
1:50game log from the last time this
1:52happened. We will go back to 2025 on Pro
1:55Football Reference. The game against
1:57Jacksonville, Whittington started the
2:00game. Um, Puka got injured in this game
2:02right here. So, he got injured against
2:04Baltimore and then he started the game
2:06against Jacksonville. He only played 60%
2:08of the snaps. You say, Davis, how did he
2:09only play 60% of the snaps if Pukanaku
2:12was out? Well, if you guys might
2:14remember, if we go look at these snaps
2:15here, this was the game that caused
2:18Shawn McVey to basically invent the 12
2:22personnel, the 13th personnel, this was
2:23the thing that caused the big change for
2:26the Rams. If we go look at the snap
2:27shares here, you can see that
2:29Whittington played 60%, Adams played
2:3159%. They also got uh they they won this
2:34game by a ton of points. Xavier Smith,
2:36Mumfield, and 22 Wall played, but look
2:38at the tight ends. 26 snaps for Higgby,
2:4133 for Kobe Parkinson, 34 for Terence
2:43Ferguson, and 36 for Davis Allen. This
2:48is what I would say right now. If you're
2:51asking me a question, what should I do
2:53with Puka Nakua? I would say you're
2:55benching him. The only scenario in which
2:57I am not benching Puka are teams where I
3:01already have Terence Ferguson. I think
3:04Terence Ferguson with Jordan
3:05Winningington out is going to be the
3:07most direct beneficiary. And I promise
3:09you, I am not just saying that because I
3:11love Terren Ferguson. It's just kind of
3:13based on the historical way that things
3:15have shook out that they're going to go
3:17heavier into 12. They are going to go
3:19heavier into 13 personnel. So my
3:22assumption would be that what they're
3:24going to do Monday night against the
3:25Giants is it's going to be a lot of
3:27Devonte Adams. It will also be a fair
3:29amount of Canada Mumfeld. He's the other
3:32one. So if we look at the depth chart
3:34here for the Rams, I had it pulled up
3:36earlier. Um so here we go. The depth
3:38chart for the Rams means that Devonte
3:41Adams is the primary outside wide
3:43receiver. Puka Dakua's direct backup is
3:45Jordan Whittington. They don't really
3:48have a slot wide receiver. You know,
3:49most teams uh do have a slot wide
3:53receiver that that plays a different
3:54position. That's not really the way the
3:56Rams work. The only league, this is
3:59actually true, I just went through all
4:00my managed leagues. This is the only
4:02league where I am making the decision
4:04myself. You guys can see this is a 16
4:07team league that I'm in. I have Puka in
4:10this league. So, these would be my
4:11options. I can bench Puka to play Chris
4:15Godwin or Courtland Sutton or I can wait
4:18all the way until Monday night and I can
4:21do Canadam Mumfeld. So, what do I want
4:25to do? I'm gonna show you guys in a real
4:28league that I'm playing for for real
4:29money what [clears throat] I'm going to
4:31do which is I'm gonna bench Puka in this
4:34league and I'm gonna bench him for
4:36actually not Courtland Sutton. I'm going
4:37to bench him for Chris Godwin why I've
4:39ranked ahead. Uh but but that is roughly
4:42your decision-making there. So, I've
4:44removed Pukanakua from my starting
4:45lineup. And I would say basically this
4:49in leagues where I can add Terrence
4:52Ferguson, I'm going to write it out that
4:54I have one FFPC main event. So, that is
4:57a $2,000 fantasy league that is tight
4:59end premium. So, 1.4 points per
5:02reception for tight end. In that league
5:04that we drafted Puka, we also have the
5:06good fortune of having Terrence
5:08Ferguson. But in leagues where I do not
5:10have Ferguson, I think that Canada
5:12Munfeld, Xavier Smith, CJ Daniels, Kobby
5:16Parkinson, Tyler Higgby, I think all
5:18these guys are too thin. I do not think
5:21they are good enough picks. So I would
5:23tell you go to your fourth wide
5:25receiver, go to your third running back,
5:28move him on the bench. I mean, here, let
5:30me just pull up another high stakes team
5:32and let's just pretend that one of my
5:33good players is Puka and we can do um we
5:37can do some of these right here. So,
5:38here is a high stakes team where if uh
5:41well, actually, I mean, our our
5:43receivers on this team. Okay. Well,
5:44there you go. Bowowers, right? So, we
5:46have Bowers on the bench because he's
5:47not going to play. So, we are starting
5:49guys like Jaylen Warren. We are starting
5:51guys like Josh DS. I would start Josh DS
5:55instead because this is the other thing
5:57as my guy Max notes here. So, your
5:59options on the Giants would be Malachi
6:01Fields. It would be Darnell Mooney. It
6:03would be Theo Johnson. And those options
6:06are just all not good enough, right?
6:09Those options are all zeros. Now, if I
6:11felt better about Puka playing, it would
6:13be a little bit different. And I'm not a
6:15doctor, so you just have to say at at
6:18some degree, you kind of have to make
6:19your own decision about how much you
6:22think this guy is going to play. If you
6:24think that there is a 60% chance that
6:27Puka plays, then you should not do this.
6:29Then you should pick up Malachi Fields.
6:31You should pick up Deon Singleary. This
6:32is actually what I'm doing. my guy Tai
6:34mentions here, Devin Singleary. I
6:36actually just in reddraft normal manage
6:39leagues and picking up quite a bit of
6:41Devin Singleary.
6:43Uh, actually, you know what? This is a
6:45this is a good point here. I'm actually
6:47swapping Jaylen War out right now for
6:49Jakori Cross. I'm not even going to
6:51check that one with my co-managers and
6:53I'm actually going to bench Greg Doulich
6:54for Terren Ferguson and my co-managers
6:56are just going to have to uh they're
6:58just going to have to eat it. Um, so,
7:00okay, good good example from Nick here.
7:02I have Puka and Cororum. Should I ride
7:05it out? That is a great example. You
7:07should ride that one out because Blake
7:08Cororm has a relatively fine projection.
7:11I mean, it's not a crazy good projection
7:13or anything like that, but it's fine
7:14enough. He has a decent chance of
7:16scoring a touchdown. He's like two and a
7:18half to one to score a touchdown. Um, if
7:20you had Isaiah Likely, maybe you drafted
7:22Trey McBride and then you drafted Isaiah
7:25Likely. So, you have Likely right now as
7:27a flex starter or something like that,
7:29then I would say you can you can let it
7:31ride. In situations where you have a
7:34good Rams player or a good Giants
7:37player, I will also say this might end
7:40up being silly because I certainly do
7:41think there's a chance that we get to
7:44tomorrow morning. Obviously, I'm
7:45recording this on Saturday night. I
7:48would say I don't know 25% chance that
7:52Adam Shaper tweets out what Puka Nakua's
7:54game status is going to be after I go to
7:56bed. Like relatively decent chance. Not
7:58not super high, not locked in, but Puka
8:01has been banged up with enough injuries
8:05over the course of the last month.
8:07They're flying back from Australia. This
8:08was clearly an injury that he sustained
8:10in practice. I mean, it's not that
8:12dissimilar to it's not that dissimilar
8:14to the um it's not that dissimilar to
8:16the Z Flowers or the Nico Collins thing.
8:19Nico Collins pulled up with the
8:21hamstring in practice and then ended up
8:24not playing. I don't know. I don't think
8:26I can get to Terren Ferguson over
8:29Raandre. Uh it does change my ranking on
8:32Stafford for sure. So, if we go over to
8:35the Flock Fantasy website and we go look
8:37at my rankings, I mean, I already would
8:39not have been a huge Stafford guy in
8:42fantasy, but if I go look at my uh
8:45reddraft, if I look at my weekly
8:47quarterback rankings, I had Stafford at
8:4916, uh, actually, no, 16's probably
8:52about right. I I was already a little
8:55bit lower on Stafford, but I definitely
8:57prefer Love against the Jets. I
8:58definitely prefer Momes. I prefer I
9:00mean, Goth already played. Uh, I mean, I
9:03would rather do Dart in that same game.
9:06Um, but I I don't I don't think this is
9:10any gamesmanship. No, I I I think this
9:12is I think this is a real injury. I
9:16think that Puka is actually banged up
9:18and I think that the team doesn't know
9:20if he's going to be available. Frankly,
9:22the Rams without Puka and Akua are
9:24certainly like it's possible that they
9:27could start the season 0 and2. I mean,
9:28they're still going to be favored in
9:29this game. Puka is definitely worth a
9:32little bit of value, you know, against
9:34the spread. I I wouldn't say that Puk I
9:36I don't think he's worth like three
9:38points or anything, but he's worth like
9:39a point point and a half. Ferguson is
9:42available in my league. Should I drop
9:43Kamar and pick him up? Absolutely. Yes,
9:46you should. This is actually more good
9:47advice from Shader. If you are against
9:49Puka, do the blocking move right now. Do
9:53it. Go to your go to your league right
9:54now. Drop whatever bomb. I mean, there's
9:57no Alvin Kamara. I mean, he Alvin Kamar
9:59is is going to be useless in fantasy
10:01this year, he will never be a guy that
10:02you are comfortable starting. I think
10:03even if ETN is out, you wouldn't really
10:05want to start Alvin Chimera. Go pick up
10:07Terrence Ferguson right now. And I'll
10:09actually show you guys an even more
10:11dastardly move that you guys could do.
10:14This is so this is really only for
10:16people who are are you're really trying
10:19to do it in fantasy. But if you go to
10:22your app of choice and you go to go add
10:25a player. So, let's see here. Let's go.
10:27Uh, I think Ter Terren Ferguson should
10:29be about up here. So, we can add
10:31Terrence Ferguson and I can drop I don't
10:34really have a good drop here. This is a
10:36smaller league, so I don't really I
10:38don't really have a good drop here, but
10:40you can go through and you can go and
10:43add all the replacement players and then
10:45drop them. Again, there's got to be a
10:47league. I got to have a league where I
10:48can add. All right, so this is the uh
10:50this is the Roto World Friends and
10:52Family League. Um, you know what? I
10:55could probably drop Keenan Allan Allen
10:56here. Whatever. Keenan Allen is fine.
10:58So, let's go to the tight end position.
11:00Well, first off, no, let's go to the
11:02wide receiver position and then let's do
11:04Canannada
11:06Mumfeld and we will add Canada Mumfeld.
11:09And then watch this. If I drop Keenan
11:12Allen for him, add him and drop him. And
11:15then I go to add a player and I find
11:18Terrence Ferguson. He's probably already
11:20Okay, there you go. So, I can add
11:21Terrence Ferguson and I can drop
11:24Canatana Mumfeld and then I go back to
11:27the waiver wire and you go back to add a
11:30player. Canata Mumfeld will not be
11:32eligible to be picked up. Oh, never
11:34mind. Okay, so never mind. In this I
11:36guess in this specific league it it will
11:39depend it will depend on your specific
11:42league. Some leagues it will lock the
11:45transaction. Uh it's this is not this is
11:48not scum. This is strategy. Now, in this
11:50given league that I'm in, it doesn't
11:52work. But depending on the site, uh you
11:55can add drop and then typically I guess
11:57I guess maybe I would have to hold him
11:59for 10 minutes or whatever. There you
12:00go. I have to wait till 12 a.m. to drop.
12:03Uh DJ Reed says after listening to
12:06McVey, I think Puka is playing. I hope
12:09he does. Look, I certainly for overall
12:11fantasy football, I hope I hope that he
12:14does. I would say regardless, you
12:17probably want to be adding Terrence
12:19Ferguson in a lot of your leagues
12:21anyway. Um, if I go pull up the Terren
12:24Ferguson,
12:26I'm on the wide receiver page. So, if I
12:27go pull up the Terren Ferguson game logs
12:30from last year, you can see he didn't
12:31first off he didn't play at all. And
12:33then his first spike in playing time
12:37came in those games came in the week
12:39seven game when Puka was was out. So,
12:44just based off of my expectation, I I'm
12:46handicapping it right now, we get a 30%
12:50chance that Puka
12:53lines up and in leagues where Puka is
12:55available to me. I'm planning on not
12:58having him available and I'm making sure
13:00to get Terrence Ferguson. And uh I I
13:03would play keep away with Mumfeld and
13:06with Ferguson and Kobe Parkinson against
13:08your opponents. How you you can uh give
13:10them a chance to have a zero. Uh, I mean
13:13obviously there you go. All right,
13:14another question. 16 team league PBR,
13:16four red spots, poop is out. Who should
13:18I put in my flex? Michael Mayer, not
13:20close. Lock that one up. I would do Rico
13:23Dael over Devon Ble. Uh, but does anyone
13:27else have any specific league questions
13:30about Puka Ferguson? Uh, Devonte Adams.
13:35I mean, Dvonte Adams. Someone asked
13:36Devonte Adams versus Travis ETN. With no
13:39puka, I would definitely be in on
13:44Devonte Adams. I I would I would want
13:46him there. Should I drop Douglas, Wix,
13:48QJ, or Pierce for Ferguson? I would drop
13:50I would drop Wix for Ferguson. Yes. Uh
13:54would I start JCM, Evans, Chuba, Lloyd,
13:56or Golden Flex? JCM. Uh reddraft got
13:59offered Lovelin for Christian Watson. I
14:01already have Burden. I would rather have
14:04Loveland. I The Ram the the Bears scored
14:0659 points week one. I think you want as
14:08many Bears players as possible. Yes.
14:12Three Rams tight ends had a reception
14:14week one. None of them were Terrence
14:16Ferguson. Uh hey, look, you can do
14:19whatever. You can do whatever you want.
14:22I don't know. I am not from the future.
14:24I'm only making educated guesses. And my
14:27educated guess is that Puka being out is
14:29best for Terren Ferguson. Yes, this is a
14:32very good note. my friend uh NOTM uh
14:35points out here, which is that if you go
14:37to the MikeNugget site and you go to the
14:40quote feed and you type in Devonte
14:43Adams, something pretty interesting pops
14:46up, which is that Dvonte Adams was sick
14:49last week. Uh Dvonte Adams says he feels
14:52fine after being under the weather on
14:53the Australian trip. Quote, "Yeah, my
14:55body feels fine. I got kind of a little
14:57under the weather throughout that trip,
14:58which obviously doesn't help. But
14:59getting back now, getting back and
15:01adjusted into our rhythm, so I feel
15:02fine. Definitely noteworthy that he was
15:06sick in his worst performance as a Los
15:10Angeles Ram. I mean, that was his worst
15:12game as a Ram by far. So, I think that
15:14is pretty notable. I would rather start
15:17Toutin than Golden. I would rather start
15:20Mark Andrews than Jawan Johnson. Um,
15:24yeah. Drop two out of Kamar Pat Bryant
15:27or Shahed. Uh, Kamara and Shahed for me.
15:31Would I drop EMTT Johnson for Terren
15:33Ferguson? Start him over Pitts. That's
15:35too far down the rabbit hole for me,
15:37Nick, because Emtt Johnson is probably
15:39my favorite handcuff to own in fantasy
15:41football right now. And even if if
15:45Puka is out, the Terren Ferguson pits
15:48projections are going to be like the
15:49same. So I think you are just giving up
15:52too much
15:54to get the 9.2 points um or or whatever.
15:59Uh got burden for Warren. Absolute
16:02smash. Love to see that. But I just
16:04wanted to update you guys real quick on
16:06the Puka situation. Just thought it was
16:09interesting. Thought it was worth
16:10covering. You should definitely drop
16:11Jake Ferguson for Ter Jake Ferguson for
16:14Terren Ferguson 100%. Um but yeah, I
16:17just I just wanted to talk through the
16:18Puka thing. I was about to do a YouTube
16:20short. I was just going to do like a 45
16:22second video and then I was like, wait,
16:25there's actually a little bit more to
16:26talk about through this situation. So,
16:28to sum it up,
16:30I think the balance of probability
16:31suggests that Puka doesn't play. If Puka
16:34doesn't play, the biggest beneficiary is
16:36Terrence Ferguson. I would not go out to
16:38go get Kannata Mumfeld, Xavier Smith, CJ
16:42Daniels. Jordan Whittington is listed as
16:44doubtful, so I don't think he's going to
16:46play. It's not a particularly good
16:48matchup overall anyway because it's
16:50going to be a pretty slow, low pace
16:52game. I don't think the Giants are going
16:53to be able to push the Rams. So, I am
16:56trying to get Puka Nakua out of my
17:00lineups as much as possible. Um, and
17:02then if any of you guys have any start
17:04set questions, uh, waiverss, whatever, I
17:06can get to them overnight. If you guys
17:07go over to flockfantasy.com,
17:09sign up over there using code Davis
17:11season pass, get yourself a voucher, and
17:14you can uh you just get all kinds of
17:18great great fantasy football analysis.
17:19But yeah, easiest way to get me to
17:21answer your fantasy football questions
17:22is to sign up over at Flock Fantasy. And
17:24I definitely think that Terg can grow
17:27into a meaningful role as well. But I'll
17:30be back with all you guys tomorrow
17:31streaming in the morning over on the
17:32Davismatic channel. So I will see you
17:35guys then. Later.
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