News:5 days agoNacua corralled seven of 11 targets for 97 yards in Sunday's 34-7 rout of the Buccaneers.

Spin:Nacua finished the one-sided affair as the Rams' leading receiver on a team-high 11 targets, but he took a back seat to teammate Davante Adams in the scoring department after the latter cashed in a pair of Matthew Stafford's three touchdown strikes on Sunday Night Football. The 24-year-old Nacua has seen his elite production dip ever so slightly since Los Angeles' Week 8 bye after failing to crack 100 yards from scrimmage in all four appearances over that span. To put things into perspective, the BYU product had accomplished that feat four times in the six games predating the bye. Nacua is still on track to have an elite fantasy campaign, as he currently sits just 53 yards shy of a 1,000-yard receiving season in just 10 games played.

ESPN Fantasy Projection:After exploding for 1,486 yards on 105 catches as a fifth-round rookie in 2023, Nacua produced 990 yards on 79 catches last season despite missing six games and a substantial chunk of two others. Once he was full-go in Week 10, Nacua went on to handle a massive 37% target share (11.3 per game) and his average of 22.3 fantasy points during the span would have ranked second over the full season. He led all receivers in yards per route run (3.7). The one concern with Nacua is touchdowns, as he has only 10 in 28 career games, and he was limited to six end zone targets (53rd at WR) in 2024. That said, with Cooper Kupp out and Davante Adams in, Nacua remains well positioned for a massive target share in a good Rams offense that has led the NFL in WR targets each of the last two seasons. After finishing sixth in fantasy PPG as a rookie and third in 2024, Nacua should be off the board in the first round.