Puka Nacua

The missed weeks 2 and 3 of 2026 are behind him and there has been no designation since before week 4, so the question is no longer whether he plays but whether he repeats last year. Two worries worth naming, and he has answered the first in the three games he did play: 12.4 in week 1 of 2026, then 27.7 in week 4 of 2026 and 37.7 in week 5 of 2026, 45 targets and 31 catches in all. That pace is ahead of what we expected before the season, 22.9 points a game over the 15 games we hoped he would play.

What has actually improved is the scoring range work. Last year 10.2% of his own touches came in the red zone, WR124, even as he led all qualifying receivers in touches and finished 375 points, WR1. This year it is 18% of the team's red-zone carries and targets in his games, WR4 among 64, and he is pulling 41% of the team's air yards, WR11. The volume never was the worry and McVay is still the one calling plays. For the season we put him at 344 points, with the top of his range all the way up at 446.

Two things cost him. He has missed weeks in two of three seasons, 6 games in 2024 and 1 in 2025, and that is what drags the low tail of our range down. And he is winning less cleanly this year, 2.3 yards of separation on average over 45 tracked targets, WR47 among 57. That has not cost him yet, with +1.7 yards after the catch over expectation, WR5. Hold him as your WR1 without reservation and expect his biggest weeks in the stretch that includes week 15 of 2026 at home.