How to Deal with Puka Nacua's Injury in Fantasy Football (Is Tyler Johnson Worth a Waiver Addition?)

Week 1 of the fantasy football season usually brings ups and downs for fantasy football managers. One such low point was the injury to Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Puka Nacua on Sunday Night Football. That quickly puts managers in a bind, as they likely took him off the board in the late first or early second round, and his absence can cause a major problem in the lineup. It also made managers very aware of his backup Tyler Johnson.

As Week 2 waivers approach, here's what you need to know about Nacua and Johnson.

Nacua was carried off the field after suffering a right knee injury in the first half and was pretty quickly out for the rest of the game. The Rams have not provided any updates yet (this section will be updated when they do), but considering it's the same knee he injured in the preseason, it wouldn't be surprising if the team took some caution.

Estimates of possible absences are essentially pure speculation at this point, and the predicted range is from zero to over eight games.

(Update – Monday, September 9, 3:50 p.m. ET: Adam Schefter reports that Nacua's knee injury, sustained over the summer, has worsened and he will need to undergo further tests. His current status is “week to week”.)

So what can fantasy football managers do? Not much. You don't trade Nacua. Unless he's out for the season, you don't release him. If you have an IR spot in your league, you might be able to fit him there, but basically it's just a wait-and-see situation right now.

Hopefully, at this early point in the year, you still have some good wide receivers on the bench that you can use in his place, but if not, you'll have to hit the waivers list.

Nacua's successor, Tyler Johnson, is also suddenly attracting attention as one of these potential waiver wire signings.

Tyler Johnson isn't necessarily someone we'd be interested in following in fantasy football this season. He's 26 years old and on his third NFL team in five seasons. He's played a total of three games (with 65 total offensive snaps) over the past three seasons. But the NFL landscape is changing so quickly that we have to be ready to update our views quickly.

Although Nacua was healthy enough to play 32% of the Rams' offensive snaps on Sunday night, Johnson was in on 65%. He could be an every-down player if Nacua misses even more time.

And these weren't empty snaps for Johnson either. He immediately showed a good rapport with Matthew Stafford and completed 5 of his 7 passes for 79 yards. This put him on a par with Demarcus Robinson for the second most passes on the team (behind Cooper Kupp).

He may have benefited from the Rams' game plan, which also included the use of Nacua, but considering Johnson was the team's best player at 11.3 yards per attempt, that's a trend that could well continue.

Hopefully we'll have a more concrete update on Nacua before the Week 2 waiver applications close. If not, Johnson is still a strong target. If Nacua sits out, Johnson will be a viable starter this week against the Arizona Cardinals, and he has the potential to be a long-term FLEX player throughout the season if Nacua is out for an extended period.