Emerging Rams: How Kyren Williams and Puka Nacua Became Fantasy League Winners

Kyren Williams and Puka Nacua — two unexpected league winners. (Photo by Jevone Moore/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

The Rams looked like a veteran-heavy team entering the 2023 season. Matthew Stafford, older quarterback. Cooper Kupp, aging receiver. Sean McVay is a veteran coach. It looked like a team rolling out the same old stuff.

Another preseason narrative goes into the shredder. The best thing anyone could have done this fantasy season is prioritize a couple of emerging Rams right before the season, or in the first week of free agency.

The Rams escaped with a one-point win at the Giants on Sunday, and it was the fresh faces that paced the offense. Second-year running back Kyren Williams had 101 total yards and all three Los Angeles touchdowns, pushing to the top of fantasy’s running back board. Rookie receiver Puka Nacua didn’t break the game, but his 118 receiving yards were tops on the team. It was a fitting fantasy capper for two of the stories of the year.

Christian McCaffrey was probably the best fantasy player you could have rostered this year (an injury-clouded Week 17 to the side), but not everyone had a real chance at McCaffrey. He was an early pick in every room. If you were slotted late in the first round, he was never an option.

But anyone with summer intel on Williams or Nacua (or an aggressive FAB tint in Week 1) was likely to land one of these guys, perhaps both. Williams and Nacua each had global ADPs outside the top 200 the final week of draft season and were unrostered in the majority of Yahoo leagues.

Nacua’s signal was unavoidable in Week 1 — he threw a 10-catch, 119-yard masterpiece at the Seahawks. Williams was more subtle — although he had a pair of touchdowns, he managed a modest 52 yards on 15 carries. Cam Akers also had 22 rushes that day, though they went absolutely nowhere (29 yards), with a touchdown, too.

So after Week 1, we were wondering if Williams was good enough to take command of this job and if Nacua was good enough to hold onto significant market share even when Kupp (who would miss all of September) eventually returned.

An emphatic yes on both counts.

The Williams season had three parts to it. He rolled out an RB7, RB4, RB26, RB3, RB30 and RB2 opening to the year, before suffering an ankle injury in late October. Some shrewd fantasy managers might have traded for Williams while he was hurt, mindful of the delicious late-season schedule the Rams had waiting. Williams went into smash mode for the final third of the year, finishing RB1, RB9, RB18, RB5, RB11 and RB1 (in progress) the last six weeks.

That’s what a league winner looks like.

Maybe Nacua isn’t a grand slam like Williams, but he’s still been a home run. He entered Week 17 as the WR7 in half-point PPR scoring (cumulative points), and the WR9 if you prefer a per-game average. He’s had monster games with Kupp and without Kupp. It’s amazing the Rams found this snappy rookie with the 177th overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft.

It’s been a quirky year for rookie pass catchers. Tight end Sam LaPorta is challenging for the TE1 spot, and Zay Flowers looks like a sure star. Jordan Addison and Rashee Rice have been reliable, Tank Dell was very good before a leg injury ended his year. Jayden Reed can play.

But there have been frustrating moments, too. Quentin Johnston might have been a first-round mistake. Jaxon Smith-Njigba has been part of a crowded and slightly underwhelming Seahawks offense. Marvin Mims Jr. teased us for weeks but never could do enough to get a Denver promotion. To be fair, Mims has made his share of rookie mistakes, too.

The LAR breakouts remind us that draft capital isn’t the be-all and end-all. Williams was the 164th pick in the 2022 class, similar to where Nacua was taken last spring. No team is right with even the majority of its offensive evaluations, but if Sean McVay and Co. like a player, I’m at least going to take a second look.

And I know how important the September FAB process often is. This year, there was a fantasy title, hiding in plain sight. You just needed to look west.

Other Week 17 Heroes

— It was no surprise to see mobile quarterbacks percolating to the top of the Week 17 leaderboard. To be fair, Lamar Jackson crushed Miami with his arm — five touchdown passes, 35 rushing yards. Looks like he’ll lock up his second MVP before the ball drops in 2024. Hopefully, his second career playoff win isn’t far behind. Jackson’s 36.34 Yahoo points were easily tops for the position, with athletic maestros Justin Fields (313 total yards, two scores) and Kyler Murray (256 yards, three scores) settling in the 20s.

Josh Allen stands at QB5, and it was all from his legs — he only threw for 169 yards, but he ran 11 times for 44 yards and two scores. The Bills offense has been a strange watch since Joe Brady took over for Ken Dorsey.

— Arizona’s stunning upset at Philadelphia had another hero: James Conner. He turned 27 touches into 133 yards and two scores. Volume and goal-line equity are wonderful things. If you kept the faith with Travis Etienne Jr. and De’Von Achane, you were rewarded. Etienne rushed for 102 yards and a couple of scores, and Achane was dynamic despite Miami’s blowout loss, generating 137 total yards and a touchdown on 18 touches.

— Saturday night gave us a strong receiver push, with CeeDee Lamb (13-227-1) torching the Lions and Amon-Ra St. Brown (6-90-1) providing his usual drumbeat. They had name-brand company Sunday; Davante Adams was dominant (13-126-2) if you had the nerve to stick with him, DJ Moore (9-159-1) continues to click with Fields and Brandon Aiyuk (7-114-1) was part of San Francisco’s expected get-back win at Washington.

Of course, there will always be plenty of receiver misses and disappointments; it’s the ultimate boom/bust position. Tyreek Hill posted only a 6-76-0 line, not what we expect on 12 targets. He hasn’t scored a touchdown since Week 13. The puzzling Stefon Diggs slump continued: four catches, 26 yards. His last spike came in Week 12; he’s been a fantasy headache for two months. The Philadelphia passing touchdowns surprisingly went to Julio Jones (two) and Dallas Goedert (one), which meant A.J. Brown (4-53-0) and DeVonta Smith (3-30-0) came in well under their projections.

— Waiver-wire hawks were rewarded at tight end, where Juwan Johnson dominated at Tampa Bay (8-90-1) and Isaiah Likely picked up two touchdowns. It’s also possible David Njoku (6-134-0) was scooped off the wire a few weeks back; he’s looked like an All-Pro ever since Joe Flacco joined the Browns. Njoku would have had a much better game Thursday if the Jets fought back even a little bit.

As we send this piece to the editors, Travis Kelce is sitting on four targets, three catches, 16 yards. Other than Isiah Pacheco, no one on the Chiefs had a decent first half. Some things are too depressing to think about right now, but we’ll have more Kansas City (and late-game thoughts) when I update this column later on Sunday.

I hope you get what you need. I hope you’re planning a parade for the following week.

2023-12-31 23:38:28
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