The Los Angeles Rams were among the Super Bowl favorites coming into the season, but they have stumbled to a 2-4 start to the season after last week’s tough home loss to the Cardinals. Not only did they lose that game, but they also lost Davante Adams (hamstring) for an extended time due to injury. The bad injury news continued this week with superstar WR Puka Nacua leaving practice with an injury on Thursday. If Nacua is also unavailable this week, who from the rest of the Rams’ receivers is worth considering as a fantasy play? Could Konata Mumpfield, Jordan Whittington or Tutu Atwell step up as significant fantasy contributors?
Let’s take a look at the latest on Nacua’s injury and the outlook for the rest of the receiver room if he’s not at 100% this week.
Puka Nacua injury update
After a quiet game in Sunday’s loss, Nacua was expected to carry a huge workload this week without Adams. However, he left practice on Thursday with a calf injury that required further testing. According to Ian Rapoport, Nacua’s injury is “more minor than anything else.”
While early reports suggest Nacua avoided a major injury, his status for this week’s game in Las Vegas is still uncertain. He could miss the game due to a “minor” issue. He could also play but be at less than 100%, and in either of those scenarios, Matthew Stafford and the Rams’ offense will need other receivers to step up.
Aside from Nacua and Adams, the wide receivers for the Rams have been inconsistent and not very involved this year. Tight ends Tyler Higbee and Colby Parkinson have been getting catches and targets for the last few weeks, and running backs Kyren Williams and Blake Corum have also been involved.
Without Adams, someone else will have to step up this week at receiver. If Nacua is not fully healthy, there will be even more work available.
Are Konata Mumpfield, Jordan Whittington or Tutu Atwell worth starting?
Of the rest of the team’s wide receivers, Mumpfield appears to be the next man up. He has played the third-most snaps among the Rams’ WRs this season behind Puka and Adams, and he has the third-most targets among Rams wide receivers. He has 17 targets over his six games this season, which is more than any other Rams receiver besides Nacua (52 targets) and Adams (49).
Mumpfield stepped into a larger role with Nacua out for two weeks earlier this season, working across from Adams and going off for 19.3 FPTS in Week 3 against the Broncos. In that contest, he caught a 48-yard touchdown.
Mumpfield brings big-play potential and has multiple targets in four of his last five games. He had a game with no targets in Week 5 when both Adams and Nacua were healthy, but it’s important to note that he was also dealing with a rotator cuff contusion suffered against the Eagles, so the team may have limited him for that reason.
Last week, his snap share bounced back to 47% as the team’s third receiver, and he worked well ahead of Jordan Whittington (14% of snaps) and Tutu Atwell (inactive).
Whittington has shown potential in the past, but he hasn’t gotten any targets in the last two games for the Rams, even though he played more snaps in Week 5 against the Bills with Mumpfield ailing. He only has two catches for 12 yards all season.
Atwell was a healthy scratch in Week 6, but he also has a history with Stafford and coach Sean McVay. He has three catches for 31 yards this season, but the team valued him enough to re-acquire him from the Dolphins before the season in exchange for second-year running back Jarquez Hunter.
Another deep sleeper who could get involved is Alex Bachman, who has not been targeted yet this season but was signed from the practice squad at the start of October and was active ahead of Atwell last week. He’s a name to watch for in this week’s box score, but he hasn’t been involved enough to use as a speculative play.
The Bottom Line: Start Konata Mumpfield, watch the target share carefully
With all that background, Mumpfield is the right Rams receiver to roll out against the Raiders this week. If Nacua is out, he becomes a strong starter in all formats, but even if Nacua plays, Mumpfield could see enough opportunities to be a strong FLEX play in deep leagues.
It could actually help Mumpfield to have Nacua on the field, since he won’t get as much attention from the defense. But either way, he’ll be worth a look in a favorable matchup against the Raiders, who have allowed multiple WR touchdowns in three straight weeks to the Chiefs, Patriots and Bills.
Mumpfield is an exceptional value play in DFS formats like the DraftKings NFL $2.5M Fantasy Football Millionaire [$1M to 1st, $100K Leaderboard Eligible], and his bargain salary of only $3,200 makes him easy to slide into almost any roster construction. He only has to catch one or two passes to be worth that salary, and he’s an elite bargain play even with Nacua at full speed. Without Nacua, or with him limited at all, Mumpfield’s target share should grow and set him up for a potential monster breakout this week.
As for the rest of the receivers highlighted above, it will be important to watch their snap shares and target shares to see how they could be used while Adams is out going forward. They’re too high-risk to start this week, but it will be critical to monitor their usage for the weeks ahead.
