Josh Downs vs Puka Nacua: Who Should You Start?
Puka Nacua and Josh Downs are at different tiers heading into 2026. The Los Angeles Rams wide receiver averaged 19.4 PPG in 2025, a full 12.7 points per game ahead of Josh Downs's 6.7 with the Indianapolis Colts. That kind of gap doesn't close on matchup alone.
Puka Nacua carries a 12.7-point PPG advantage from the 2025 season. That baseline matters, but it is one input among several. Matchup difficulty, scoring trends, and injury reports move the needle week to week, which is why the best answer changes depending on when you are asking.
Target volume is the story here. Puka Nacua saw 166 targets in 2025, while Josh Downs drew 88. That workload gap usually translates into a higher weekly floor for Puka Nacua, even in weeks where Josh Downs posts the bigger ceiling game. Consistency-minded managers lean toward target share; boom-bust managers chase the upside.
Josh Downs has his bye in Week 14, and Puka Nacua rests in Week 6. Managers rostering both need waiver wire depth at wide receiver for those two weeks, and that is exactly the kind of planning DraftCall's matchup engine surfaces automatically so you are not scrambling on a Sunday morning.
