Who Should I Start? Josh Downs or Puka Nacua

Tuesday, December 16, 12:43 PM

In 44-year-old quarterback Philip Rivers' first NFL game in five years with the Indianapolis Colts in Sunday's 18-16 loss to the hosting Seattle Seahawks, wide receiver Josh Downs caught his lone touchdown pass. Downs played a season-high 72% of the offensive snaps in Week 15 in Rivers' first game replacing Daniel Jones, who is out for the year with a torn Achilles. The 24-year-old wideout was tied for second on the team with five targets, catching three of them for only 13 yards and his fourth touchdown of the year. All in all, it wasn't anything special for fantasy football production, but it was notable that Downs tied Michael Pittman Jr. in targets, with Alec Pierce seeing just one look from Rivers. With Rivers shotputting balls to his receivers, Downs could become a more attractive short-area target over Pierce to close out the season, making him worth a look off the waiver wire as WR depth. Downs is rostered in 43% of Yahoo leagues.

Thursday, December 18, 3:40 PM

Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Puka Nacua apologized for his actions and comments on a recent social-media livestream in which he was asked to perform a specific movement that was antisemitic in nature. " I deeply apologize to anyone who was offended by my actions as I do not stand for any form of racism, bigotry, or hate of another group of people," Nacua wrote in a statement. It's not the only bad off-the-field publicity that Nacua has had recently, as his brother was arrested and accused of stealing a car belonging to a Lakers player. It's not a good look for the 24-year-old superstar, but it seems unlikely that he'll face a suspension for his actions. Nacua has back-to-back games with over 150 receiving yards and should be in for a third straight 100-yard performance on Thursday night versus the division-rival Seahawks, with Davante Adams (hamstring) expected to be out. Off-field issues aside, Nacua is an elite, must-start WR1 for fantasy managers.