Luther Burden III vs Puka Nacua: Who Should You Start?
Puka Nacua and Luther Burden III are at different tiers heading into 2026. The Los Angeles Rams wide receiver averaged 19.4 PPG in 2025, a full 12.4 points per game ahead of Luther Burden III's 7.0 with the Chicago Bears. That kind of gap doesn't close on matchup alone.
A 12.4-PPG gap gives Puka Nacua the edge on paper, but paper does not account for Thursday night matchups, weather games, or a star defender returning from injury. The real question is not who was better in 2025, but who is the better start this specific week.
Target volume is the story here. Puka Nacua saw 166 targets in 2025, while Luther Burden III drew 60. That workload gap usually translates into a higher weekly floor for Puka Nacua, even in weeks where Luther Burden III posts the bigger ceiling game. Consistency-minded managers lean toward target share; boom-bust managers chase the upside.
Luther Burden III has his bye in Week 5, and Puka Nacua rests in Week 8. 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.
