Dynasty League Fantasy Football Wide Receiver Outlook: Is Puka Nacua, Jordan Addison, Tank Dell, Zay Flowers or Josh Downs the Best Option Moving Forward?

There’s been a handful of rookie wide receivers that have turned into solid fantasy football assets this season. What many people want to know now is which wideout will be the best fantasy option long term so they can make the best moves possible in their dynasty leagues.

While there’s more names we could add to this discussion, I want to keep the focus on the wideouts with the most receiving yards so far - Los Angeles Rams’ Puka Nacua, Minnesota Vikings’ Jordan Addison, Houston Texans’ Tank Dell, Baltimore Ravens Zay Flowers and Indianapolis Colts’ Josh Downs.

Explore the best in-season tool to manage lineup/start decisions including predictive waiver analytics to help prioritize waiver pickups, projections, auction values, trade suggestions, trade value charts, rest of season rankings, power rankings, and tons more with Fantasy Assistant. Use our fantasy football trade analyzer to break down trade scenarios.

Puka Nacua Dynasty Outlook

Nacua was one of the biggest fantasy names at the start of the season, breaking several rookie records early on. He’s fizzled out a bit since the return of Cooper Kupp, but is still one of the best fantasy pass catchers in the game.

Nacua has been targeted 96 times this season. He’s made 64 catches and gone for 827 yards and two touchdowns. He’s playing a ton of snaps now for the Rams, but has surprisingly only been targeted six times in the red zone, making three grabs.

When talking about a receiver’s long-term fantasy outlook, the receiver obviously needs to be talented, but their quarterback is just as much a part of the equation.

According to Spotrac, Matthew Stafford looks like he’ll be in Los Angeles for at least two more seasons. Stafford has dealt with some injuries this season, and over the past couple seasons, and is 35 years old. There’s a few things working against Stafford, but when he’s on the field, he can still zip the ball all over the place, which gives Nacua plenty of value going forward.

We don’t know what new offensive players the team might add in the future, but looking at some of the contracts on the roster now, Nacua will have to deal with Kupp until his rookie contract is up. TuTu Atwell and Ben Skowronek are the only other receivers signed through 2024, so at some point, Nacua will have some other players to fend off for targets and snaps.

Jordan Addison Dynasty Outlook

Addison has been arguably the most consistent fantasy wideout this season, and has surpassed Nacua in fantasy points. The Vikings’ rookie didn’t have to deal with Justin Jefferson for the past month or so, which helped boost his numbers. Addison also had Kirk Cousins throwing him the ball for most of the season, and now is adjusting to Joshua Dobbs.

Addison is up to 45 catches on 66 targets for the season. He’s gone for 603 yards and seven touchdowns. He’s been targeted 14 times in the red zone, making eight grabs.

Addison’s future outlook is murky because Cousins is a free agent after this season. Will the Vikings give him a new contract after a major injury? If Dobbs plays well enough the rest of the season, maybe the Vikings decide to pay him instead, and use the leftover money they would have needed to use on Cousins to pay Jefferson instead.

With how Addison has looked this season, he looks like he could be a team’s No. 1 option for the long haul. But when you have a talent like Jefferson, you don’t just let them walk away. Much like Nacua and Kupp in Los Angeles, Addison and Jefferson are a fantastic 1-2 punch in Minnesota.

Only Jalen Nailor and Malik Knowles are signed past this season in the receiver room, so it’s likely Minnesota either adds another body or two in the draft or in free agency.

Tank Dell Dynasty Outlook

Dell is catching up to the fantasy numbers of Nacua and Addison despite being banged up at times this season. Dell missed one game.

Dell is up to 510 yards and five touchdowns on 34 catches and 57 targets for the season. He’s gotten 25 targets over the past two weeks. Dell has hauled in four of his seven red zone looks.

The best part about Dell in a dynasty format is you know who his long-term quarterback is, C.J. Stroud. Dell and Stroud are going to get to grow together, which means they could one day be looked to as one of the best passing connections in the league.

The Texans have a talented wideout room, with Nico Collins, Robert Woods and Noah Brown all factoring in right now. Brown is a free agent after this season, and then Collins and Woods are free agents after 2024. I’d expect the Texans to let Woods walk and sign Collins long term. Regardless if Dell serves as the No. 1 or 2 receiver, Stroud has already shown he can spread the ball around, so it really shouldn’t make too big a difference in a fantasy aspect.

Zay Flowers Dynasty Outlook

Flowers leads the Ravens’ pass catchers in a number of stats, which is a promising thing because of the known connection between quarterback Lamar Jackson and tight end Mark Andrews.

Flowers has 50 grabs on 68 targets for the year, going for 545 yards, but only one touchdown. He’s made eight red zone catches on nine targets.

Jackson is locked into a long-term deal, which boosts Flowers’ long-term value. Andrews is signed through 2025 at this point. There likely will be some new wideouts around Flowers next season, as Devin Duvernay and Odell Beckham are free agents after the season. 

Flowers might not boast some of the numbers these other rookie wideouts do, but at least he will have a year of experience with Jackson under his belt before some new faces get added to the mix.

Josh Downs Dynasty Outlook

Downs has battled an injury this season. He hasn’t missed a game, but it’s limited his playing time and production of late.

For the season, Downs has 43 catches on 60 targets. He’s turned his receptions into 523 yards and two touchdowns. Downs has four receptions on seven red zone targets. 

The long-term quarterback in Indy is already in place, but Anthony Richardson’s injury-prone rookie season definitely casts some doubt into the long-term picture. I’d expect Indy to either re-sign Gardner Minshew, or bring in another proven quarterback to backup Richardson. 

The team has already locked in running back Jonathan Taylor long term, and must make a call on receiver Michael Pittman after the season. If the Colts move on from Pittman, then they would probably try to either sign a veteran wideout or draft one to play opposite Downs. Oddly enough, I think keeping Pittman helps Downs’ fantasy outlook more than if Pittman left and Downs took over as the No. 1 option. More receiver help is always good for a player’s long-term outlook.

The Verdict

I like all five of these rookie receivers moving forward, but you are here to learn the best dynasty options, so let’s rank them based on what I’ve already written about.

I liked Addison coming out of college, but worried he’d struggle with consistency opposite Jefferson. That wasn’t the case early in the season, so even though the team’s long-term outlook is murky because of the quarterback position, I’d still want Addison above the others in this discussion.

Addison has been a touchdown machine and having Jefferson opposite him will help open things up more than if Addison were a team’s No. 1 wideout. The Vikings will likely try to extend their contending window as long as possible, so either re-signing Cousins or bringing in another big name at quarterback seems likely.

My next choice might surprise some people, but I like Dell next. When healthy, Dell has been great, and he’s got a young quarterback to grow with. The Texans are going to be a team to keep an eye on in the near future, and Dell is going to be a big part of the team’s offense.

Flowers and Nacua are very close for me, but I’ll give the slight edge to Flowers because his quarterback is locked in long term. Nacua, on the other hand, has an aging quarterback that’s battled injuries of late. If the Rams can find their next franchise quarterback soon, then Nacua would jump above Flowers.

I’d take Downs last in this discussion, not because I’m not a fan of his, but simply because his possible long-term quarterback has injury question marks, and the Colts’ offense as a whole could undergo some big-time changes. He's still one of the better dynasty options of the rookie receivers this season.