There have been few — if any — NFL rookies better this season than Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Puka Nacua. The fifth-round pick out of BYU reaffirmed that again on Thursday night, when he went off for a monster game against the New Orleans Saints in their 30-22 win.
Nacua was targeted 11 times by Matthew Stafford on the evening, catching nine of those passes for 164 yards and a touchdown. He should have had at least one more score, as Stafford airmailed a throw over Nacua’s head at around the 10-yard line when the wideout had no Saints defenders anywhere near him.
And it wasn’t like Nacua was just catching little dumpoffs all game. He scored the evening’s first touchdown on a fourth-and-goal conversion, which came at the tail end of a drive on which he picked up a crucial third-down conversion by breaking a tackle just shy of the line to gain and then adding even more yards after the catch.
On the opening play of the second half, he made an absolutely ridiculous grab deep down the field, gaining 41 yards and immediately moving the Rams right back into scoring territory.
And late in the game, he proved it’s not just about the catches. Nacua took a jet sweep handoff from Matthew Stafford on third-and-5 with just over three minutes remaining, and it looked for a minute like the Saints had him dead to rights in the backfield. But then this happened:
In case you need a reminder, this dude has been doing this kind of stuff all season. Following this evening’s performance, here’s how some of Nacua’s rookie-year accomplishments stand up to some of the all-time great debut seasons.
- 96 receptions (third most by rookie all time behind Jaylen Waddle and Anquan Boldin)
- 1,327 receiving yards (fifth most by rookie all time behind Bill Groman, Ja’Marr Chase, Justin Jefferson, Anquan Boldin)
- 6 100-yard receiving games (third most by rookie in Super Bowl era behind Justin Jefferson and Odell Beckham Jr.)
- 3 150-yard receiving games (T-most by rookie in Super Bowl era with Ja’Marr Chase and Randy Moss)
That is absurd, especially considering that Nacua was, again, a fifth-round pick. Of the players mentioned above, Waddle, Chase, Jefferson, Beckham and Moss were all first-rounders. Boldin was taken in the second round. Groman debuted in 1960 after having been a teacher for two years (seriously). During the modern era, Nacua is probably having the most unlikely elite rookie receiver season we’ve ever seen.
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Author: Jared Dubin
December 22, 2023 | 1:30 am
