Seated on the Prime Video set, Ryan Fitzpatrick was enthralled with Puka Nacua, who was on the verge of breaking the NFL rookie record following his sixth 100-yard receiving game.
Rookie Puka Nacua of the Los Angeles Rams. The recently retired 17-year NFL veteran stated on the Thursday Night Football set, “Puka’s become the guy in this offense.” In terms of his physicality and ability to rush past tackles, he is similar to Debo Samuel. I’m even more taken aback by the guy after this in person.”Nacua has captured the heart of “The Beard”. In large part of the country, too.
Nacua helped the Rams defeat the New Orleans Saints 30–22 on Thursday night by catching nine passes for 164 yards, including a 2-yard touchdown throw from Matthew Stafford.However, following the game, Nacua wished to give credit to his team, which was led by Stafford, the former starter for the Lions who had turned his life around and was now targeting Nacua 11 times while completing 24 of 34 throws for 328 yards and two touchdowns.
Nacua remarked, “Being out here with him is a blessing.” “He assures us that things will go smoothly when No. 9 is in there, both during stressful situations and when the game begins. Having him is a blessing.”
Along with running twice for 16 yards, the former Orem High and BYU wide receiver also scored a crucial first down during a jet sweep in the fourth quarter, which helped the Rams (8-7) secure the victory. Nacua, who also has Cooper Kupp at wide receiver, has already shown to be an invaluable member of Stafford’s team in crunch times.
Despite this, Nacua has become a household name with the Rams; in fact, Stafford described his rookie campaign as “one of the more impressive campaigns I’ve ever seen from any player at any position.”Fitzpatrick was told by Stafford, “What a gifted kid he is.” “It’s fun to be around him,” To tell the truth, it’s among the most outstanding rookie seasons I’ve seen from any athlete, regardless of position. He displays his arrogance. We are doing really well.”
In the NFL’s Super Bowl era, Nacua has the third-most 100-yard receiving games with six in his debut campaign. With seven, the only players with more are Justin Jefferson and Odell Beckham Jr.There are still two games left in Nacua’s debut campaign. In addition, those two games will break the NFL rookie receiving record of 1,473 yards, which was set in 1960 by Bill Groman of the Houston Oilers.
According to statmuse, his 1,327 yards presently rank fifth all-time, or at least as far back as records go (1932). With 1,247 yards with the Raiders in 1983, Todd Christensen set the previous mark for the most receiving yards by a BYU alumnus in an NFL season. This statistic surpasses that record.
Within just 12 weeks, he has already eclipsed the 1,000-yard threshold and shattered the franchise record for receiving yards set by the Rams. He entered the conversation for NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year after setting a single-game league record with 15 receptions in Week 2.Considering he was the fourth of five kids and “used to demolish this kid,” big brother Samson Nacua told ESPN this week, not bad for the son of Penina and the late Lionel Nacua.
We were probably just lobbing the ball into the air whenever we had the chance. Thus, he was always the tackling dummy or actually simply assisting us in our training whenever we had the chance. Drill after drill was conducted. aligning and putting intense effort into practicing Oklahoman drills, even in a backyard.”
On the first day of the NCAA’s early signing period on Wednesday, Tei, the fifth son of Nacua, signed with BYU. Tei had 930 yards and nine touchdowns on his way to earning 5A all-state first-team honors by the Deseret News.However, Shohei Ohtani, the new Dodgers acquisition, stole the show by wearing a No. 17 jersey with Nacua’s number on the front and Ohtani’s name on the back, as was customary with the Angels. This kept the Rams’ prospects of making the playoffs alive.
The Rams surged above Minnesota for sixth place in the NFC with the victory, moving them up to second in the NFC West. With games left against the New York Giants (5-9) and San Francisco 49ers (11-3), NFL.com projects Los Angeles’ chances of qualifying for the playoffs at 70%.”One day at a time,” Nacua stated. “After our return from the bye, the lesson was to take each day as it comes. We simply need to play well every play, every moment, every day. We are among the greatest football teams.”
In other local NFL news, former Weber State wide receiver Rashid Shaheed made a successful comeback to the Saints starting lineup, hauling in five passes for 70 yards, including a score from Derek Carr that went 45 yards.
With few opportunities, Taysom Hill ran twice for two yards for New Orleans, while fellow BYU graduate Jamaal Williams ran for eight yards and caught a screen ball for five yards. Nephi Sewell was a former linebacker for Utah who played defense and special teams for the Saints. Jonah Williams, a former star at Weber State, began the Rams game at defensive end but did not log a tackle.