The 2023 NFL Draft had in it plenty of quality receivers. Many were focused on the first-round talents Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Quentin Johnston, Zay Flowers and Jordan Addison, but a handful of the Day 2 prospects were in the NFL fans’ consciousnesses, as well.
One player who wasn’t on the mind of many NFL fans was Puka Nacua.
Nacua had a productive college career and demonstrated good athleticism and physicality on tape. However, there were questions about his speed and just how well he could separate at the NFL level, so many considered him to be a Day 3 talent while the lowest projections pegged him as an undrafted free agent.
Thus far, Nacua has exceeded all expectations. The Rams wideout set a rookie record with 25 catches through two games; he also led the NFL in receptions to go along with his 266 yards through the first two weeks of the season.
Indeed, Nacua has turned into a big weapon for Matthew Stafford and the Rams. But how did Los Angeles land Nacua? Here’s what to know about Puka Nacua as he proves himself to be one of the biggest steals of the 2023 NFL Draft.
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Where did Puka Nacua go to college?
Puka Nacua started his college career at Washington but finished it at BYU. He didn’t get much playing time with the Huskies but ended up becoming a rock-solid starter with the Cougars.
The BYU coaching staff spoke glowingly of Nacua in a recent interview with ESPN, with many members of the offensive staff referring to the receiver as the team’s best player.
“He could run any route we wanted,” said offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick. “He could make any block we wanted. He was our best ball carrier. He’s just a very versatile player. But you’ve got to be smart to do all that stuff.”
That’s why few of the Cougars coaches were surprised to see Nacua post excellent numbers during his first couple of NFL games. The skills he showcased at the college level are translating to the NFL level, especially the versatility component.
“He’s clearly earned their trust [because] you don’t see very many players do that many different things in the first two series of the game, even the most veteran players,” Roderick said when noting the variety of ways that the Rams utilized the rookie in his first couple of games.
And as receivers coach Fesi Sitake pointed out, Nacua’s physicality and yards after the catch ability have both shown up as well.
“He would catch anywhere from a 5- to a 10-yard route and just turn right upfield and on contact would get hit, but then just finds a way to drag a defender or two, another 2 or 3 yards,” Sitake said when discussing Nacua’s play at BYU. “And you add those up on six, seven catches, those are 20 hidden yards that you get from just sheer grit and toughness and all that stuff.
“That’s the epitome of Puka.”
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Puka Nacua college stats
Nacua’s performance on tape and in practice may have stood out, but his stats didn’t necessarily jump off the page. That was partially thanks to his limited playing time at Washington and injuries that limited him to just nine games as a senior.
Below are Nacua’s stats from his two seasons at Washington and his two at BYU:
| Year | Team | Catches | Yards | TDs | Yards/catch |
| 2019 | Washington | 7 | 168 | 2 | 24.0 |
| 2020 | Washington | 9 | 151 | 1 | 16.8 |
| 2021 | BYU | 43 | 805 | 6 | 18.7 |
| 2022 | BYU | 48 | 625 | 5 | 13.0 |
| Total | WAS/BYU | 107 | 1,749 | 14 | 16.3 |
Nacua wasn’t just productive through the air at BYU, however. He also managed to make plays carrying the ball, racking up 357 yards and five rushing touchdowns on just 39 carries. That added value helped put him on the radar of the Rams, who like to use their receivers on jet sweeps, and other NFL teams ahead of the 2023 NFL Draft.
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Puka Nacua NFL draft scouting report
- Year: 2023 NFL Draft
- Round: 5
- Pick: 177
Nacua was selected by the Rams in the fifth round of the 2023 NFL Draft. It was expected that he would end up being a late-round pick if he was selected, and NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein projected him to be a Round 6 or 7 pick.
Below is a look at Zierlein’s scouting report of Nacua, which complimented his athleticism, hands and ball skills.
Nacua is an athletic wideout lacking the twitch or speed to attack NFL man coverage at a successful rate. However, the ball skills and competitive nature he brings to the field give him a fighting chance to make a roster. He might need to be used as a possession receiver operating from the slot, where his ball-winning and size can work in his favor. He’s sneaky talented with the ball in his hands, so jet-sweep work in the pros could be an option. He has a shot to be picked on Day 3. There are make-it elements in the way he plays the game.
Nacua’s coaches at BYU believed that he was being undervalued and that he should have been selected earlier than the middle of Day 3.
“I thought that he would be a great pro, and I thought that everybody that passed on him would regret it,” Roderick told ESPN of Nacua. “And looks like I’m right.”
Though the coaches were irked by Nacua’s undervaluation, it didn’t bother him all that much. More than anything else, he wanted to land in the right situation, and that benefitted him, as Sitake explained.
“I thought he handled it the right way by saying, ‘I really don’t know where I’m going to go and, quite frankly, don’t care,'” he said. “‘I believe in myself, and whoever takes me is going to be really glad that they did.’
“And so I was happy to see him go into the draft with that type of mindset because I’ve seen many others who haven’t done that, and it’s been a letdown, it’s been a disappointment and affected them mentally. … I think a lot of his success right now is he’s playing very free, because I think he took a lot of unnecessary pressure off of himself starting from that draft process and what his expectations were.”
So, everything worked out for Nacua in the end. And if the rookie keeps playing as he has during his record-setting two-game stretch, he should be well on his way to a high-quality NFL career.
