Puka Nacua was the last player drafted in round five. Nineteen receivers had their phones ring before his.
Still, the Rams rookie quickly has emerged as the best of the bunch.
Nacua has more catches (39) for more yards (501) than any rookie through his first four games in NFL history. So when did Nacua know he could make it in the NFL?
“I think there was a moment during training camp,” Nacua told PFT by phone after Sunday’s overtime win in Indianapolis. “Cooper Kupp, he . . . has been a huge mentor and there was a moment during training camp where I wasn’t having my best practice, but he came over to me, took me to the side, and was just like, ‘Hey Puk, we know what you’re capable of. We’ve seen it all. Go out there and continue to do that.’
“And that was kind of just a mental note for me of like, shoot, one of the one of the best in the world says, ‘I believe in you. We’ve seen what you do, we know what you’re capable of.’ And that was just a cemented moment in my brain. I’m like, ‘Hey, I belong here. I’m ready to go and . . . give everything I’ve got now.’”
Puka definitely belongs. And it helps that he has the trust of quarterback Matthew Stafford. How did he pull that off?
“I had the opportunity in summertime to get to — I got a text from our strength coach saying ‘Hey, Matthew wants you to come out, throw routes in the morning,’” Nacua said. “And so it kind of from there on, just making sure that every day I showed him that you can trust me. I’m going to in the spot whether you — he could throw that ball blind and the timing of the play, I know where I’m supposed to be and where I could win. So, trying to do that every single day from when we started in May to just practice on Friday, trying to do that every time I’m out there.”
That’s what he’s done. That’s what he’ll likely keep doing. And it will be a lot harder for defenses to deal with Puka once Kupp is able to make his 2023 debut.