Puka Nacua

[wickerkat1212]

Just traded Puka and Hollywood Brown for a projected mid 1st in a SF league. Thrilled with that.

Nice work. If that thing somehow ends up being early, oh mama.

Wow.

[Jrblaha]

Puka alone just went for a 2026 1st SF in one of my leagues. Guess I was wrong thinking no one could get a 1st already.

[wickerkat1212]

Puka alone just went for a 2026 1st SF in one of my leagues. Guess I was wrong thinking no one could get a 1st already.

I find this shocking LOL.

[CGW]

Puka alone just went for a 2026 1st SF in one of my leagues. Guess I was wrong thinking no one could get a 1st already.

Sounds like all the fantasy podcasts are pumping him up. It's shocking to me too, that someone would trade a 1st for him after one week. I'd want to see how he does against the Niners defense this week at minimum. Oh well, maybe he's this years ARSB.

[ericanadian]

Puka alone just went for a 2026 1st SF in one of my leagues. Guess I was wrong thinking no one could get a 1st already.

I mean… 2026 is a fairly long way out.

[Jigga94]

Puka alone just went for a 2026 1st SF in one of my leagues. Guess I was wrong thinking no one could get a 1st already.

I mean… 2026 is a fairly long way out.

Wonder what Puka will be doing in 2026

[Dynasty DeLorean]

I’m getting Stefon Diggs vibes from Puka. Late draft capital, guy proves he can ball early, wins in different ways, shreds man coverage, people say to sell, miss out on future stud.

Maybe, but Puka is a really poor athlete. Usually these guys "from out of nowhere" have at least 1 athletic trait they can hang their hat on. Kupp tested elite in agility, ARSB had elite leaping and above average agility testing, and Diggs had 4.4x speed. Puka is poor across the board.

Jarvis Landry was a really poor athlete, similar to Puka, but was drafted a lot higher. So there's that I guess. Puka is likely never going to melt faces like Kupp, Diggs, etc, but could he be Landry? I guess there's a chance...

[jordanzs]

I’m getting Stefon Diggs vibes from Puka. Late draft capital, guy proves he can ball early, wins in different ways, shreds man coverage, people say to sell, miss out on future stud.

Maybe, but Puka is a really poor athlete. Usually these guys "from out of nowhere" have at least 1 athletic trait they can hang their hat on. Kupp tested elite in agility, ARSB had elite leaping and above average agility testing, and Diggs had 4.4x speed. Puka is poor across the board.

Jarvis Landry was a really poor athlete, similar to Puka, but was drafted a lot higher. So there's that I guess. Puka is likely never going to melt faces like Kupp, Diggs, etc, but could he be Landry? I guess there's a chance...

How was Robert Woods as an athlete? I've been grabbing Puka this summer & hoping for him to fill that role with the Rams. If so, I'll be happy enough.

[Cameron Giles]

How was Robert Woods as an athlete? I've been grabbing Puka this summer & hoping for him to fill that role with the Rams. If so, I'll be happy enough.

Woods didn't do well in athletic testing, but he was also a 2nd round pick.

Things working for Puka:
+ Rams WR room stinks without Kupp.
+ McVay has the most WR friendly system in the league.
+ When Stafford is healthy, he's a boost for WRs (Megatron, Golden Tate, Marvin Jones, Kupp)

Things working against Puka:
- Draft pedigree
- Athletic profile
- Target share/total isn't sustainable
- If Kupp comes back, his share will plummet.

I think people some who missed out on Amon-Ra are trying not to make that same mistake, and this feels sort of like that.

As DD noted, it's interesting, because Puka doesn't really have any elite athletic trait or skill. He's 6'2/210 and has an 83rd percentile breakout though. So, that's maybe something.

[SoftwoodGrampian]

Heard some pods looking to get a 1st for him. LOL
I’ll take a couple 3rds

[Dynasty DeLorean]

I’m getting Stefon Diggs vibes from Puka. Late draft capital, guy proves he can ball early, wins in different ways, shreds man coverage, people say to sell, miss out on future stud.

Maybe, but Puka is a really poor athlete. Usually these guys "from out of nowhere" have at least 1 athletic trait they can hang their hat on. Kupp tested elite in agility, ARSB had elite leaping and above average agility testing, and Diggs had 4.4x speed. Puka is poor across the board.

Jarvis Landry was a really poor athlete, similar to Puka, but was drafted a lot higher. So there's that I guess. Puka is likely never going to melt faces like Kupp, Diggs, etc, but could he be Landry? I guess there's a chance...

How was Robert Woods as an athlete? I've been grabbing Puka this summer & hoping for him to fill that role with the Rams. If so, I'll be happy enough.

From what I can see, similar to Puka except woods ran a 4.51. Not sure about the comment saying he didn’t do athletic testing. Maybe he didn’t? But there are numbers reported for his combine

[Jigga94]

How was Robert Woods as an athlete? I've been grabbing Puka this summer & hoping for him to fill that role with the Rams. If so, I'll be happy enough.

Woods didn't do well in athletic testing, but he was also a 2nd round pick.

Things working for Puka:
+ Rams WR room stinks without Kupp.
+ McVay has the most WR friendly system in the league.
+ When Stafford is healthy, he's a boost for WRs (Megatron, Golden Tate, Marvin Jones, Kupp)

Things working against Puka:
- Draft pedigree
- Athletic profile
- Target share/total isn't sustainable
- If Kupp comes back, his share will plummet.

I think people some who missed out on Amon-Ra are trying not to make that same mistake, and this feels sort of like that.

As DD noted, it's interesting, because Puka doesn't really have any elite athletic trait or skill. He's 6'2/210 and has an 83rd percentile breakout though. So, that's maybe something.

His BA is also an extremely small sample. He "Broke Out" in 2020 while amassing 9 Rec for 151 yards. 2 for 19 against Ore St. 1 catch for 65 yard TD vs Arizona. And 6 for 67 vs Utah.

Which yeah, the pass offense only went for 652 yards and 4 TD in those 3 games, so he clears the 20% by a hair.

But he's nowhere near the prospect ARSB was in BA and short area quickness/route running

[Cameron Giles]

His BA is also an extremely small sample. He "Broke Out" in 2020 while amassing 9 Rec for 151 yards. 2 for 19 against Ore St. 1 catch for 65 yard TD vs Arizona. And 6 for 67 vs Utah.

Which yeah, the pass offense only went for 652 yards and 4 TD in those 3 games, so he clears the 20% by a hair.

But he's nowhere near the prospect ARSB was in BA and short area quickness/route running

Good point.

I think Puka looked very solid, but I also didn't see it as a game that any other rookie WR couldn't have if Stafford was giving them 15 targets.

[jman3134]

Sure, anyone might have looked as good with 15 targets. The point is he is a rookie, and veteran QB Stafford felt comfortable enough throwing to this rookie 15 times in his first game. Call that what you want. I call it production. There's a reason he fed him the ball. Could have been the matchup. Let's see this week, but at a certain point soon, we have to believe what is in front of our faces.

[Cameron Giles]

Sure, anyone might have looked as good with 15 targets. The point is he is a rookie, and veteran QB Stafford felt comfortable enough throwing to this rookie 15 times in his first game. Call that what you want. I call it production. There's a reason he fed him the ball. Could have been the matchup. Let's see this week, but at a certain point soon, we have to believe what is in front of our faces.

Reminder, these were the Rams WRs active last Sunday:

- Puka Nacua
- Tutu Atwell
- Van Jefferson
- Ben Skowronek
- DeMarcus Robinson

Someone had to catch the ball.

Forgotten in all of this is that Tutu Atwell went for 119 yards in the same game.

I liked things I saw from Nacua in the game. I just don't see his performance in isolation as something that a rookie WR in this class couldn't have done with the same volume. So, it's hard for me to all of a sudden value Nacua at this high level.

Of course if he keeps doing that, I would gladly reverse course.