In Canton, Ohio, among the busts of sports legends from Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks to era-defining coaches stands a blue and gold jersey with No. 17 emblazoned on the back.
The name on the back may be unfamiliar to many, but even after playing just a few games in the NFL, Puka Nacua has already earned his spot in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Since Nacua’s historic start to his rookie NFL season, Nacua’s jersey has been enshrined as a football shrine, enshrined in all things great and beautiful.
A relatively low-key pick by the Los Angeles Rams in the fifth round of this year’s draft, Nacua has exceeded expectations with a series of explosive performances.
After catching seven passes for 71 yards and a touchdown in Week 5 of the 2023 season, the 22-year-old’s jersey was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame for the many records he broke.
The headline was that he set rookie records for most catches (46) and receiving yards (572) through his first five games.
At the rate he’s going, Nakua will erase the NFL’s first-year receiving record set a few years ago by Jaylen Waddle, a Rams wide receiver who seems to set the record for receptions every week Most new milestones. A player’s first year as a professional.
That makes the accomplishment even more special for the unheralded player from Utah.
“Oh my God, this guy is special.”
Football has always been about Nacua. He has three older brothers, all of whom played at BYU.
So when he transferred to his hometown college after a few disappointing years at Washington — with a broken foot and limited bench time — he was a no-brainer for Nacua.
Fesi Sitake, BYU’s wide receivers coach and passing game coordinator, vividly remembers the first time he met Nakua.
“I remember the first game I watched him in high school. I saw him make one of the best catches of his high school career, and he’s made a lot of those catches,” Sitake told CNN Sports .
“‘Oh my gosh, this guy is special.’ As we developed our relationship in the recruiting process, I could tell that what you saw on the surface was who he really was, which was a super happy, enjoyable, appreciative guy Young man who lives life, loves football and has a great personality type.”
After Nakau returned home to Utah, Sitake recalled his dedication to learning and advancement at BYU and explained how he was naturally extremely smart and physically gifted for his position while also being A passionate person.
Sitake described Nakua’s physical gifts as “a gazelle in one race and a Clydesdale in the next” – a powerful horse breed that originated in Scotland. There it is mainly used for agricultural production.
Paired with quarterback Jalen Hall (also selected in the fifth round of this year’s draft by the Minnesota Vikings), Nakua has blossomed into a dynamic offensive weapon with the physical attributes that make him stand out while he His catching ability has also been developed.
In 21 games at BYU, Nacua caught 91 passes for 1,430 yards and 11 touchdowns, including seven games with more than 100 yards receiving. He led the Cougars in both statistics during his two years in college despite dealing with injuries at the end of his final year.
In addition to his ability to rack up statistics, Nakau has an uncanny knack for catching big balls in clutch situations.
Sitake emphasized that BYU’s game against Boise State last year was a moment that showcased Nacua’s abilities as a player and person.
BYU trailed with less than a minute left, but Nacua made a spectacular catch to win the game. Not only did it seal the victory, it also helped snap a four-game losing streak that Sitake described as “a little dark cloud over our program.”
“Feeling the electricity on the sidelines, seeing the relief we had on the sidelines, getting the monkey off our backs, so to speak, and seeing Puka elated. It wasn’t for himself because he knew how much we wanted it, us as How much a team needs to go through it,” Sitake recalled.
“I just remember putting my arm around him and having a nice conversation with him and saying, ‘This is you, man. Like, when somebody needs something, they’re going to go to you. This is just yours. A small sample of life.
“Then we ended the season with four wins in a row and Puka was the catalyst for it all…and he just put his head down during those four dark games.
“He’s still smiling, he’s still laughing, he’s still working hard. “He never changes based on his surroundings and it pays off in the end. “
Management upgrade
The 177th overall pick in the NFL Draft typically doesn’t generate much interest because it occurs on the third day of the voting process.
But when the Rams committed their final fifth-round pick, little did they know they were completely revamping their receiving corps with just one pick.
An already high-ceiling group, including Cooper Kupp, the NFL’s 2021 leader in receptions, receiving yards and touchdowns, is looking for extra explosiveness.
Kupp suffered a catastrophic knee injury last season and the Rams struggled to defend their Super Bowl title, falling from 12-5 in 2021 to 5-12 in 2022. The gap between the other players in the group dropped significantly.
In Nacua, they got a contributor from day one. He might have dropped down in the team’s draft projections due to his injury history in college, but the Rams decided to take a chance on him and add him to the team.
In fact, Nakua’s official scouting report out of BYU predicts he will be drafted in the sixth or seventh round, saying he “lacks the ability or speed to successfully attack NFL coverage.”
The scouting report also said he will “struggle to avoid NFL media coverage” and “lacks instant acceleration to separate from defenders.”
Sitake recalled texting Nacua after finding her new home, and the two expressed their excitement for Nacua to be coached by Sean McVay and paired with Kupp. Sitake played alongside and coached Kupp during his time at Eastern Washington.
With Kupp out for the first four weeks of the season, Nakua has thrived in the spotlight, totaling 25 receptions and 266 receiving yards through the first two weeks of the season.
“That’s a dream come true. It couldn’t be better,” Nakau told reporters after the Rams’ Week 1 win over the Seahawks in Seattle. “I had a lot of fun there.”
In these two weeks alone, Nakua broke three NFL rookie records – his 25 catches surpassed the previous two-game mark of 19 set by Earl Cooper in 1980 Rookie catches record; 25 catches is also the most by a rookie in two weeks, surpassing Odell Beckham Jr.’s 23 catches in 2014.
Nacua also became the first rookie in history to have more than 10 yards receiving and 100 yards receiving in each of his first two games.
Rams head coach McVay has witnessed his efficient offense. McVay may only be 37 years old, but he went some way to revolutionizing the league’s offense after being named to his current job in 2017.
So when McVay effusively praises a player, it’s probably worth sitting back and listening.
“He’s a stud. This game is going to be tough for him, physically and mentally,” McVay was asked about Naku after the Rams’ Week 2 loss to the San Francisco 49ers Yashi said. “It’s been really hard work.
“I think even when you guys talked to him last week, he was very curious. He asked a lot of questions and he had a lot of great people to read on, whether it was (Rams receivers coach) Eric Ya (Eric Yarber), but really, you know, you look at the veterans in the receiver room and Cooper (Koop), I think Tutu (Atwell) has done a tremendous job.
“And Van (Jefferson), he has a great relationship with Matthew (Stafford) and they’re able to communicate with each other and I think that’s a real positive and Puka will continue to improve and I love Puka.”
But Nacua is just getting started.
Another 72 yards in Week 3, and Nacua scored his first NFL touchdown with a 9-catch, 163-yard performance in Week 4 against the Indianapolis Colts – which happened to be the Rams The team’s overtime winning goal.
A video of Nacua’s girlfriend, Hallie Aiono, celebrating the occasion was shared by the NFL’s official Instagram account and has received more than 266,000 likes, showing the growing interest in the Rams rookie.
Praise for Nakua peaked that week, with arguably the best basketball player ever LeBron James calling out his performance and calling him “Puka Doncic” — a reference to Dallas. The Mavericks’ superstar guard, he easily creates magic on the court. Court – Livestreamed on social media.
Week five marked Kupp’s return, with most targets going in the direction of the 30-year-old star. But that didn’t stop Nakua from racking up monster stats.
Over the next five weeks of the season, Nacua had 25 catches and one touchdown for 326 yards.
As a rookie, he ranked in the top five in the NFL in receiving yards (827) and had 64 catches, breaking Kupp’s single-season record of 62 catches set in 2017. Nakua had 293 receiving yards. More receiving yards than league rookie Jordan Addison.
Nakua gives the Rams’ receiving corps one of the most formidable duos out there, and his composure is enough to intimidate anyone in his first year in the NFL.
“There’s always naturally an element of surprise, not that you think he’s not going to make it, but that he’s coming onto the track at such a young age,” Sitake told CNN.
“I think it’s down to a lot of things: the right person, the organization, Puka himself, the job he does, the supporters around him, his family and friends and the people who love him.
“That creates a perfect recipe for him to have a season now. Whether it turns out to be a record-breaker or not, man, I’m happy for him and I really believe there’s no one more deserving than Puka to be on the trajectory they’re on right now. .”
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