Did the LA Rams Have Top Draft Steal Ever? Puka Nacua

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LOS ANGELES – Day two of the NFL Draft can sometimes feature a few draft steals. Most NFL fans can quickly point to draft steals of more recent memory like Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah for example. Then there are the Los Angeles Rams with the selection of wide receiver Puka Nacua.

Who is Nacua? Why wasn’t he selected in round one? How could so many teams pass on this obvious track star at receiver? Nacua wasn’t really talked about much leading up to the draft. We heard about Tank Dell out of Houston, Mario Addison out of USC, and Zay Flowers out of Boston College. Why did the Rams have the opportunity to select Nacua when he probably should’ve gone way earlier?

Nacua played for the Washington Huskies in 2019 and 2020. He never eclipsed the 200-yard mark and has fewer than three touchdowns each season at Washington. Then he transferred to Brigham Young University (BYU). He had success there with 805 receiving yards and six touchdowns in 2021. In 2022, Nacua had 625 yards and five touchdowns.

It’s easy to get caught up in stats and never really think about the game film which gives everyone more information to accurately predict a rookie’s chances of success at the next level. Clearly, many people underestimated Nacua and looked at the college stats. He was an afterthought compared to the other receivers.

Numbers matter though. The NFL stats prove that Nacua was not only NFL-ready but was meant to be an elite receiver. Only time will tell if he becomes elite. A lot of things can happen between now and the next decade. Will he face major injuries? Will defenses learn how to slow him at least down? Nacua has 77 receptions for 1,027 yards and four touchdowns. Nacua has 30 more receptions than the next leading receiver Dell. He has 709 receiving yards and seven touchdowns. Addison has 54 receptions for 686 yards and seven touchdowns.

Nacua had injuries to deal with. His playing time was very limited in college and teams never really saw much game film on Nacua. The Rams saw something in him, something worthy of drafting Nacua in the fifth round. Nacua was on the board until day three. He didn’t really show his speed during the NFL combine so initially, the assumption would’ve been this receiver is too slow to play the next level.

Don’t tell Nacua he’s too slow. He’s consistently burning NFL defenses. Nacua proved to every other NFL team that they made a mistake passing up on him. Now the Rams are in the playoff hunt and Nacua is one of the biggest reasons why.

This is an example of why being an NFL scout is one of the most difficult, mentally demanding jobs in the world. You have to anticipate an opportunity for a draft steal like this. In fairness, most scouts could never see this coming. This is a one-in-a-million chance. The Rams took that chance. Sometimes grit and determination make all the difference.