Rookie Report: Breaking down Puka Nacua's historic start

Rams' rookie wide receiver Puka Nacua is off to incredible start to his NFL career. Breaking down what makes Nacua so effective.

One of the biggest surprises of the NFL season is Puka Nucua. The Rams rookie wide receiver set an NFL record with 25 receptions in first two NFL games. Nacua also trails only Justin Jefferson for the league lead with 266 receiving yards.

Nacua entered the season relatively unknown as a fifth round pick out of BYU, but now is one of the biggest early storylines of the NFL this season. This begs the question of how were the Rams able to steal Nacua in the fifth round?

Well, in this article we’re going to break down all of the components to Nacau’s game that have contributed to his success. These things don’t necessarily pop off the screen or result in highlight reel plays, but you don’t need to pop off the screen to have success as a receiver and Nacua is evidence of that.

Awareness Settling into Zones/Open Space

A lot of Nacua’s catches and yards from his first two games have come from settling into zones and finding open space to create throwing lanes for Matthew Stafford to hit.

This is something that is a lot easier said than done as it requires a lot of awareness. Nacua has to process very quickly when to make cuts or simply settle down in between two defenders to find the best spots on the field for Stafford to get him the ball.

On this play Nacua settles down perfectly in-between the corner and safety on a hitch route hauling in a catch for a good gain.

Nacua settles down in the middle of the 49ers defense between hook zone defenders on a drag route on this next play.

Nacua runs a hitch route to the sticks finding space in front of the 49ers cornerback Deommodore Lenior who is playing over the top of him to prevent vertical routes.

Also of note here along with a lot of other Nacua catches is how good the timing between Nacua and Stafford is. Chemistry between a quarterback and wide receiver is integral and these two have shown that just two games into Nacua’s career.

Nacua does a good job of drifting outside on this route to adjust to 49ers linebacker Dre Greenlaw who is quickly coming across to close the throwing window.

Nacau comes across the middle on a drag route settling down in between 49ers’ defenders.

Route Running

While Nacua doesn’t have elite speed and he isn’t a top-notch change of direction athlete either, but there’s small things that Nacua does with his route running that can make all the difference between creating separation or not creating separation.

This is one of the most impressive plays of the season so far for Nacua. Although the Seattle corner has outside leverage, he’s still able to beat him to sideline. The route was phenomenal on this play but hauling in this throw and getting both feet in-bounds along the sideline.

On this play, Nacua is facing man coverage against the 49ers. He is running a drag route across the middle and is able to bend his route right in front of the linebacker forcing the corner to take a difficult path around the linebacker to keep up with Nacua.

This is a good play design by Sean McVay who is one of the best offensive minds in the NFL, but this is also a well-executed route by Nacua resulting in a good gain.

This is a play where Nacua actually doesn’t get the ball as Stafford is under pressure but is worth showing as it’s a great route.

After coming across the formation in motion as the ball is being snapped Nacua threatens vertical on the route causing the 49ers defender to flip his hips to run with him downfield. As the defender flips his hips, Nacua exploits his blind spot by cutting out towards the sideline forcing the defender’s momentum upfield leaving yards of separation.

Yards After Catch

While Nacua isn’t in the Deebo Samuel mold of receivers who are super elusive and force a bunch of missed tackles after the catch, but he does a good job of maximizing YAC on his catches.

Nacua does this by consistently quickly getting upfield as he hauls in passes and fighting through contact to maximize how many yards he gets on a play. This is something that may not turn a 5-yard catch into a 60-yard play but will consistently turn a 5-yard catch into 8- or 9-yard catches, which adds up and can be the difference between extending a drive or having to punt.

This is the best YAC play Nacua so far this season as he’s able to quickly turn upfield after making the catch and powering through a tackle he maneuvered down to the 1-yard line setting up a touchdown for the Rams.

This next play isn’t anything mesmerizing but is a good example of what Nacua is able to do consistently at the end of plays to maximize YAC.

Puka Nacua has been one of the best storylines of the early NFL season emerging from fifth-round rookie to leading the NFL in receptions through two weeks. It will be interesting to see how Nacua plays the rest of the year after a historic start to his career.

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