When Puka Nacua first arrived in Los Angeles, he made it a point to make his presence felt around the facility. The ‘Breakfast Club’ that used to only include Matthew Stafford and Cooper Kupp, now had a fifth-round rookie sitting at the table. Nacua was attached to Kupp at the hip and that showed in his game. While Nacua may have been the Robert Woods 2.0 in the offense, there were certainly aspects and nuances of Kupp’s game that Nacua pulled from.
Much like Kupp, Nacua had a physical playing style. Coming in as a raw route runner, Nacua learned some of Kupp’s tendencies and nuances on in-breaking routes. His routes went from being imperfect to adding precision and technicality. The fifth-round pick out of BYU learned his preparation habits from Kupp and he consistently won in the short and intermediate areas of the field.
However, following last season, the Rams moved on from Kupp after a down year in 2024. That made Nacua the leader in the receiver room. That changed when the Rams signed Davante Adams in free agency. Nacua went from learning from Kupp to learning from Adams. As Nacua said at the time,
“The ability to learn from another all-time great has been — I feel like I’m stealing — I’m like a kid in the candy store. I’ve had Matthew Stafford, Sean McVay, Cooper Kupp and now Davante Adams. My life is pretty good, I can’t complain too much. It’s gonna be fun.”
Right now, it’s hard not to argue for Nacua as a top-3 wide receiver in the NFL. A serious argument can be made that he’s the best wide receiver in the league. While he missed a game due to injury, Nacua leads the NFL in yards per route run with 4.06. What makes that even more impressive is that with the Rams running more 13 personnel, Nacua is running routes on just 68.8 percent of dropbacks since Week 9. That ranks 75th in the NFL. For comparison, Jaxon Smith-Njigba has run routes on 92.9 percent of his team’s dropbacks in that same timeframe.
Since Week 9, Nacua is third in the NFL in receptions and leads the NFL in receiving yards. Again, he leads the NFL in yards per route run. He’s doing that while running a route at a near 25 percent lower rate. That’s not a knock on Smith-Njigba or other top wide receivers. Nacua is just so incredibly efficient.
The Rams have almost created a ‘Frankenstein’ at wide receiver in Nacua. He has gone from a near Kupp clone to adding aspects of Adams’ game to that. Heading into the season, Nacua spoke specifically about taking some of the manipulation aspects in Adams’ route running and adding it to his game. Early in the game against the Lions, you can see this from Adams. At the top of the route, Adams gives a head bob and opens his hips that gets the defender moving inside. That creates separation for Adams on the corner route to the sideline.
During OTAs Nacua said this when asked about what he was taking from Adams,
“Not just specifically the quick game, everything down the field and to be able to have the illusion of going the opposite direction, where you’re going where you want to go. He does it great and he explains it so well in the meeting room. So it makes it fun to watch tape and to be like, ‘Okay, how can I add some of these things to my toolbox?’”
These are things that we are seeing in real time with Nacua. As mentioned, over the last two seasons, Nacua has won primarily in the short and intermediate areas of the field, specifically over the middle. This season, he’s winning a lot more vertically and on the outside than in previous years. Nacua has an average depth of target of 9.3 yards. That’s a full yard more than last year when he had an ADOT of 8.3.
It’s the things like this that show the attention to detail and craftsmanship in Nacua’s game. This is no longer Robert Woods 2.0 or Nacua being the next Kupp in the offense. Nacua may have taken small things from watching film of Woods when he first arrived, but he’s evolved so much further. There’s no doubt that he learned a lot from Kupp. Prior to 2024, Nacua talked about how Kupp was helping him with his routes and where he can improve. Said Kupp,
“I think when you talk to Puka and he looks back on his year, it’s looking at plays and saying, ‘Man, I just know how much better I can be in that play. How much better I can do and on this route, on this run that way…He’s done such a better job this year of understanding the intent and just his energy going in and out of plays. That’s where his focus has been.”
Now, the same is being done with Adams and Nacua is adding some of those aspects to his game. The result has been Nacua solidifying himself as a top-3 wide receiver.
Following the game against the Lions, Nacua has the most yards per game in NFL history for a wide receiver with 93.7. He had 150 or more yards for the seventh time in his career which surpassed Hall of Fame players in Lance Alworth and Randy Moss for the second-most such games by a player in his first three seasons. Including the postseason, Nacua has recorded 150+ scrimmage yards nine times and has been held under 50 yards eight times. He’s more likely to go for 150+ yards than he is to be held under 50.
There’s going to be a time over the next few years in which Nacua will be the leader of the receiver room. When that day does finally come, the Rams will be in great shape. As Kupp and Adams have done, Nacua will be able to pass on some of the things that he’s learned to others after him.
Terrance Ferguson’s blocking has improved
Over the past two weeks, Terrance Ferguson’s snap count has dramatically increased. After Ferguson didn’t play much early in the year, it always seemed like his impact may come down the stretch. After playing 34.6 percent of the offensive snaps against the Carolina Panthers in Week 13, Ferguson’s snap count jumped to 64.3 percent in the win over the Arizona Cardinals. Last week against the Detroit Lions, Ferguson played 77.8 percent of the offensive snaps.
With the Rams playing as much 13 personnel as they have, Ferguson’s snap count was always going to jump with Tyler Higbee being on injured reserve. Still, he played more snaps than Davis Allen last week and his stock appears to be rising.
A reason for Ferguson not playing as much earlier in the year was attributed to blocking. Over the past three weeks, the rookie tight end has been the best run-blocking tight end in the NFL according to Pro Football Focus. If he continues to block like that, Ferguson’s snap counts aren’t going to drop.
The big thing now will be Ferguson and Stafford getting on the same page in the passing game. Ferguson has six catches on 17 targets. His catch rate is 35.3 percent. For comparison, Allen’s is 81.5 percent and Parkinson’s is 81.6 percent. Ferguson and Stafford are so close, but at some point, one of them needs to make the tough play. Stafford overthrew Ferguson on what should have been a walk-in touchdown. Stafford targeted Ferguson in the end zone later in the game and the rookie couldn’t survive the ground. Once these two connect, it could be special. However, one of them needs to make it happen.
Jared Verse showed up in a big game
Throughout his career, Jared Verse has typically shown up in big games. In 19 games vs. teams with winning records or a big division game, Verse has averaged 5.3 pressures per game. He has had less than three pressures in just three of those contests. Against the Lions, Verse once again showed up with five pressures. One pressure resulted in a near-interception. Another resulted in an inaccurate screen pass that ended in a loss of a yard.
It’s also worth noting that on the 4th-and-4 inside the five-yard line at the end of the game, Verse took the left tackle for a ride directly into Goff. The pass from Goff hit the turf short due to the pressure. Had Emmanuel Forbes not been called for pass interference for Amon-Ra St. Brown tripping over his own feet, it would have been the game-clinching play. Verse’s signature bull rush was featured multiple times throughout the game.
The Lions tried to go at Verse a few times in the run game, hoping he would over-pursue the play. Outside of one play, Verse stayed home and contained Jahmyr Gibbs. Gibbs had a 23.1 percent rushing success rate which was his third-lowest in a game this season. His -0.35 EPA per rush was tied for his fourth-worst.
Players like Poona Ford and Kobie Turner had something to do with that. However, Verse has done a great job holding the edge. Verse ranks second in the NFL in run-stop win rate. His presence and physicality on the edge has played a role in the Rams’ run defense taking a step forward.
Corum’s having a breakout in real time
Over the last three weeks, Blake Corum ranks sixth in the NFL in total rushing yards. Among running backs with 25 or more carries, he leads the league in yards per attempt with 9.33 to go with an explosive run rate of 16.7 percent. His 0.43 missed tackles forced per attempt also ranks first. That doesn’t mention his 83.3 percent success rate.
This isn’t to say that Kyren Williams doesn’t have a role in the offense. However, the Rams didn’t give Corum 10 or more carries since Week 7. In weeks 1-6, Williams averaged 4.4 yards per carry. Since the Rams have utilized both running backs and kept Williams fresh, he’s averaged 5.28. Similarly, Corum averaged 5.38 yards per carry in Weeks 1-6. Since Week 7, his yards per carry have gone up to 5.6.
We are seeing Corum’s breakout happen live. He is as explosive as he’s been since before his meniscus tear in 2022. His lateral movement and explosiveness out of his cuts have added an aspect to the Rams’ run game that’s been missing. Of course, the offensive line deserves credit as well. The Rams are third in the NFL in yards before contact at 2.72. That unit in combination with the two running backs and what the Rams are doing schematically have created one of the most dangerous running games in the NFL.
