Los Angeles Rams rookie wide receiver Puka Nacua has been named the NFC Offensive Player of the Week for Week 16 after his incredible performance against the New Orleans Saints on Thursday Night Football. It is Nacua’s first career Offensive Player of the Week award and the Rams second winner of the season (Kyren Williams in Week 12).
Nacua was instrumental in the Rams’ victory over the Saints that vaulted them to an above .500 record for the first time since Week 1 when they started 1-0 on the season. The star rookie wide receiver had nine catches for 164 yards and a touchdown in the win.
It’s the sixth time Nacua has crossed the 100-yard threshold in a game this season, the third time he’s crossed 150 yards and he secured a career high by surpassing his 163-yard performance against the Indianapolis Colts in Week 4. Nacua’s 1,327 yards on the season ranks fourth in the NFL behind superstars Tyreek Hill, CeeDee Lamb and A.J. Brown.
Nacua is 129 yards away from passing Ja’Marr Chase for the most receiving yards in a season by a rookie since 1960 and is 147 yards away from the all-time record. He is six catches away from surpassing Anquan Boldin’s all-time record of 101 receptions in a rookie campaign.
By winning this award, Nacua cements himself as a legitimate candidate for Offensive Rookie of the Year, despite the assumption that the award has been all but secured by Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud.
Stroud has had a remarkable run in Houston, but Nacua could end the season as the all-time record holder in multiple rookie categories.
He also is likely to end the season in the top 10 of both receptions and receiving yards in the NFL. If he does that, he’ll join the company of Hill, Lamb, Brown, Keenan Allen and Amon-Ra St. Brown, all of whom are considered among the league’s best wide receivers.
Rams’ Puka Nacua has Sean McVay’s OROY vote
Rams head coach Sean McVay also recognized the type of season that Stroud is having for the Texans and how he would be a worthy winner of Offensive Rookie of the Year. However, he believes that Nacua has earned his place in that conversation and would receive McVay’s vote if he had one.
Nacua has completely changed the Rams offense and made it a much more formidable unit than anyone was expecting when the 2023 season began.
