Rams' Puka Nacua Talks NFL Records, Stafford, Davante Adams, More in B/R Interview

Puka Nacua has seen the speculation he could become the first 2,000-yard receiver in NFL history.

He's just not fully engaging with it a mere five games into the 2025 campaign.

"I think it's a little too early," the Los Angeles Rams wide receiver told Bleacher Report. "I've seen some of the things on social media, my brothers have sent them in the family group chat. I never open them though because we're one day at a time and one week at a time in the NFL. That's something we say in our building that your humbling moment is one day away. You have to earn the right to be confident. That requires work every single day. So I'm excited for the opportunities to continue to get better."

That daily work has helped him post 52 catches for 588 yards and two touchdowns through the Rams' first five games. He finished with more than 100 yards in three of those first five contests, including when he exploded for 170 yards and a touchdown in the win over the Indianapolis Colts.

Nacua leads the NFL in receptions and receiving yards, and there is already plenty of discussion about what could be a record-breaking season for the unstoppable playmaker. 

After all, Michael Thomas' single-season record of 149 receptions (2019) and Calvin Johnson's single-season record of 1,964 receiving yards (2012) are both within reach if the Rams star maintains this pace over a 17-game schedule.

So is all of this production at least partially because the game is slowing down for him in his third season in the league?

"I think so, 100 percent," Nacua said. "Watching some of the tape and being able to communicate with Matthew, I feel like I'm understanding more of the offense and some of the motion and what we're trying to do. When No. 9 throws the ball, I'm reading some of the lettering on that football. It's so clear and I'm trying to make plays when my opportunities come."

After tallying 1,486 receiving yards as a rookie in 2023 and starting the 2025 season at a historic pace, there is no doubt Nacua has firmly established himself as one of the elite wide receivers in the entire league.

"It's so exciting. I think of all the opportunities I've had to be around great people," he said. "Obviously I'm lining up next to Davante Adams right now, and my first two years I was surrounded by Cooper Kupp and Matthew Stafford. I'm blessed to be able to have coach Sean McVay and the great people around me who have helped me learn and grow at the pace I've been at. There's still so much for me to learn, but the great people around me have allowed me to have this success and continue to work in the right direction."

Nacua remaining humble and crediting others for his individual success is notable, as the Rams so often go as Stafford goes.

That has been the case since they traded for him ahead of the 2021 season since they won the Super Bowl that first year and made the playoffs in each of the last two campaigns. The only time Los Angeles didn't make the playoffs with Stafford on the roster came when he was limited to just nine games during the 2022 season.

Stafford's overall importance is why his health was such a pressing question during training camp when he missed time with a back injury, but the 37-year-old hasn't missed a game or a beat since the start of the regular season.

He leads the league with 1,503 passing yards and has 11 touchdown throws to just two interceptions.

The quarterback is also making everyone around him better, including the team's No. 1 receiver.

"Our whole operation runs through him," Nacua said of Stafford. "The command he has of our offense and the understanding he has of defenses and who the coordinators are. We're in meetings and he's like, 'yeah, I played this coordinator when he was the DB coach in Tampa Bay in 2017, he really likes this stuff.' We're watching the tape together and going over clips and looking at what we've got, and he'll be like, 'oh yeah, I remember this coach would do this or that.'

"It makes it so fun because I'm understanding the game of football from a completely different level. The depth and understanding and level of communication he has when we get out there means we have a great connection."

Stafford isn't the only veteran helping the Rams offense this season, as they added Adams this offseason. While it has helped them remain afloat with Kupp now on the Seattle Seahawks, it was also an opportunity to bring in one of the best receivers of his generation with a resume that includes six Pro Bowl selections, three First-Team All-Pro nods, six seasons with more than 1,000 receiving yards and two seasons in which he led the NFL in touchdown catches.

Adams and Nacua represent one of the best one-two receiving punches in the league, and the former has remained effective as well through the first five games with 357 receiving yards and three scores.

And just getting the opportunity to play alongside the former Green Bay Packers star is still sinking in for the BYU product.

"I'm like, 'wow, I'm playing with you. I grew up a Packers fan, it's unreal to line up next to No. 17,'" Nacua said. "It's been so fun because the urgency and care he has for the game of football has bled into our entire team and impacted us in such a positive way."

There is plenty to smile about with the 2025 Rams offense, which made Nacua's decision to partner with Invisalign off the field a natural fit.

"The partnership has been fantastic," he said. "My Invisalign aligners have helped me grow my confidence in my smile. I'm a big smiley guy when I'm not playing football. On the football field I'm a little bit aggressive, but the rest of the week it makes me feel so confident in my smile. I try to be a happy, energetic guy and have a friendly environment, so the fact I get to smile a little bit stronger has helped me so much."

Nacua has certainly felt the positive impact of his decision.

"Just the confidence I feel like I go out there with," he said. "I love to smile and people see me all the time. When they see me, they're like, 'oh, you have your aligners in too.' And I'm like, 'I'm smiling all the time whether I have them in or not. I know you're going to see my smile.' So it's been so great to work with people who care about taking care of themselves."

Unfortunately for the star receiver, he and his Rams teammates have been forced to smile through some difficult losses at times this year.

While Los Angeles is off to a solid 3-2 start and in ideal position to challenge for a playoff spot in the NFC once again, it likely feels like it should be 5-0 at this point. After all, its losses to the Philadelphia Eagles and San Francisco 49ers each came on the final play of the game.

The Rams led the Eagles 26-7 in the second half, allowed the reigning champions to come all the way back to take the lead but still drove into field-goal range on their final possession while trailing by one. What looked to be a celebration in the making quickly turned sour, though, as Philadelphia blocked Joshua Karty's game-winning field goal attempt and returned it for a stunning touchdown.

It was particularly difficult since Los Angeles also lost by just six points in last season's NFC Divisional Round in Philadelphia in a game that took place in the snow.

▶️ Full Rams-Eagles Recap

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As for the 49ers contest, it was a back-and-forth affair before Kyren Williams lost a fumble right at the goal line on what would have been a go-ahead touchdown with just more than one minute remaining. 

Even though the Rams still got the ball back for another possession and kicked a field goal to force overtime, they lost in the extra period when Williams was stuffed on 4th-and-1 at San Francisco's 11-yard line after a 49ers field goal.

As difficult as the losses were, Nacua still sees them as building blocks as the team focuses on the rest of a long season.

"The first one especially with the history we have of going out there to Philly," he said. "It was good to go out there during a day game and not see the snow all over the place and be able to have a normal game. But they are also opportunities for us to learn. The opportunity to have a two-minute drill is something you work on in practice and don't always have the opportunity to put that to the test. So we still feel super confident in our offense and the operations that we had, but there were still plays to be made.

"It's things that keep you up at night, but they keep you up for a good reason. You're thinking about 'how could I have been better right here on this play or how could I have caught that ball or made that guy miss.' It makes it fun because we feel like we are right on the cusp of it with minor things that we can minimize for us to have success."

If those minor concerns are fixed come playoff time, Nacua may have a chance to finish a historic season with the Lombardi Trophy.