Puka Nacua has become a legitimate No. 1 receiver

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00:00Now, receivers in the Rams' offense are generally debited as situation-transcendent players to a point for two reasons.

00:06First, they unquestionably benefit from Sean McVay's passing concepts,

00:10and they're catching passes from Matthew Stafford, who is among the NFL's best ever when it comes to sheer arm talent.

00:16But 2025 should be the year in which we take the training wheels off that evaluation in Nakua's case

00:21and rightly regard him as one of the league's few true ex-ISO winners, and right now the best receiver in the game.

00:27Nakua at this moment will be a number one in most NFL offenses regardless of the playbook.

00:33At 6'2 and 205 pounds, Nakua has a size-speed combination every receiver would want, and it shows up over and over.

00:41Starting with the size element, Nakua has become a top-tier route runner in his ability to create voids in coverage

00:47as opposed to just exploiting them. It's a powerful difference.

00:50And when you add that to his ability to make the contested catch, it's a big deal of a skill set.

00:55This 31-yard catch against the Indianapolis Colts in Week 4 was the best example of that this season so far.

01:01Nakua motioned from the inside slot to outside left, which changed the Colts' coverage concepts.

01:06They had to go from defending a compressed formation into a more wide-open one.

01:10Slot cornerback Mike Hilton now aligned with receiver Jordan Whittington,

01:13and outside cornerbacks David and Howard took Nakua.

01:16This was cover one, man coverage with a single high safety,

01:19and Howard had no immediate help up top as a result.

01:22The veteran did his level best to keep up with Nakua and negate the play,

01:26but between Stafford's amazing throw and Nakua's knack for getting and staying open in these situations,

01:31that was it.

01:33Nakua's stutter move before going vertical froze Howard for a brief moment,

01:36but as Nakua had to change his leverage from inside to outside downfield,

01:40Howard was able to catch up.

01:42But in the end, it mattered not.

01:43To be continued...

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