Puka Nacua wasn’t viewed as one of the top receivers in the 2023 draft, which is why he fell all the way to the fifth round. However, through three weeks, he’s already far outplayed his draft position, leading the NFL in targets, ranking second in receptions and fourth in receiving yards.
His injury history at Washington and BYU was a big reason he fell in the draft, but so was his subpar testing at his pro day. Nacua only ran a 4.57 in the 40-yard dash, which isn’t a terribly slow time but it would’ve been tied for 34th among all receivers at the NFL combine this year. For a wideout, it wasn’t exactly an impressive number.
Buy Rams TicketsLike Cooper Kupp, though, Nacua plays faster than his 40 time. According to Next Gen Stats, Nacua hit 21.05 mph on one of his routes this season, which is the sixth-fastest speed of any player during a route in 2023.
To put that number into greater perspective, there have only been nine ball carriers with faster speeds than 21.05 mph this season. It’s unclear which game Nacua hit that top speed during, but he’s plenty fast to succeed in the NFL.
He just isn’t going to have the burners to run away from the fastest defenders in the NFL like Tutu Atwell and some of the other speedy receivers across the league can. And that’s perfectly fine because he’s moving the sticks and making defenders miss.
