Puka Nacua has gotten off to a dream start in the NFL. He set countless rookie records in 2023 before coming back and putting up 990 yards in only 11 games last season, ranking third in the NFL in receiving yards per game.
As outstanding as he’s been through two seasons, there’s still room for improvement. His numbers may not have gotten better in 2024 but he improved his hands and body control in Year 2, among other things.
Heading into his all-important third season, Nacua told Julian Edelman he's focusing on one thing in particular this spring: short-area quickness. He’s worked on that this offseason with Cooper Kupp, putting in a lot of time in the gym to get better.
"My short-area quickness is definitely something we've been working (on) with Coop, and while we do some of our conditioning stuff, it's not necessarily – yeah, we have our sprint days where we're doing some of that stuff, but also it being like, all right on Tuesdays, when we do some of our conditioning stuff, we're here in our box, we're working our releases," Nacua said. "We've got the cones, these are your cut-off marks, quick feet or it's working a one-two release, get skinny and then this is our box, it can only work in this area."
Nacua mentioned that he does need to have good stamina being in the Rams’ system because of how often he goes in motion and has to run across the field at the snap, but short-area quickness can help him win at the line and at the top of his route.
If he can separate from the defender and get open for Matthew Stafford, it’ll make the quarterback’s job so much easier.
"That also involves being at the line of scrimmage, but especially once we get into the top of the route, I need to separate at the top,” he said. “The job as a receiver is to catch the ball no matter what, but also being like, all right, now if I can make our quarterback's job even easier, man, the success we could have of being like, all right, he doesn't have to pinpoint it to put it to one spot. Throw it in the area and I'll come down with it."
Nacua’s dedication to improving is awesome to see, even with all the success he’s had already. It’s what makes him one of the best wideouts in the league at the young age of 23 and he’s only going to keep getting better.
This article originally appeared on Rams Wire: Rams WR Puka Nacua reveals what he's working to improve this offseason
