McVay: Gladstone Instrumental in Bringing This Pro Bowler to Rams

Jacksonville Jaguars' new general manager James Gladstone has more capital than any NFL team over next two drafts, and he showed his skills with the Los Angeles Rams by finding Puka Nacua.

Jan 19, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Puka Nacua (17) runs with the ball against the Philadelphia Eagles in a 2025 NFC divisional round game at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-Imagn Images | Eric Hartline-Imagn Images

Before the Jaguars hired him as general manager last month, James Gladstone’s title with the Rams was director of scouting strategy. And before he departed, he shared one successful scouting strategy with his former team: Draft Puka Nacua.

“James Gladstone was a big fan of him before anybody,” head coach Sean McVay said Monday on the Dan Patrick Show, asked who gets credit for drafting the wide receiver in 2023.

Nacua exploded onto the scene as a rookie, establishing the NFL’s single-season rookie records with 105 catches and 1,486 yards while garnering Pro Bowl and second-team All-Pro honors. And over his first two seasons since Los Angeles selected him 177th overall in the fifth round of the 2023 draft, Nacua has averaged 88.4 yards per game (184 catches, 2,476 yards, nine touchdowns).

More than that, McVay said Nacua has shown an innate ability to elevate his game in the playoffs.

“That was one of our favorite things about Puka, the competitive toughness,” he said. “At BYU, he was catching a lot of bubbles and running jet sweeps, and so a lot of the run after the catch was something that was enticing.

“And if you said, ‘Did you think he'd be this good?’ We had a vision. We thought he would be good, but if we knew he was gonna be this good, we'd be silly to say we were gonna wait till the fifth round to take him.”

Actually, Nacua is an inspiring, late-round case study for Gladstone and the Jaguars. Jacksonville has more draft capital than any NFL team over the next two seasons. This year, the club has 10 picks – four in the first three rounds. And whether Jacksonville uses its fifth-overall selection to take Travis Hunter, Mason Graham or even Tetairoa McMillan, those assets provide Gladstone a familiar foundation he can use to put his stamp on the Jaguars.

“With the amount of draft capital that we have at our disposal over the next two seasons,” Gladstone said last month, “it's really exciting about what we can do there, especially knowing that that's the highest volume of draft capital that exists for any team in the NFL over the next two years.

“We're coming off two cycles with the Los Angeles Rams where that was the exact same case, 24 picks over the last two drafts. So, really this is a dynamic that I'm uniquely positioned to navigate and really looking forward to utilizing as a means of continuing to develop this roster.”

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