Puka Nacua Given Another Top Honor to Cap Off Elite 2025

The Los Angeles Rams wide receiver is about to have a year to remember

Jan 25, 2026; Seattle, WA, USA; Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Puka Nacua (12) celebrates after scoring a touchdown against the Seattle Seahawks during the second half in the 2026 NFC Championship Game at Lumen Field. Mandatory Credit: Steven Bisig-Imagn Images | Steven Bisig-Imagn Images

WOODLAND HILLS, Ca. The Los Angeles Rams have a special talent in Puka Nacua. The young pass catcher has already established himself as one of the NFL's best, earning two All-Pros in three seasons, while leading the NFL in catches in 2025 after breaking the rookie records for receptions and receiving yards in 2023.

However, Nacua isn't just a top producer but he's a prime time performer, often making the biggest plays in the biggest moments. Nacua reset the rookie record for receiving yards in a playoff game in his first-ever playoff contest. In 2025, he led the NFL in playoff receptions, receiving yards, and receiving touchdowns.

As a result, Pro Football Focus named Nacua as the second-best player in the NFL last season, putting him behind Defensive Player of the Year and NFL single-season sack record holder Myles Garrett for the top spot.

"Nacua put up a 2,047-yard season when including the playoffs, one of the most impressive years ever for a wide receiver," stated PFF. "He led all receivers with a 96.1 PFF receiving grade, and his 3.57 yards per route run average was more than a full yard better than any other receiver not named Jaxon Smith-Njigba."

Smith-Njigba, the NFL's Offensive Player of the Year, was ranked fourth.

The Big Honor

While the ranking is the biggest praise Nacua has ever gotten, especially after a league-wide poll stated Nacua wasn't a top ten receiver coming into the season, it's what the ranking means to will lead to the biggest honor any athlete could get...a boatload of cash.

Smith-Njigba and Nacua both come from the 2023 draft class and Smith-Njigba just went public, using the clout from the Super Bowl to put public pressure on the Seahawks to make him the highest-paid receiver in the NFL.

JSN says in an interview with @JonahJavad that he believes he deserves to be the highest-paid WR in the NFL. JSN is extension eligible but says he’s not “too pressed” about getting it done now.

“I know my time is coming and when we get it done it's going to be a great deal.” pic.twitter.com/INFFVAMI5B

— Dugar, Michael-Shawn (@MikeDugar) February 20, 2026

Smith-Njigba's move puts immediate pressure on the Rams to extend Nacua. Smith-Njigba will get a record-setting deal because the alternative is too inconceivable to become reality.

The only question that exists is will Nacua's deal, which will reset the market, come before or after Smith-Njigba's.

Nacua has all the leverage. The Rams can not afford to tag him in 2028, let alone again in 2029, and it will be a cold day in hell before Sean McVay coaches a team willing to let a player like Nacua go. Now Nacua has the backing of PFF, a metric one of the NFL's biggest broadcasters use to publicly rank players. Congratulations on the money Puka Nacua, it's well earned.

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