In 2025, Puka Nacua enjoyed his most productive season since the Los Angeles Rams found him in the fifth round of the 2023 NFL Draft.
Nacua, 24, led the league in receptions (129) and yards per game (107.2), along with a career-high 1,715 yards and 10 touchdowns.
Sprinkled in there, however, Nacua had some off-field missteps.
That’s one reason why ESPN’s Mina Kimes and reputed draft expert Daniel Jeremiah wouldn’t be surprised if the Rams aggressively target a wide receiver in the 2026 NFL Draft later this month.
Kimes hosted Jeremiah on her “The Mina Kimes Show Featuring Lenny” to do a war-room style mock draft.
Kimes proposed that the Rams could trade with the Cincinnati Bengals to move up from the No. 13 to the No. 10 overall pick.
“The Rams are a little worried about the future at receiver right now,” Kimes said. “Regardless of what happens in-house [with Nacua], I think they should take a receiver, especially with Davante Adams turning 34.”
Kimes projected the Rams to draft former Arizona State wide receiver Jordyn Tyson.
Following the Rams’ Week 14 win over Arizona, Nacua rubbed some Rams the wrong way by live-streaming in the locker room.
Two weeks later, Nacua invited streamers Adin Ross and N3on to the Rams facility, where they were turned away. Nacua later said head coach Sean McVay “didn’t [expletive] with that” when he found out.
Nacua appeared on Ross’ stream ahead of the Rams’ game against Seattle on Thursday, Dec. 18, and he came under fire for performing an antisemitic gesture. He issued a formal apology stating that he had “no idea” that the gesture perpetuated harmful stereotypes at the time. The NFL and the Rams also issued statements.
After the Rams lost in overtime to Seattle, Nacua immediately blamed the referees on X (formerly Twitter).
The Athletic‘s Jourdan Rodrigue cited a Rams team source in confirming that Nacua “checked himself into a private care facility,” where he has been since March.
“Perhaps taking cues from McVay, the Rams did not seem to have many long-term concerns about Nacua’s behavior immediately after the in-season incidents,” Rodrigue reported. “(Nacua was neither suspended nor punished by the team, and McVay, in fact, praised his on-field production in the first game after the livestream, although he added he hoped Nacua would learn from his mistakes).”
But Rodrigue added that the Rams’ concerns “significantly increased” this offseason: “The Rams made it clear publicly and even more firmly behind the scenes in recent weeks that Nacua will have to correct his off-field behavior to earn the type of contract his league-leading play would typically merit.”
Nacua is extension eligible this offseason. Seattle Seahawks star and NFL Offensive Player of the Year Jaxon Smith-Njigba just reset the wide receiver market by signing a four-year, $168.6 million extension two weeks ago (via ESPN).
The Rams’ only first-round pick in this year’s draft is No. 13 overall after trading No. 29 overall to the Kansas City Chiefs as part of the blockbuster package to land All-Pro cornerback Trent McDuffie.
The 2026 NFL Draft will take place in Pittsburgh from April 23 to April 25.
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