With one regular-season game left in what's been a stellar rookie season, Puka Nacua is closing in on two major NFL single-season rookie receiving records.
Heading into the Los Angeles Rams ' regular-season finale at the San Francisco 49ers this Sunday, Nacua has 101 receptions for 1,445 receiving yards and five touchdowns this season.
The former BYU and Orem High standout needs four receptions to pass Jaylen Waddle 's rookie record of 104 receptions, set in 2021 with the Miami Dolphins .
And he needs 29 receiving yards to break a longer-held rookie record: In 1960, the Houston Oilers' Bill Groman set the rookie record for receiving yards with 1,473 yards.
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Nacua is averaging 6.3 receptions and 90.3 receiving yards per game in his first season after being a fifth-round draft pick back in April.
He has seven games with more than 100 yards receiving, tied for second all-time among rookies with Harlon Hill (1954), Odell Beckham Jr. (2014) and Justin Jefferson (2020), according to ESPN .
Only Groman had more 100-yard games as a rookie, with nine in 1960.
The Rams play the 49ers at 2:25 p.m. MST at Levi's Stadium.
Nacua has already set several rookie receiving records — his 15 receptions in a Week 2 matchup against San Francisco set the NFL rookie single-game receptions record, and his 25 receptions through two weeks also set the league record for catches by a rookie through his first two career games .
His 39 receptions for 501 yards through four weeks of the 2023 season were also both records for an NFL player through his first four career games.
Nacua, too, has set the Rams' rookie receiving yards record, becoming the first player in franchise history with 1,000 receiving yards as a rookie.
