Puka Nacua erupted in 2023 with the greatest rookie season ever by a wide receiver. He set records all along the way as a fifth-round rookie, but at the end of the year, he finished with the most receptions and receiving yards ever by a first-year player.
He topped Bill Groman’s mark with 1,486 yards in 17 games for the Rams and also caught 105 passes, one more than Jaylen Waddle had in 2021. Those are two records that will be difficult to break, but Rome Odunze has his sights set on Nacua’s marks in 2024.
Odunze said this week that he’s aiming to break Nacua’s rookie receiving record, a record that previously stood for 63 years before Nacua burst onto the scene.
Rome is going for it all entering Year 1 👀 pic.twitter.com/n6eu4JpWMc
— NFL (@NFL) June 12, 2024
Odunze and Nacua played together for one season at Washington, so they’re familiar with each other’s game. Odunze even said this offseason that he knew Nacua would be special just from his brief time as his teammate with the Huskies.
“We knew Puka was like that”
The wide out room at @UW_Football was stacked when @RomeOdunze arrived on campus. One of the players in that room was @pukaizded Rome says he was everything then, that we saw in his rookie season. He watched him go head to head with stars like… pic.twitter.com/PqlstkKvmH
— Ryan Clark (@Realrclark25) April 16, 2024
Odunze has his work cut out for him if he wants to beat Nacua’s historic rookie numbers, especially considering he plays on a team with Keenan Allen and D.J. Moore.
