Puka Nacua sets new rookie records for the NFL with 15 catches for the Rams.
Puka Nacua, a Rams receiver, broke the NFL's single-game record for receptions by a rookie with 15 catches for 147 yards in Los Angeles' 30-23 loss to the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday. He also established a new league record with 25 catches in his first two games of the season.
Each of the following players had a 14-catch game as a rookie: Najee Harris (2021), Saquon Barkley (2018), Roy Helu (2011), and Don Looney (1940).
With his tenth catch on Sunday, Nacua beat Earl Cooper's record for the most receptions by a player through his first two games, set in 1980. Cooper's previous mark stood for a week after Nacua recorded 10 catches for 119 yards in his NFL debut. Nacua became the first player to have 10 receptions and 100 receiving yards in each of his first two NFL games on the following play, breaking the 100-yard receiving mark.
Nacua has joined Looney (1940), DeSean Jackson (2008), and Will Fuller V (2016) as one of only four players in NFL history to record 100 or more receiving yards in each of his first two games.
Odell Beckham Jr. had 23 catches over two games in December 2014, surpassing Nacua's 25 receptions to become the rookie with the most over any two-game span in NFL history.
In any two-game span over the previous ten seasons, Nacua is now the fourth player with 25 receptions and 250 receiving yards. The other three are Michael Thomas (2018), Antonio Brown (2015), and Julio Jones (2015). Naturally, Nacua did it in his first two professional contests.
Nacua was listed this week on the injury report due to an oblique injury he suffered in the Rams' victory over the Seattle Seahawks in the season opener.
Cooper Kupp, a wide receiver with the Rams, is out with a hamstring injury and on injured reserve. With the injury, Kupp will miss at least two more games before being able to play against the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 5 of the regular season.
