After two years learning under veteran receiver Cooper Kupp, third-year wideout Puka Nacua has a new teacher in Davante Adams. The six-time Pro Bowl and three-time All-Pro brings a new perspective to the Rams after he spent his previous time with the Green Bay Packers, Las Vegas Raiders and New York Jets.
But for Nacua, Adams is helping him understand something equally as important as route-running and receiving: How to protect his body. Nacua told Yahoo Sports’ Jori Epstein that because he and Adams both run routes over the middle of the field, Adams reminded the young receiver that he doesn’t always need to take contact on those routes. Nacua also learned to watch the shoulder height of his defender to pick the right angle he needs to take.
“I always take the contact and say that I’m bigger than somebody,” Nacua said. “We get to the break point, I’ll shrug you off and be able to run and get the ball. But it definitely does save some shoulder pain when you can win from negative leverage and not run into people all the time.”
Another element Nacua is now looking into more now after watching Adams is how to release in the red zone — especially “how he tries to marry up his slant with the fade.”
“We don’t run a ton of stuff outside the numbers because of how condensed our offense is,” Nacua said, “but trying to figure out, on my slant release [how] he’s heading up to inside leverage and to threaten outside. I would take the slant as kind of a speed release for the fade ball and then being able to work kind of a false acceleration into the slant.”
These two lessons are the innocuous advantages of signing Adams. The Rams knew they’d get star pass-catcher based on his production, game tape and experience, but how he’s been able to influence the develop of the team’s young offensive players cannot be quantified by stats.
Nacua is already one of the best young receivers in the NFL. Now he’ll get a crash course in how Adams plays receiver in Year 3. That should be huge for his development, and it already looks like the tutelage is paying off before the Rams even hit the field.
