The Los Angeles Rams' Puka Nacua won NFL Rookie Of The Year honors in 2023-2024, adding to hopes for an even better sophomore season. Nacua has the potential to achieve it, but his health is the biggest key in the equation.
On Thursday, the Rams receiver got an update on Nacua's status from Coach Sean McVay, who stated that Nacua has been practicing fully after a knee related health issue. The news was revealed by NFL reporter Ian Rapoport. “He'll be ready to roll (for Week One),” McVay reportedly said.
The Nacua news came amid ex-Rams superstar Aaron Donald's telling comments on the team's trade of Jared Goff to Detroit. Meanwhile, Los Angeles fans got a critical update on Kyren Williams' status for a new position.
The Rams' Week One opponent is the Detroit Lions, the team that knocked them out of the playoffs last season. Now, the time has come for Nacua, Matthew Stafford, Cooper Kupp and the rest of the Rams' offense to lock in as they prepare to outscore Goff, Jameson Williams, Amon-Ra St. Brown and the rest of the Lions.
Rams' Week One outlook
The Rams' first game against the Lions could be the toughest since the team's Super Bowl victory over Joe Burrow and the Bengals back in 2022.
Ford Field, aka the Lions' home stadium, was absolutely rocking during last year's Rams playoff loss, a fact that surely is not lost on Coach Sean McVay heading into Week One's action. Recently, Lions Coach Dan Campbell shared that the Lions' preseason crowd this past weekend showed up in an outstanding, rollicking way yet again, a fact that has not been lost on the Rams heading into their daunting Week One task of beating Detroit in Motown.
Matthew Stafford is used to playing in hostile environments. Having Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp in the lineup against the Lions' relatively green secondary could pay big dividends for a Rams team with aspirations of playing in the Super Bowl again this season.
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Nacua's impact on Rams offense
Nacua was a rookie last season who thrived in the Rams' pass-first offense. Now, it's a whole different ballgame for Matthew Stafford, Nacua and the rest of the offense with two star wideouts on the same team and two potential star running backs in Kyren Williams and rookie draft pick Blake Corum, who paced Michigan football to its first national title since 1997 last year.
If Nacua, Stafford, Williams, Corum and Kupp can get on the same page, the sky is the limit for this offense. The Rams have as much talent offensively on paper as any other team. Now, they must put it together in time to take down Ben Johnson's Lions in a game that could catapult them back into the stratosphere as one of the NFL's most exciting, potential championship teams for 2024-2025.
