In his latest article, State of the 2024 Los Angeles Rams, NFL.com writer Adam Rankhighlighted Puka Nacua as the most important non-QB on the team, even with Cooper Kupp expected to be fully healthy to start the upcoming season. As Rank put it, “Kupp will still factor into the mix, but it’s Puka time now.” Rank compared the transition from Kupp to Nacua to the one from Issac Bruce to Torry Holt
Just a few years removed from winning the pass catchers Triple Crown, Kupp is now being thought of, for the first time in his career as a solidly #2 receiver. Even in his early days when he was paired with the likes of Brandin Cooks and Robert Woods, Kupp was thought of as a 1 or 1b option in the Rams offense.
It’s hard to argue with the logic of Rank’s thinking, as that seemed to be the case even last season when Kupp was healthy. But in reality, Kupp was used almost as much as Nacua was last year, Kupp was targeted 8 times per game and Nacua was targeted 9.5 times per game.
