It’s wild to think that just a year ago, most folks couldn’t even pronounce “Nacua” right. Fast forward to now? Dude’s basically a household name in LA. Puka Nacua didn’t just dip his toes into the NFL—he cannonballed in. With 105 catches and over 1,400 yards in Year 1, he basically speed-ran “rookie breakout.” Year two? Well, let’s just say the guy managed to record nearly 1,000 yards despite suffering an injury.
And now? The Nacua is all set to enter the third season of his career. The catch? Well, the 23-year-old wide receiver will be playing without his mentor, Cooper Kupp, for the first time in his career. But looks like Nacua is gearing up for another thrilling season in 2025. And his recent plans ahead of the OTAs just confirmed it.
Recently, Nacua stopped by the Games with Names Podcast. Where he was asked, “What’s one thing for you individually that you’ve been wanting to work on? How do you work on it?” The wideout explained his off-season plans—improving his short-area quickness. “I think like my short-area quickness is definitely something that we’ve been working like with Coop (Cooper Kupp). And when we do some of our conditioning stuff, it’s not necessarily,” he explained.
“Yeah, we have our sprint days where we’re doing some of that stuff, but also being like, all right, on Tuesdays when we do some of our conditioning stuff, it’s like, oh, we’re here in our box. We’re working our releases like we got the cones. This is your cut-off mark with quick feet, or it’s working a one to release, get skinny. And then this is our box. It can only work in this area.” Picture this: It’s a chill Tuesday, but Puka and Coop aren’t kicking back — they’re out there in this tiny little “box,” running drills like it’s their own backyard bootcamp.
No crazy sprinting, just cones, quick feet, slick cuts, and working on those little moves that shake defenders outta their socks. It’s all about getting shifty in small spaces and making life way easier for Stafford to drop dimes. Sure, Kupp is now off to Seattle, but that doesn’t mean Nacua won’t be grinding to better his short-area quickness. The reason?
Well, see it this way: in the Rams‘ offense, Puka’s the one who’s always moving across the field, switching spots. But the real deal—it’s when he lined up one-on-one, just he and the defender. And that’s when the quick footwork matters really. And Nacua just trusts Matthew Stafford completely. “I feel like, with our offense, we do a lot of motions. I’m going across the field… But now I’d be like, all right, to be able to be lined up one on one on the backside and be like, all right, whatever route it is is short area quickness… I just got one guy to be like, Matthew (Stafford), I trust him with every ounce of my body,” he continued.
“We were in one by three now, and it’s me up. I got the out route like, you know, this out route is going to get thrown ten times out of ten because in the short area quickness when I get to my shoulder here and I’m at the top of the route, I’m one, two, and I’m winning. So short area quickness, I think, because that also involves being at the line of scrimmage.” Puka’s basically in his “let me make life easier for Stafford” era. Translation?
The guy’s all about snapping off clean routes, getting separation fast, and making sure Stafford doesn’t have to pull off some magician-level throw every play. That said, the wideout is set to start the 2025 campaign with this QB. In the meantime, besides his off-season plans, Puka Nacua is out there making headlines for his retirement plans.
Puka Nacua has a wonderful retirement plan
When it comes to picking up tips on the field, Puka knows exactly who to watch—Cooper Kupp, no doubt. But when it’s time to think about life after football? Yeah, he’s got that covered too. And who’s the blueprint for that? None other than Aaron Donald. Dude’s taking notes from the best on both ends. The catch? Well, the 23-year-old wideout is planning to retire at 30. “I know I want to retire at the age of 30,” he said recently on Join the Lobby.
And of course, when he stopped by at Games and Names Podcast, this topic popped up. And when they asked if he’s really retiring at 30, Nacua straight-up revealed his retirement plans that include a basketball team, and country that just 25% of people heard of, and a demand to stay with the Rams till retirement. Because you know, to play overseas basketball, Nacua needs money.
“I don’t really think about it like they asked the question. But I’m like, man, I know I want to go play overseas basketball. That’s why I’m like, I want to play football and I want to take that money,” he said. “I want to go on LaMelo Ball, went to Lithuania. Like, I’m sure I could go to another country that only 25% of the world’s ever heard before. Get ownership in the team and go do the Michael Jordan route. I’m getting twenty-five shots up a night. I’m gonna be the coach.” And he’s not gonna stop there.
In fact, Nacua’s going to make it his full-time business that includes running the team, getting the fans to come in, and selling the tickets, you know, really build something. And here comes the interesting part. Nacua got a suggestion that to buy the team, he just doesn’t need to tell the front office that he wants to retire at 30. That’s when the WR admitted that once they win that Super Bowl, the Rams hopefully want him to make LA his home.
“After we win that Super Bowl, hopefully, I’m like, once we win, I’m like hopefully, it’ll be a done deal. There’s no question about it. Like they want me to stay here and hopefully make L.A. my home like we’ll take over,” he concluded. At the end of the day, it’s safe to say that the guy’s surely going to get a contract extension from the Rams, no doubt. However, we still have to wait for years to see how well his retirement plans work out.
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