The Rams like what they’ve seen from Puka Nacua. With Cooper Kupp out with a hamstring injury, Nacua has been getting lots of reps and seems to have a good rapport with Matthew Stafford. But Nacua is a fifth-round pick, and it’s rare for those guys to make a big impact, especially early.
I pulled up the numbers on this. In the last 10 years, there have been 43 wide receivers selected with fifth-round picks. Two of have been insanely good – Tyreek Hill and Stefon Diggs. But Hill feel in the draft because of a domestic violence incident that got him kicked off the team at Oklahoma State. (Nacua isn’t a first-round type talent who fell because of character concerns.)
There haven’t been many other hits. Of the 41 other receivers drafted in the fifth round, only five ever finished a season with top-50 numbers (using PPR scoring). Only four did it as rookies.
In the chart below, I’m listing all of the fifth-round receivers by their first-season numbers. The final column shows their best year to date. (Guys who’ve ever had a top-50 season are tagged with dots.)
| FIFTH-ROUND RECEIVERS (last 10 years) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Player | Rec | Yds | TD | PPR | Rk | Best year (rk) |
| 2016 | • Tyreek Hill, K.C. | 61 | 593 | 12 | 219.0 | 18 | 119-1710-9 (2) |
| 2019 | • Darius Slayton, NYG | 48 | 740 | 8 | 170.0 | 37 | 48-740-8 (37) |
| 2020 | • Darnell Mooney, Chi. | 61 | 631 | 4 | 152.1 | 50 | 81-1055-5 (24) |
| 2015 | • Stefon Diggs, Min. | 52 | 720 | 4 | 149.3 | 47 | 127-1535-8 (3) |
| 2019 | • Hunter Renfrow, Oak. | 49 | 605 | 4 | 133.5 | 55 | 103-1038-9 (10) |
| 2013 | • Kenny Stills, N.O. | 32 | 641 | 5 | 127.1 | 56 | 58-847-6 (26) |
| 2018 | Marquez Valdes-Scantling, G.B. | 38 | 581 | 2 | 111.0 | 66 | 33-690-6 (55) |
| 2016 | Tajae Sharpe, Ten. | 41 | 522 | 2 | 105.3 | 73 | 41-522-2 (73) |
| 2017 | Trent Taylor, S.F. | 43 | 430 | 2 | 98.0 | 68 | 43-430-2 (68) |
| 2020 | Quintez Cephus, Det. | 20 | 349 | 2 | 66.9 | 103 | 20-349-2 (103) |
| 2020 | Collin Johnson, Jac. | 18 | 272 | 2 | 59.2 | 109 | 18-272-2 (109) |
| 2015 | J.J. Nelson, Ariz. | 11 | 299 | 2 | 52.9 | 107 | 34-568-7 (56) |
| 2015 | Rashad Greene, Jac. | 19 | 93 | 3 | 46.3 | 113 | 19-93-3 (113) |
| 2020 | Tyler Johnson, T.B. | 12 | 169 | 2 | 40.9 | 129 | 36-360-0 (102) |
| 2022 | Khalil Shakir, Buff. | 10 | 161 | 1 | 34.1 | 131 | 10-161-1 (131) |
| 2020 | Jamal Agnew, Det. | 13 | 89 | 1 | 31.2 | 142 | 24-229-3 (99) |
| 2020 | John Hightower, Phil. | 10 | 167 | 0 | 28.8 | 147 | 10-167-0 (147) |
| 2021 | Ihmir Smith-Marsette, Min. | 5 | 116 | 2 | 28.6 | 145 | 5-116-2 (145) |
| 2015 | Keith Mumphery, Hou. | 14 | 129 | 0 | 26.9 | 141 | 14-129-0 (141) |
| 2022 | Kyle Philips, Ten. | 8 | 78 | 0 | 15.8 | 155 | 8-78-0 (155) |
| 2014 | Ryan Grant, Was. | 7 | 68 | 0 | 13.8 | 154 | 45-573-4 (54) |
| 2016 | Rashard Higgins, Cle. | 6 | 77 | 0 | 13.7 | 160 | 37-599-4 (63) |
| 2016 | Trevor Davis, G.B. | 3 | 24 | 1 | 11.4 | 167 | 8-111-1 (137) |
| 2020 | Joe Reed, LAC | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8.9 | 186 | 0-0-1 (186) |
| 2017 | Isaiah McKenzie, Den. | 4 | 29 | 0 | 7.3 | 173 | 42-423-5 (55) |
| 2022 | Montrell Washington, Den. | 4 | 2 | 0 | 7.2 | 180 | 4-2-0 (180) |
| 2014 | Devin Street, Dall. | 2 | 18 | 0 | 3.8 | 175 | 7-114-1 (145) |
| 2017 | Shelton Gibson, Phil. | 2 | 11 | 0 | 3.1 | 187 | 1-48-0 (180) |
| 2018 | Justin Watson, T.B. | 1 | 5 | 0 | 1.5 | 204 | 15-315-2 (107) |
| 2016 | Jordan Payton, Cle. | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1.3 | 194 | 1-3-0 (194) |
| 2013 | Tavarres King, Den. | 0 | 0 | 0 | .0 | -- | 18-240-3 (97) |
| 2014 | Jared Abbrederis, G.B. | 0 | 0 | 0 | .0 | -- | 9-111-0 (154) |
| 2015 | Tony Lippett, Mia. | 0 | 0 | 0 | .0 | -- | 0-0-0 (--) |
| 2015 | Keith Mumphery, Hou. | 0 | 0 | 0 | .0 | -- | 0-0-0 (--) |
| 2015 | Kenny Bell, T.B. | 0 | 0 | 0 | .0 | -- | 0-0-0 (--) |
| 2017 | DeAngelo Yancey, G.B. | 0 | 0 | 0 | .0 | -- | 0-0-0 (--) |
| 2017 | Rodney Adams, Min. | 0 | 0 | 0 | .0 | -- | 0-0-0 (--) |
| 2018 | Daurice Fountain, Ind. | 0 | 0 | 0 | .0 | -- | 2-23-0 (201) |
| 2018 | Jordan Lasley, Balt. | 0 | 0 | 0 | .0 | -- | 0-0-0 (--) |
| 2020 | • K.J. Osborn, Min. | 0 | 0 | 0 | .0 | -- | 60-655-7 (40) |
| 2020 | Isaiah Coulter, Hou. | 0 | 0 | 0 | .0 | -- | 0-0-0 (--) |
| 2021 | Cornell Powell, K.C. | 0 | 0 | 0 | .0 | -- | 0-0-0 (--) |
| 2021 | Simi Fehoko, Dall. | 0 | 0 | 0 | .0 | -- | 3-24-0 (183) |
| 2023 | Puka Nacua, LAR | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| 2023 | Justin Shorter, Buff. | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| 2023 | Dontayvion Wicks, G.B. | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
The numbers serve as a reminder that it’s tough for a lightly-regarded receiver to claw his way to relevance. At the same time, it happens on occasion. And Nacua at least is off to a good start. Equally notably, he’s landed in a favorable situation (especially if Kupp misses any regular-season games). The Rams don’t have much else at wide receiver. Van Jefferson seems to be more of a deep-threat contributor, rather than a guy who’ll ever develop into a legit starter. They drafted Tutu Atwell in the second round in 2021, but he’s awfully small.
If I were walking into a dynasty draft today, I would select Nacua before I would pick Jefferson. If we’re handicapping it, Jefferson probably will finish with better numbers in 2023, but Nacua has a better chance of maybe at some point becoming a relevant receiver. He was just the 20th wide receiver drafted, but I like him more right now than most of the guys picked before him.
—Ian Allan