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The Los Angeles Rams could be without wide receiver Puka Nacua in Week 7 when they take on the Jacksonville Jaguars in London. Nacua suffered a sprained ankle in Week 6. While Nacua played six snaps in the second half, the Rams wide receiver was clearly in a limited role. It’s possible that on an unfamiliar surface at Wembley Stadium and with the bye week looming, the Rams play it safe with Nacua and work to get him healthy. The Rams have a key stretch of games following the bye week in which they face the Seattle Seahawks, San Francisco 49ers, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers in back-to-back-to-back weeks. It will be crucial for Nacua to be healthy for that stretch of games.
With Nacua trending towards missing the game against the Jaguars, someone will be asked to step up in his place. Nacua’s absence may result in more 12 personnel, but the Rams will still need to find that pass catcher that can be relied on in big moments. This season, Nacua has 14 receptions on third down and has turned 12 of those into first downs. Those ‘clutch’ moments are what the Rams will miss with Nacua the most.
The big question here is who steps in for Nacua in that role. While the Rams have been without Nacua in the past, they were also without Cooper Kupp at the same time. Tutu Atwell could be an answer here, but he is also managing a hamstring injury. The Rams will likely replace Nacua with a committee approach. Here are the top options to replace Nacua in the offense.
To be clear, Adams isn’t going to take Nacua’s role in the offense. Adams is solely an ‘X’ receiver and isn’t about to start taking on linebackers in the C-gap in the run game. However, the Rams will need Adams to start playing up to his ability if Nacua is going to miss time. This isn’t to say that Adams has been a disappointment. Compared to Robert Woods in 2021, Adams actually leads Woods in yards despite having three fewer receptions through six games.
At the same time, the Rams are missing some of the special plays that Adams is capable of making while he also experiences a case of the drops. Adams is fifth in the NFL in drop rate at 13.3 percent. Additionally, Adams is second in the NFL in end zone targets with 11 behind only George Pickens. He has turned those 11 targets into three touchdowns. The Rams are almost forcing the issue with Adams in the red zone rather than allowing it to come naturally. Maybe things start to click if Adams is the featured player in the offense rather than a secondary piece.
This is the one that makes a lot of sense as for who will play in Nacua’s role in the offense if he misses time. Whittington is similarly built to Nacua and is able to do...
