#12

Puka Nacua

Former wide receiver at BYU. 2022: 48 catches, 625 receiving yards, 5 TD.

WR · BYU · Jr. · #12

6′2″ · 205 lb · Provo, UT

CFB Index 65 · #108 of 488 WRsHigh confidenceLos Angeles — drafted 2023, Rd 5, Pick 43, #177 overall

Recruiting

4★

WR recruit

No. 136 nationally · Signed with Washington

Statement game14 rec · 157 yds · 2 TDat Boise State (FBS) · W 31-28

Top 0.1% catches game since 2021.

His career numbers, season by season

The story

Former wide receiver at BYU. 2022: 48 catches, 625 receiving yards, 5 TD.

Signed as a 4-star recruit to Washington in 2019.
Transferred from Washington to BYU in 2021.
Drafted round 5 by the Los Angeles in 2023.

His career, year by year

How it ended

Four seasons at BYU, 1,749 receiving yards — drafted at #177 overall by Los Angeles.

His career

He was on the field for 4 seasons. That is rarer than it sounds.

The week the volume broke through — put up 168 yds at Baylor.Baylor · L 24-382021

20193 games

Signed with Washington4-star out of Orem

202111 games

The role got bigger.

Entered the portal

2023

Drafted by Los Angelesround 5, pick 177

Career arc

Recruit

★★★★

#136 national

CFB

College

2 teams

2019–2022

NFL

NFL Draft

R5 · #177

Los Angeles · 2023

Coaching lineage · 2019–2022

1 coach

2019–2022

Kalani Sitake

BYU

Played his entire career under Kalani Sitake.

Where He Ended Up · NFL

Los AngelesEntering 4th NFL season

#177Rd 5 · Pick 43

Los AngelesEntering 4th NFL season

View college career stats ↓

2022 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2019Washington8-5HC: Chris Petersen · Balanced

2020Washington3-1HC: Jimmy Lake · Run-leaning

2021BYU10-3HC: Kalani Sitake · Run-leaning

2022BYU8-5HC: Kalani Sitake · Balanced

Where this profile ranks vs the WR cohort

Box-score + play-by-play EPA percentiles

65Quality starter #108 of 488?

High confidence13 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: rush tds (100th percentile). Strength: rush yards (99th percentile).

Real play-by-play efficiency

Explosive rate#151 / 636 · 76th pct

18.6%

Yards / catch#192 / 636 · 70th pct

13.8

EPA / target#275 / 636 · 57th pct

0.73

TD rate#277 / 636 · 56th pct

7.0%

Catch rate#311 / 636 · 51st pct

79.1%

Box-score rates (8)

Rush TDs#1 / 275 · 100th pct

Rush yards#3 / 275 · 99th pct

209

Rec TDs#111 / 550 · 76th pct

Receptions#135 / 550 · 75th pct

Rec yards#142 / 550 · 74th pct

625

Yards / catch#263 / 550 · 52nd pct

13.0

Long catch#306 / 550 · 44th pct

Fumbles lost#71 / 223 · 41st pct

Season trend

Last seasonThis season

EPA / target

88th → 57th percentile

Explosive rate

97th → 76th percentile

Catch rate

60th → 51st percentile

TD rate

83rd → 56th percentile

Yards / catch

95th → 70th percentile

Percentiles versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season. Most bars are box-score rates; EPA / success-rate bars are computed from real play-by-play (offense only — no defensive EPA model exists yet).

Splits & context

Splits · Per-game

2022 season · 9 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Home4g	5.8	74.8	12.1	0.5
Road5g	5.0	65.2	15.1	0.6

First half vs Second half

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Weeks 1-74g	3.0	47.2	16.1	0.2
Weeks 8+5g	7.2	87.2	12.1	0.8

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Kalani Sitake

Scheme reads (pass share, tempo, sack rate) need at least 3 team games — 2 games in so far.

Awards

Player standing · 2022

Part-time starter

Splitting first-team reps — starts some weeks, rotates others.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

65 · #108 of 488 WRs

Former four-star. Now #108 at the position.

Career stats

Season	Team
2022	BYU	48	625	13.0	5	--
2021	BYU	43	805	18.7	6	--
2020	Washington	9	151	16.8	1	--
2019	Washington	7	168	24.0	2	--
Career		107	1,749	16.3	14	--

Season	Team
2022	BYU	25	209	--	--	--
2021	BYU	14	148	--	--	--
2020	Washington	--	--	--	--	--
2019	Washington	--	--	--	--	--
Career		39	357	--	--	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 12 · 2022

W 52–26

vs Utah Tech

14 rush yds (3 car)

Dominant 26-point win at home against Utah Tech.

With J. Hall — 456 yds · 5 TD · 1 INT · QBR 84.7 · 13 rush yds (5 car) · 1 TD · R. Rehkow — 43 AVG · 3 IN 20 · 61 LONG

Signature plays

Signature plays · top plays by |EPA|

The plays that mattered most

fact

Week 1 · South Florida · 1&10 · Q1 · EPA +6.08Puka Nacua run for 75 yds for a TD, (Jake Oldroyd KICK)
Week 8 · Liberty · 3&11 · Q1 · EPA +5.75Jaren Hall pass complete to Puka Nacua for 46 yds for a TD, (Jake Oldroyd KICK)
Week 7 · Arkansas · 4&8 · Q1 · EPA +3.68Jaren Hall pass complete to Puka Nacua for 31 yds to the Ark 4 for a 1ST down
Week 13 · Stanford · 3&4 · Q4 · EPA +3.23Puka Nacua 25 Yd Run (Jake Oldroyd Kick)
Week 10 · Boise State · 4&6 · Q4 · EPA +3.13J.Hall pass complete to BOISE 6. Catch made by P.Nacua at BOISE 6. Gain of 6 yards. P.Nacua for 6 yards, TOUCHDOWN. The Replay Official reviewed the pass completion and the play was upheld.
Week 7 · Arkansas · 1&10 · Q3 · EPA +2.90Jaren Hall pass complete to Puka Nacua for 33 yds for a TD, (Jake Oldroyd KICK)
Week 10 · Boise State · 2&7 · Q3 · EPA +2.89J.Hall pass complete to BOISE 24. Catch made by P.Nacua at BOISE 24. Gain of 24 yards. P.Nacua for 24 yards, TOUCHDOWN.
Week 8 · Liberty · 2&10 · Q2 · EPA +2.86Jaren Hall pass complete to Puka Nacua for 24 yds to the BYU 49 for a 1ST down
Week 9 · East Carolina · 1&10 · Q2 · EPA +2.81Jaren Hall pass complete to Puka Nacua for 30 yds for a TD, (Jake Oldroyd KICK)
Week 7 · Arkansas · 2&5 · Q2 · EPA +2.44Puka Nacua run for 5 yds for a TD, (Jaren Hall pass to Keanu Hill for Two-Point Conversion)

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2022 season · 9 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG	Note
Wk 1	W 50-21@ South Florida	1	22	22.0	0	22
Wk 4	W 38-24vs Wyoming	3	26	8.7	0	13
Wk 6	L 20-28@ Notre Dame	—	—	—	—	—
Wk 7	L 35-52vs Arkansas	8	141	17.6	1	33	141-yard receiving day
Wk 8	L 14-41@ Liberty	7	114	16.3	1	46
Wk 9	L 24-27vs East Carolina	7	79	11.3	1	30
Wk 10	W 31-28@ Boise State	14	157	11.2	2	27	Season-high 157 yds
Wk 12	W 52-26vs Utah Tech	5	53	10.6	0	21
Wk 13	W 35-26@ Stanford	3	33	11.0	0	13
Total		48	625	13.6	5	46

Stats from CFBD · ESPN · fan discourse. Every figure computed from source tables — not invented. Methodology