A couple of short weeks ago, the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year award was all but in Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud’s trophy case.
Now, after an untimely Stroud injury and a monster game on “Thursday Night Football” this week, Puka Nacua is entering the conversation.
Nacua is down to +750, the second-best odds on the board at DraftKings Sportsbook.
Stroud, who will miss his second straight game this week with a concussion, was recently an overwhelming favorite to be this season’s OROY, getting odds as low as -20000 earlier this month.
He’s up to -2500 as of Friday afternoon – still a massive front runner, but the door has opened for Nacua if he finishes strong.
Nacua bolstered his case during the Rams’ 30-22 win over the Saints on Thursday, catching nine passes for 164 yards with a touchdown.
The fifth-round pick out of BYU has come out of nowhere to put up one of the best rookie seasons by a wide receiver in NFL history.
He’s racked up 1,327 total receiving yards this season, trailing only Tyreek Hill heading into Week 16’s weekend action.
Nacua is only 146 yards short of Bill Groman’s 1960 rookie record of 1,473 receiving yards with two games to go.
Thursday was Nacua’s fourth game tallying at least150 receiving yards, which is the most of any rookie receiver in the Super Bowl era, according to NFL Research’s Dante Koplowitz-Fleming.
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With four more catches, Nacua will be just the third rookie in NFL history — joining Jaylen Waddle (2021) and Anquan Boldin (2003) — to have 100 receptions during their first season.
He’s only eight catches behind of Waddle’s record 104 catches during a rookie season.
It’s going to take a couple of more dominant performances for Nacua to overtake Stroud, who’s having a historic rookie season of his own.
But if he can keep racking up the milestones, don’t be surprised if Nacua pulls off the award-winning upset.
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