How Did So Many Teams Get It WRONG About Rookie of the Year, Puka Nacua?

[@AutoFocusChannel]

I love Puka's genuine good nature - Puka is an inspiration. He is from a great family. He has heart. Thank you documenting his story.

[@surfomzt]

Absolutely a future legend in the LA Rams/NFL no doubt..! Go Puka!! 💥👊🏽

[@memoreno9]

He’s him! Got his jersey cause I just love his energy /passion. We need that back in this game.

[@75dobs]

Thank you for the deep dive on Puka, showing this to my two young boys who are huge Rams and Puka fans.

[@barrycunninghamshow]

tyvm

[@logjam215]

BYU fans already knew how special Puka is! His little brother just committed to play wide receiver for BYU. With Puka, Sampson and Kai all playing at BYU, Tei will be welcomed big time!

[@nolanbowen8800]

I hope they use him better than they used Puka.

[@BoomerXNews]

Love these documentary style features. And Puka Nacua has an amazing backstory!

[@oremorthodontics]

Orem High School guy, GO COUGS! Sat next to him on the last row on a plane a couple summers ago from Orange County to Provo, genuine great kid.

[@raymondaguirre5825]

Can't measure a man's heart.👍

[@TK-sl5yo]

Rams fan since '78 and moderate yt scroller since '18. Love this vid! You are the first channel that immediately grabbed AND kept my attention. Keep this ish up please. Good fortune to you, my newest diamond in the rough

[@hinka187]

Definitely the rookie of the year, this kid is absolutely amazing

[@coryburns9161]

OROTY

[@tyrannicaltypomichaeltester]

Eh He's Rookie WR of the year but rookie of the year? While he's definitely worthy of consideration Sam LaPorta is also. But even they have to take a back seat to CJ Stroud who took a nothing team like he did breaking records along the way. 1-CJ Stroud 2- Sam LaPorta 3- Nacua

[@hinka187]

@@tyrannicaltypomichaeltester absolutely

[@bentonbevel7768]

I bet you $5,000 it's CJ Stroud and not Puka

[@coryburns9161]

@@bentonbevel7768 I don't care about the OROTY I want the Super Bowl

[@waynesimpson4081]

Note that it is a two-way street. The Rams didn't just "get lucky" with Nacua; the organization saw and fostered talent that other teams couldn't appreciate. The willingness to invest in young and perhaps less obvious talent is what sets great coaching apart.

[@epicaquariums940]

Lmao dude they took him with a 5th they saw him as a filler for the preseason not Roy 😂😂 that’s the same line your gonna say about Brady to huh the patriots saw and fostered talent where others didn’t hahaha. Just say your a rams fan and move on

[@fr0zdify]

​@@epicaquariums940 For all we know The Rams first 5 draft picks could've all had 2nd round projections and they were shocked to see all their potential picks slip this far down the draft. It's not like their just following what other "draft" experts are predicting like us normal fans do. No team drafts a player to just use them as a filler in preseason as their potential ceiling.. That's an insane statement lmao. Plenty of players that get drafted late end up being top players in this league, and outwork/perform 1st round picks all the time. On top of that 1st round picks bust all the time. The NFL draft is very hard to predict, and all you can do is draft on potential. If a players potential is to just be a "filler" then they will never get drafted by that team in the first place. There's no guarantees in this league, you don't draft a player to instantly put a cap on their ceiling just because of the draft pick. You draft them in hopes of them exceeding expectations. That doesn't mean you're going to reach for every player that you think might exceed their draft pick. especially since the Rams least position of need was WR in a sense. Puka had issues in college dealing with injuries, and his 40 yd dash was average, but the potential talent was obviously there, and the Rams were willing to take that risk. They instantly realized his talent, or Stafford wouldn't have thrown to him 15 times week 1. Obviously they didn't expect him to break the rookie receiving record, but they definitely drafted him in hopes of him becoming a quality starter in this league day 1.

[@paddyoski]

@@epicaquariums940 The youtube video of Rams draft day says otherwise. But go off.

[@vamoneygroup]

​@epicaquariums940 drafted him for special teams

[@Zubeneshemali]

NFL teams will continue to miss great prospects like Puka Nakua as they continue to stress the "physical metrics and fail miserably in assessing the "HEART", the guts or drive to succeed!! Sure is AMAZING what team confidence in a young player can do!! Just look at what the Jets did to Wilson!!

[@nolanbowen8800]

This is a fun segment. Puka is fun to listen to, has a bright smile and a great personality. He isn't the only one the didn't have a lot of timed speed, Jerry Rice didn't either but they had a hard time catching him.

[@Dodgers-sw2uk]

Kobe’s Turner is about to break the rookie sack record as a third rounder.

[@patrickworkman1014]

My cousin who is currently working as an intern for the rams said that Puka has a down to earth personality.

[@slayaworld]

Rams didn't just get a steal with him. Steve Avila, Byron Young, and Kobie Turner have all been given first round grades in redrafts. Incredible draft by the Rams

[@everybodysMaster1]

Kyren william too

[@slayaworld]

@@everybodysMaster1 Yup. However, I was only referencing this years draft class. Kyren was last year

[@williewoodall8305]

​​@@everybodysMaster1Kyren got drafted last year.whoops nevermind someone beat me to it. But he's amazing...

[@kingtulafale]

Rams don’t need first rounders lol

[@williewoodall8305]

@@kingtulafale No they do not. They've gotta great coaching staff..I wish the rest of the league would stop.. stealing them! I swear...half of the HCs..and coordinators in the NFL..Has worked for Coach Mac! They talk an awful lot, around the league about "coaching trees"..Sean Mcvay...has a "forest"!!

[@johnkimbro8502]

I am really loving his strength . I want the rams to draft brian thomas . Can you imagine a huge speedy deep threat what puka and kupp will do playing against the worse corners ? Puka is the man ! Great guy and great player . go rams !!!

[@SamoanMustang]

Making Samoans proud!!🤙🏽🇼🇸🇦🇸

[@FM-ki4dl]

Chicanos love that foo as well 🇲🇽🇺🇲🍻

[@CurtisCusick-uv7jq]

Thank you Barry giving him some respect he is a great player going to look good years down the road for us Ram fans😊

[@belovednada]

Great video! the sad thing about this years NFL playoffs is we will only see onr game of Puka Nucua!

[@TripsonKerisiano-q7z]

So proud of you Puka , and all the other Polynesian boys making an impact in the NFL

[@mr.cookie7308]

Puka and Cooper Kupp are gonna a top tier WR duo next year and beyond.

[@blizzard2oo]

Most pro scouts likely did not watch his game footage! I watched about every game he played at BYU. This kid is simply magic.....he plays for his Dad who has passed on so he knows his Dad is watching now!!

[@blizzard2oo]

Hottest jersey in southern California #17!!

[@mmdl9297]

How could you not root for this kid.

[@CJRealHoops1]

I honestly think the 40-yard dash should be timed with the player in full pads and helmet. Nacua is just one of many examples of guys who have football speed, not just straight-line speed in shorts and a tanktop

[@Brad88ford]

The teams didn't get it wrong. He fell to the perfect team that helped him develop. Cooper Kupp helping him with routes and technique. Matt Stafford is a top tier qb that gets him the ball in the perfect place for him to be effective. An act of God watching out for him......or his Dad up there!!! Great to see those boys succeeding and the Daughter is in the National Guard

[@jamesreed2475]

I spotted him before the draft. I wanted my Lions to pick him up. I'm surprised he's this good but not surprised he's good. He's a star for a long time.

[@webmoss]

Cooper Kupp: “You should do this…” Puka: “Cool Story bro…”

[@ketratech8165]

Most importantly he seems to be a good person

[@andrewtaylor4854]

NFL teams put too much focus on measurables and sometimes overlook players who can just flat out ball. The Rams have the NFL's all-time worst combine team at the skill positions but they are ballers!

[@tmtSHD]

This is inspiring! Thank you for your video.

[@barrycunninghamshow]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@HiloBoiz808]

Aloha Barry from Big Island Hawaii!Love these type videos!

[@barrycunninghamshow]

happy to hear that

[@rtrabara3156]

Yessah Barry!!! Great job on Puka’s story…His roots go back to the Big Island of Hawai’i via his Dad whose Ohana comes from Honokaa, a small town on the northeast side of the Big Island!!! Aloha from the 50th which is part of Puka’s heritage!!! Go Puka!!! Go Rams!!!

[@jhern2186]

I love your Dolphins content but really appreciate you branching out and bringing other stuff to your channel. I got so fed up with watching the talking heads on the networks so you’re where I get most of my sports info/tidbits. Love the content and your level headed takes. Fins up!!!

[@barrycunninghamshow]

I appreciate that

[@coryburns9161]

Go Rams

[@williewoodall8305]

His angles when it comes to YAC😮...is a thing of beauty!

[@stevekuresa5139]

For a SAMOAN Proud of you USO.. Our Samoan culture it's very family oriented.

[@CurtisCusick-uv7jq]

I have been a ram fan since 1966 Die Hard go Rams great franchise

[@TheAmpharosFreak]

Teams saw his 40 time and said “no thanks” and that’s it. It’s dumb but that’s the league for you. Thanks for this, very enlightening.

[@lithuaniangiant2676]

He truly enjoys being in the NFL.

[@d.t.3538]

Very humble kid, and his got a heart of a lion. Most definitely the rookie of the year! 🤙

[@dylanharrell503]

One of the best fantasy pickups on the year!!!

[@BOTzerker]

IDK if teams include this in their practices, but Cooper Kupp works on his own run speed. And I heard an injured Kupp worked with the other Rams receivers. I would not be surprised if an injured Kupp had worked with Nacua on run speed.

[@beckmanchilds756]

Kupp has worked a LOT with him to help bring him along faster. I think that he would have hit his stride with most teams tho. But not this soon. That's a testament to the WR coach and Kupp specifically

[@bob-qi4nr]

When Kupp was injured on IR he traveled with the team and was the assistant WR coach.

[@robertdeland3390]

He is a great receiver. A good receiver is great if he has a great quarter back. Don't get me wrong, he is a great receiver, and great at yards after catch. Note that McVay sometimes has him operate as a running back in jet sweeps. Add to that he is willing and able to take on blocking assignments. The rams are so very good at finding diamonds in the rough.

[@beckmanchilds756]

FR. Robert Woods was always one of my favorite players before and when on the Rams. Nacua has such a high ceiling and can do all the things that Sean needs his WRs to do in his offense

[@Kai_soze]

Garret Wilson is a prime example of a Great wr who isn’t great becuase of shit qb play.

[@edwardgutierrez7954]

He reminds me of Tom Araya the lead singer of Slayer. Always laughing and great attitude ! 😂

[@EdDevereaux]

I love Ted Lasso, he reminds me of the Dani Rojas character. He just loves to play the game.

[@kentjensen4939]

Plenty of teams are regretting passing him up.

[@dougmiller5608]

Why is no one talking about LaPorta? Hes a beast, and hes having an awesome, maybe historic season

[@dwainsellers6453]

Because we like talking about nacua.

[@DoctorFoob]

The rams saw his potential and have been able to coach and develop him into a quality WR.

[@erichumphries7558]

My son got to play on the same team 7 on 7 with Puka and against him in basketball 🏀 He’s always been a hard worker and it doesn’t surprise me that he’s so damn successful. Keep it up him and Aaron Donald allow a long time Niners fan to root for them

[@Laotzu819]

He’s realizing this season and potential because of where he was drafted. McVay and Stafford are doing it. If he had been drafted by someone like the Panthers or some other team without leadership like the Rams he would not be doing this. He’d be lost on special teams. Also Kupp took him under his wing.

[@Tampontimothy]

This man said Krupp and Stanford 😂😂

[@VaNiShH77]

@@Tampontimothy😂😂😂

[@RAFAKAUST]

When mom says "We have the rams at home." ☠️☠️☠️

[@benjamingates6118]

Stanford is a university in Palo alto California

[@TomRivas-t2n]

Kid deserves a ring as a rookie and rookie of the year 😢❤❤

[@oneswiftguy]

He got the all that potential brought out of him by McVay and Stafford. If he goes to almost any other team he does not have no where near the season he's having right now.

[@bob-qi4nr]

Stafford makes all his guys look good. Kupp was only average with Goff.

[@hasani2723]

Agreed only other team I could see him having this kind of success is maybe 49ers and Vikings if both they 1 and 2 wrs wasn’t playing. Cause they scheme to get a wr open.

[@Signkae1]

Classic Barry! love the video👍

[@barrycunninghamshow]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@bob-qi4nr]

Berry, I'm not to hot on the Dolphins but this was a great video. Commentary was great. I will be watching more from you. Good Job!! Go Rams!!

[@barrycunninghamshow]

I appreciate that

[@claighjensen2356]

Great smile too!

[@nwj03a]

Stroud is still the odds on favorite (by a lot according to Vegas) and may be back this week, but this kid is having a great year. Good for him.

[@eliot3010]

Puka "Shell" and his Proud Mama, Congratulations Braddah!

[@franvarga709]

Congratulations Puka! Welcome to LA, man.

[@eodyn7]

We all know why teams overlooked him but nobody wants to say it...

[@jeffwatts1126]

Why?

[@kevinak-d1x]

At the beginning of the video they really said puka has more 150 yard receiving game than randy moss his rookie year and then said they both had 4..

[@rholla44]

I whiffed on puka coulda had way more shares but I was being lazy grinding the waivers he was barely drafted in rookie drafts but he was one of raygq biggest sleepers

[@-SkyCat-]

Its not about going first. its about heart..

[@marcowu3631]

I heard he was injured/not 100% during the combine. Regardless, humble, hard working sky is the limit. Hope he stays healthy !

[@LukeO870]

Great Content and Commentary

[@thevoxdeus]

People say "why didn't everyone else see this?" but the Rams took him in the 5th round. No one saw *this*.

[@DouglasNicholas-el5hv]

Having the heart of a lion can't be measured by any Scale

[@JB-ig5pk]

What a freakin weapon he is…big fan!

[@DouglasNicholas-el5hv]

I think what he brought to that locker room is beyond measure also

[@crowhurd]

I am bummed that he didn’t win offensive rookie of the year. I believe that any other year in the past decade, he would’ve won easily. Hopefully, that keeps that fire burning. I look forward to some more credible things from Puka.

[@Qb13GOAT]

Next year will be better. That concussion really messed him up

[@biggiescooby5836]

Amazing WR.

[@stephencifuentes5907]

As Seahawks fan i learned this guys name real quick 😂 he torched Seahawks dsfense! But now everyone knows this kid is the real deal and will only get better with time. Easy OROTY!👀🏃🔥🏈

[@steelcurtain402]

Big Uce Nacua

[@kft590]

They draft Cooper Cupp now Puka the Rams have a good scouting department. I have serious doubts that many teams would have given Nacua as much playing time to a rookie wide receiver as the Rams did, they saw his talent and gave him significant playing time from the start.

[@edwardtedesco5388]

It all depends on your depth chart . If Robert woods was still there and kupp was healthy plus Beckham would he have played even

[@tyrannicaltypomichaeltester]

1- CJ Stroud 2- Sam LaPorta 3- Nacua All though Nacua can also bw two hard to choose hes certainly great but Hes not besting a CJ Stroud who took a nothing 3 win team as far as he has breaking records along the way

[@ItsEwok]

Puka is a beast and was for sure a steal. But Puka is not OROY over Stroud

[@erickingsbury7193]

Great Video......

[@williewoodall8305]

Im so glad Imma Rams fan!

[@williewoodall8305]

Him being slower...makes his routes so sharp.. It's Reminiscent of Largent.. He's quick not fast..

[@dougkendall7905]

Another success story so far of a hard working Samoan. Similar to Tua’s story. We should take lessons from these people on how to raise offspring.

[@gkp76]

It's about family

[@xman9963]

You should do one on Les Snead. Rams out her having teams questioning the entire way the view the draft process. Which could completely unhinge the entire college sports franchise.

[@TheCountofToulouse]

It's HARD WORK. Hard work beats TALENT when talent doesn't WORK HARD. He showed up with the RIGHT ATTITUDE, he put in the WORK, he LISTENED, he made Cooper Kupp his mentor and Cooper embraced the role, he listened to Matt Stafford, who is a top level passer and despite the lack of credit, he's the common denominator in several WR's have record seasons.

[@bob-qi4nr]

Call him what you want but now you can call him SB CHAMP!! GO RAMS!!

[@williewoodall8305]

No wonder he blocks so well!

[@ChRisu_Ojisan]

Having Matthew Stafford as his QB helps big time also because he will look for you once he builds trust in you.

[@qvash8517]

Tends to get several yards after hit. Has tight end skills

[@steeltalon2317]

Puka Nacua is a BYU product baby!

[@crazyantny9161]

Yeah Barry. This is on they totally blew. This isnt like tom brady, who was luck to drafted at all and look what he did. I can tell you having Stafford to practice with before the season helps emensly. Still, they blew it my man

[@barrycunninghamshow]

for sure!

[@crazyantny9161]

​@@barrycunninghamshowBarry,remember out number 83... Yeah, they blew that one too. Interesting to mentin, Clayton was even a track star. Duper was faster, but Clayton had those bursts, powers and moves. I remember one of the NFL challenges. He almost beat out Marc Gastinieau so, lol" in the clean and jerk. It he guy put the word vertical into football vocab. Yeah, Another blown by these guys. The only difference was that he sat a year and ran back punts the way Duper did the year before as we had ample wideouts. There's always a head scratcher or 2

[@tomstoeckle]

Great job Barry.

[@barrycunninghamshow]

tyvm

[@dreadpirateforex]

Such a great runner up to Stroud.

[@Scott-h4x]

He is not 6'2" but he sure plays big. I met him November 2023

[@GengarsEvilSpirit]

I wouldn't be surprised if it's actually CJ Stroud who wins OROTY, but if Puka wins it he deserves it.

[@RichardStanczak]

Kudos to Nacua for his outstanding season. I think he has also benefited a lot by having Matthew Stafford throwing him the ball. As far as OROY, I think it has to go to Stroud of Houston who has done a great job taking his team into the playoffs. Nacua in most years would be an easy pick, but it is tough to pick him over the achievement of a rookie QB taking one of the worst teams in the NFL into the playoffs as a division winner.

[@stanleyahkuoi1983]

Rookie of the year for sure

[@EZee213]

Kyren Williams is another guy who had a poor showing at the combine and now thriving as a Ram ala Puka.

[@williamkeller3611]

He sure killed my Browns in our game against him.

[@musa7606]

Who is CJ Stroud?

[@wmdubinhad]

This video, like many others, is disappointing in its attempt to depict Puka’s journey into the NFL. It follows the familiar pattern of delving into his junior/high school football experiences, then his NFL Scouting Combine experience. What's notably lacking is his college experience, be it at Washington and BYU. It leaves one wondering why this crucial aspect of his athletic development is consistently overlooked.

[@youknowthisman6398]

I’m a Seahawks fan and Puka torch us in both games

[@talialeavasa5844]

lots of Polynesian players reach the top in the NFL especially Samoa he is special

[@Ingenuity009]

"Too small" which is dumb and naive when it comes to hand eye coordination and speed. The man deserves rookie of the year.

[@allensaunders449]

There are alot of make believe expert's in the NFL. Misses happen all the time at all positions. Look at the QB misses

[@ryanpuryear]

My man, it is CJ and not even close.

[@masterbulgokov]

I just adore how year after year the Combine proves to be often useless and occasionally harmful.