After he was selected in the fifth round of the 2023 NFL Draft, most assumed wide receiver Puka Nacua would put together a decent performance, at best, during his rookie season with the Los Angeles Rams.

But Nacua had other ideas.

In 17 games for the Rams in 2023, the rookie wide receiver hauled in 105 passes for 1,486 yards and six touchdowns.

This week, teams are in Indianapolis at the 2024 NFL Scouting Combine, hoping to find this year’s version of Nacua.

ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit weighed in on Twitter on Saturday with his opinion that former Georgia wide receiver Ladd McConkey will be the 2024 version of Nacua.

Ladd McConkey will be this years Puka!

— Kirk Herbstreit (@KirkHerbstreit) March 2, 2024

At 5-foot-11 and 185 pounds, McConkey certainly isn’t the biggest wide receiver prospect who will be available in this year’s NFL Draft.

In addition, he didn’t even really put up numbers during his college career that blew anyone away.

In nine games with Georgia during the 2023 season, he finished with 30 catches for 478 yards and two touchdowns.

However, McConkey has made a good impression during this year’s NFL Scouting Combine, which is probably a big reason why Herbstreit believes the former Georgia pass-catcher can follow in the footsteps of Nacua next season.

A lot of things certainly have to fall in place for McConkey for him to make as big of an impact as Nacua was able to in 2023.

He would likely have to land in a pass-first offense with a veteran quarterback as the team’s starter, and he would have to find a way to immediately earn one of the top spots on a team’s wide receiver depth chart.

Can this happen?

Sure, but being the next Nacua is much easier said than done.

The post Analyst Predicts Who Will Be This Year’s Puka Nacua appeared first on The Cold Wire.