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Sarah Barshop, ESPN Staff Writer
LOS ANGELES — Entering the 2023 season, the Rams appeared to have a glaring lack of depth at wide receiver. There was no clear No. 2 option behind Cooper Kupp after Allen Robinson II failed to make an impact last season before being traded to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
When Kupp re-aggravated a hamstring injury that required him to go on injured reserve and miss the first four games of the season, it looked like the Rams and quarterback Matthew Stafford were in trouble.
In Kupp’s absence, though, fifth-round pick Puka Nacua quickly emerged as a No. 2 — or even a second No. 1 option. Nacua, who led all players with 164 receiving yards in Thursday’s victory over the New Orleans Saints, is the Rams’ leading receiver this season. He has 1,327 receiving yards, the fifth most by a rookie in NFL history, according to ESPN Stats & Information. He needs 147 over the final two games to break the rookie receiving record that has stood since 1960.
His emergence — along with the return of Kupp — is a big reason the Rams’ offense has been able to have the success that not many expected for a team that opened the season with a win total of 6.5.
“It’s big,” Rams coach Sean McVay said. “We’ve got some great players that have had really good production, but I think we’re at our best when the ball gets spread around.
“The depth of that room has been big, and I think you’re really seeing Matthew establish a really good rapport with those guys.”
Along with Nacua’s 164 yards against the Saints, veteran receiver Demarcus Robinson had six catches for 82 yards and a touchdown, and Kupp had six catches for 52 yards. Tight end Tyler Higbee also had three catches for 30 yards. Robinson’s touchdown was his fourth straight game with a score.
Because of that depth, McVay said, as a playcaller, “really everything is open.”
Robinson was the Rams’ third receiver against the Saints and played all but five offensive snaps. Tutu Atwell, who had been in that role for most of the season, played just four snaps. He missed the Rams’ Week 15 victory over the Washington Commanders while in the concussion protocol. On Friday, McVay said while Robinson “has done a great job,” the Rams have “to be able to find a way, and I have to be able to find a way to get Tutu involved.
“He does bring a unique skill set, something that has been beneficial to our team this year,” McVay said. “And so continuing to find ways of maximizing all of our guys is something that is my job and our job as coaches. And while it’s been awesome to watch the Demarcus, he’s going to continue to do an excellent job for us. And then figuring out ways of getting Tutu involved because he does have the ability to play in a bunch of different spots in our offense is something that we’ll for sure have to figure out.”
Stafford has more passing touchdowns (9) to receivers in his last four games than he did in his first 10 games (8) of the season. On Thursday, his three targets for Higbee were his only three of the game to a tight end or running back, his second fewest in a game in his career, according to ESPN Stats & Information.
The Rams have averaged 32.4 points per game in their last five games; Los Angeles scored 30 points in the season opener and had not topped that number until Week 12, and then did it in three of the next four games. And though the Rams continued their streak of scoring at least 28 points in a fifth straight game on Thursday night, Stafford felt the offense still left many opportunities on the field.
“I think we could have had 40 tonight in my opinion,” Stafford said on Thursday night. “There were quite a few plays here and there that just didn’t go our way or we didn’t hit. But that’s part of it, played a defense that’s going to play sticky coverage. Sometimes they’re not going to hit all of them.
“But yeah, there are a lot of points left out on the board in my opinion. So a lot of room for improvement, but proud of our guys the way we came back and finished the game there at the end, which was nice.”