It’s been a dismal start to a season that started with sky-high expectations for the 2-4 Los Angeles Rams, and with Davante Adams going down with injury, the pressure is mounting for star wide receiver Puka Nacua to be the savior the Rams need. But can the talented receiver deliver amidst another season marred by injury for the former fifth-round pick?

Roddy White Questions If Puka Nacua Can Produce Long-Term

Appearing on the “Up & Adams” show <a href="https://x.com/UpAndAdamsShow/status/2112974702616703412?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 21, 2026 ), four-time Pro-Bowler Roddy White was critical of Nacua’s long-term prospects. “I don’t know how long he’s going to last in the NFL to be quite honest…he keeps running into everyone, he keeps getting hurt,” White said in his appearance on the show.

Nacua has certainly dealt with his fair share of injuries, and that has continued into 2026. In 2024, Nacua missed five games over a six-plus-week stretch after re-aggravating a knee injury in Week 1.

In 2025, he sprained his ankle in Week 6 and missed the following week. Nacua has already missed two games this season.

“You keep putting the ball in this guy’s hands, and he’s gonna put up really great numbers for the next four or five years, but I don’t think he will do anything after that because he will be beat up,” White said.

Can Nacua Handle The Increased Workload?

There’s little debate in Nacua’s ability. In each of his first three seasons, he finished as a top-10 wide receiver per PFN’s NFL WR Impact metric, culminating in his 2025 campaign, in which the former BYU Cougar posted a 96.3 Impact Rating, the best mark in the league.

This season, hampered by injury, Nacua has an 81.8 rating through Week 6, good for 15th in the league. The Rams have already shown a willingness to give Nacua enormous volume since his return, including a 24-target game against Buffalo.

Before White was on “Up & Adams”, others have questioned if the Rams are overworking their oft-injured wide receiver, particularly after Nacua received 24 targets in a Monday Night Football loss to the Buffalo Bills.

The workload is not likely to lighten for Nacua. The Rams are 2-4 and already four games back of the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC West. Their playoff chances are rapidly dwindling, and Adams, who ranked 9th in PFN’s NFL WR Impact metric to start the season, is out 6-10 weeks with a ruptured hamstring.

The Rams are also without Terrance Ferguson, who was placed on injured reserve Oct. 2. Tyler Higbee leads Rams tight ends with 24 catches for 246 yards and ranks 27th at the position with a 71.1 grade in PFN’s NFL TE Impact metric.

“He’s going to have three to four seasons when he is unbelievable,” White said. “And then he’s not going to be able to walk. Because he’s doing too much. They ask those guys to do way too much.”

Nacua is in his fourth season in the NFL. He’s been a target magnet when on the field, commanding roughly 29% or more of the Rams’ targets in each of his first three NFL seasons. But whether he can stay on the field and lift the Rams out of the hole they’ve dug to start their once-promising season will be a pivotal question that he must answer.