Ian Cummings changed his answer, and he’s telling you up front he may change it again.
The PFSN analyst who took Jaxon Smith-Njigba in the July version of this debate has swung back to Puka Nacua. “The last time I took this question on, I actually chose JSN because I think Puka’s off-field concerns can be viewed as a tiebreaker,” Cummings said. “But the more that I’ve reviewed the numbers and gone back to the film, I’m actually gonna choose Puka Nacua this time.”
Why Ian Cummings Flipped From Jaxon Smith-Njigba to Puka Nacua
The numbers aren’t what moved him, because the numbers never separated these two. Nacua led the NFL with 129 receptions and finished with 1,715 yards and 10 touchdowns. Smith-Njigba led the league in yards at 1,793 on 119 catches, also with 10 scores, then walked off with AP Offensive Player of the Year and a Super Bowl LX ring.
PFSN’s WR Impact scoring gave Nacua the narrowest possible edge, 96.3 to 93.7, first and second in the league. Everything else is noise. “Yards per route run, catch rate over expectation, average separation at the catch point, and they’re pretty much more or less equal,” Cummings said.
He isn’t overselling that. The public numbers can’t even agree on who won the efficiency race. ESPN credits Smith-Njigba with a receiver-best 3.8 yards per route run. A to Z Sports puts Nacua on top at 3.71. When the tiebreaker flips depending on whose model you open, it isn’t a tiebreaker.
So Cummings went to deployment, and that’s where these two actually diverge. Smith-Njigba took close to 80% of his targets outside and led the league in perimeter receiving yards. Nacua did his damage inside Sean McVay’s motion machine.
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“I think JSN has a more dynamic and expansive intermediate and deep route [tree],” Cummings said. “But in my opinion, Puka Nacua allows you to do more schematically. He has more motion and alignment versatility. He can insert into the C gap and veil offensive intent, and he can win with physicality in all phases of the game.”
That last part is the whole argument. A receiver who can line up anywhere, block at the point of attack and lie about the play before the snap is worth something no route chart picks up.
The Puka Nacua Availability Question the Debate Keeps Setting Aside
Cummings named the tiebreaker and moved past it. It hasn’t moved past him.
Adam Schefter said on his podcast Aug. 11 that Nacua is among the players whose cases the league is reviewing, and that it’s within the realm of options he doesn’t play when the Rams open their season against the 49ers at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. A civil suit filed in March cites gender violence, assault and battery, and negligence stemming from a Dec. 31 incident.
Nacua’s attorney has denied that his client made an antisemitic remark and has described the bite as horseplay. No criminal charges have been filed, with the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office assigning the matter to a pre-filing diversion track rather than misdemeanor prosecution. The NFL has said only that it is under review.
Nacua has been at camp and hasn’t hidden from any of it. “I think the game of football is a safe place for me, and I enjoy that,” he said. “There have been things outside of my control that I think have impacted the way I’ve been able to kind of focus and enjoy this game of football.”
Then there’s the part nobody prices in. Smith-Njigba is settled. Seattle made him the highest-paid receiver in football in March at four years and $168.6 million, $42.15 million per year, more than $120 million guaranteed, locked in through 2031 at 24 years old. Nacua plays 2026 on a $5.767 million base salary, the last year of a fifth-round rookie deal, with no extension and a franchise tag waiting behind it.
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Cummings is right about the tape. Nacua is the more flexible weapon, and on ability alone, take him. But “who would you choose” is a question about a roster, not a highlight reel, and only one of these receivers is guaranteed to be in the building in September.
For 2026, that settles it. Take Smith-Njigba.
