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AROUND THE SHIELD — Puka Nacua's record-setting rookie season fell short of the top honor for offensive rookies in the NFL Thursday night.
The former BYU and Orem High standout finished second to Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud for AP Offensive Rookie of the Year honors, as announced during the NFL Honors awards show in Las Vegas.
Nacua, a fifth-round pick by the Los Angeles Rams, broke the 63-year-old record for most catches and receiving yards by a rookie with 105 receptions for 1,486 yards in helping the Rams to the NFL playoffs. He claimed two of 50 first-place votes for the award.
But Stroud, the No. 2 overall pick by the Texans, claimed the other 48 first-place votes from the 50-member media panel to run away with the award after setting his own kind of history.
"I had confidence in myself and trusted in the environment I was in that allowed me to thrive," Nacua told the Las Vegas Review-Journal during a whirlwind media tour at the Super Bowl. "But I couldn't imagine this season. My first touchdown was a moment that sent me into another world, where things were started going my direction."
In total, Stroud finished with 246 points in the voting system to Nacua's 154. Detroit Lions tight end Sam LaPorta finished a distant third to both players.
The former Ohio State starter took Houston from wort to first place in the AFC South and led the Texans to a playoff win in the wild-card round earlier this year.
The 6-foot-3 strong-armed signal caller with a 63% completion percentage threw for 4,108 yards and 23 touchdowns with just five interceptions for a passer ratin gof 100.8, third-best by a rookie, per the Associated Press.
Stroud led the NFL with 273.9 passing yards per game and had the best touchdown-to-interception ratio of 4.6. He's just the third player in NFL history to finish the season first in both categories, joining Joe Montana (1989) and Tom Brady (2007).
"Stroud's had a great year, but this guy, he would get my vote," Rams coach Sean McVay said earlier this season of Nacua's OROY candidacy. "He's really special. But the best part about him is, he does't worry about those things. He worries about being a great teammate, continuing to improve his game, and he sure loves this team. And he's one of those guys that you really love."
Nacua burst on the scene with limited expectations, starting all 17 regular-season games for the Rams, as well as the team's playoff game — when he set another NFL rookie record with 181 receiving yards and a touchdown on nine catches in a 24-23 loss to the Lions.
That garnered second-team All-Pro honors by the Associated Press, and earned Nacua a spot in the Pro Bowl in Orlando, where he made earned further accolades in the fun-loving all-star game by catching a pass on a wakeboard.
Here's the updating list of NFL Honors throughout the night.
Contributing: Associated Press
