Nacua moved to Utah after his father's passing, and when his mom, Penina, was checking out schools for him to attend, she told Hill "all my sons are good, but this is the one." Hill would shortly find out why.
Nacua and his quarterback Jaren Hall, who went on to reunite with Nacua at BYU, lead their middle school team to two-straight state championships, all while learning the high school playbook. They became so advanced that Hill gave them the green light to check into certain plays or individual routes based on pre-snap looks without any coaching oversight.
"I had never seen a kid at that age be able to read the defenses and read the coverages, and he just fully understood everything I was trying to teach," Hill said.
In Nacua's freshman year of high school, they inserted him into Orem's starting lineup. From 2015 to 2018, Nacua set the Utah State records for career receiving yards (5,226) and touchdowns (58) as well as single-season receiving yards (2,336) and touchdowns (26) as a senior. And he did it while only playing in the first half of most games, because the team often led by an insurmountable margin. They won the state championship in 2017 and 2018.
Orem's wide receiver's coach left mid-way through Nacua's final high school season. So, Hill said Nacua took on the responsibility of coaching the wide receivers during practice. His dominance led to being a highly-touted, four-star receiver prospect with a variety of Division I offers. He chose the University of Washington.
As a true freshman, Nacua told Yahoo Sports that he spent Monday nights drawing diagrams with his position coach at Washington, Junior Adams.
"I drew the hashes, where the numbers were at, the route depth, if the route had any conversions," Nacua said. "It felt like sometimes we only went over two plays because I was drawing in so much detail. But it clocked so much easier in my head."
Nacua's time at Washington was cut short due to injuries and the COVID-19 pandemic, but his mental and physical skills were sharpened by the elevated level of competition.
Four years later, when Nacua was drafted to the Rams, he took a similar approach to immersing himself in the new environment. During OTAs and training camp, he put in extra time in the mornings to learn the intricacies of the offense with former passing game coordinator Jake Peetz, Nacua told The Athletic in 2023.
Once the season started, and Nacua had established his place in the receiver rotation, he joined quarterback Matthew Stafford and wide receiver Cooper Kupp in their famous early-morning film sessions.
"The first couple of meetings, I'm like a fly on the wall," Nacua told The Athletic. "Nothing is really being said to me, they're just like, watching the tape (and) talking to each other. Then they're like, 'Oh, Puka, you're in on this rep? This is what we want you to do.' And I'm like, 'Oh, you're talking to me?' I'm so focused the whole time! My ears perk up and I'm like, 'He's talking to me now.'"
At every level, Nacua has taken time to connect with players and coaches through his team's scheme, and it's yielded results.
"He can take that information and translate it to the field," Rams wide receivers coach Eric Yarber told FOX Sports in 2023. "A lot of rookies can't do that."
After the 2020 season, Nacua felt the pull to go back home to Utah, closer to his family. That's when he transferred to BYU for his final two collegiate seasons, and his success inflated.
Right off the bat, Nacua went the entire spring without losing a one-on-one rep, BYU wide receivers coach Fesi Sitake told theRams.com.
"I just remember (BYU cornerbacks coach Jernaro Gilford and me) talking after one of the practices, and he's like, 'we can't guard him,'" Sitake recalled.
"When I hear Puka, aside from just the energy that he has, his charisma, I always think of just 'that's a football player.' He's someone who gets it… (he was a) freak athlete combined with just an unbelievable understanding of the game."
But BYU's offense has a wrinkle: Sitake said they don't have defined roles for their receivers. There's no X, Z or F, no left, right or slot. Every down presents an opportunity to move playmakers to the most advantageous spot for the offense, and Nacua was the beneficiary of that more often than not.
"We just play receiver, and that's harder from the player standpoint because they have to memorize everything as concepts and all the different ways we can dress things up," Sitake said. "... You can see all the different places (Nacua) played, how much we wanted to utilize him, and how much confidence he had to line up anywhere and get the job done."
Nacua was running the full route tree while lining up all over the field. The IQ he'd spent years honing made him the perfect fit for the Cougars' offense, as he displayed his multiplicity. But with that also came more attention for Nacua, wherever he lined up. To combat that, he trained to improve his already excellent ball skills, implementing strategy into his movements.
In 2023, BYU offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick told ESPN that Nacua was the best receiver he'd ever seen in contested catch scenarios. His use of "late hands," often negated defenders' ability to react, and that skill transferred over to the NFL instantly.
Against the Browns in his rookie year, Nacua drew the middle linebacker on a seam route that split the safeties. When Stafford threw it, Nacua said he could feel his defender's eyes on him rather than the ball, so he used "late hands" to avoid a deflection. The textbook throw-and-catch resulted in a 70-yard touchdown.