Cooper Kupp

Jimmy Chitwood

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here’s a really good profile piece on Kupp:
https://www.latimes.com/sports/rams...kima-washington-rams-peyton-manning?_amp=true

it includes this interesting story from several years ago:

NFL teams took notice of Kupp’s numbers at Eastern Washington — and how he had some of his biggest games against Pac-12 opponents — but future Hall of Fame quarterback Peyton Manning played a role in raising his profile too.

Kupp worked as a counselor at the Manning Passing Academy for five years, and Peyton quickly recognized he was no ordinary receiver. When Kupp was heading into his sophomore year of college, Rams general manager Les Snead stopped by the Manning camp and overheard Peyton stake a claim to the sure-handed target before a passing exhibition.

“Peyton mentioned to [his brother] Eli, and all the subsequent college QBs, '`Hey Cooper Kupp’s my guy. Y’all can figure out who y’all are throwing to, but Cooper’s mine,’ ” Snead recalled. “At that point, you took the note to follow the kid. Because Peyton’s a perfectionist, and he was definitely going to have someone who was going to be where they were supposed to be, and make the catch when he was supposed to make it.”

Recalled Peyton Manning: “Eli and I would argue over who got to throw to Cooper, because all of his routes were very precise. He had great control of his body. You always knew where he was going, when he was going to break out or break in. For a quarterback and receiver, sometimes it takes a while to develop that timing. But he was one of those guys who right away for me and Eli the timing was easy. And of course he caught everything as well.”
 
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Cooper Kupp at this pace is on his way to an all pro season, certainly a pro bowl, lets hope he stays healthy because if he does, he will always be Goff's security blanket
 

PHillisFan

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It's great to see Kupp become essentially the #1 receiver with the Rams. Cooks and Woods have been more of a supporting cast.
 

Jimmy Chitwood

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BeyondFedUp

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Don Wassall

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Brandin Cooks is dealing with another concussion and there's a decent chance he won't play again this season. His bad news is good news for the uncoverable Kupp, whose targets can only go up with Cooks out.
 

icsept

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Kupp is the ultimate caste buster, in a great system, with a chance for a hall of fame career. He’s on par with Jordy Nelson and Adam Thielen as far as size, speed, and hands. However, unlike Thielen and Nelson, he did not have to serve a racial apprenticeship.
 

Truthteller

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Yes, let's hope Kupp stays healthy, as he could post better stats than Thielen and Nelson.
 

sprintstar

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I agree that Kupp has the ability to be better or at least as good as Nelson and Theilen, I think Theilen is perceptively faster than Kupp.
 
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Don Wassall

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Just to remind us of the infuriating way the potentially all-time great Cooper Kupp was suddenly demoted by Sean McVay last season. With Brandin Cooks gone will Kupp go back to starting again this season, or will the Rams go heavy with two tight ends and leave Kupp on the sideline for a lot of plays?

One of the most difficult players to evaluate heading into the 2020 season is Cooper Kupp. A lot of what you believe hinges upon whether you think his first half usage or second half usage is the real Kupp. Over the first eight weeks of the season, Kupp was the WR3, averaging 21 ppg. From week 9 to week 16, Kupp was borderline unstartable - the WR45, averaging 11.4 ppg. For comparison purposes, you would've been better off with Cole Beasley, Randall Cobb, James Washington, and Hunter Renfrow over that span. The biggest problem was that Sean McVay decided to flat out bench Kupp for long stretches. Weeks 14 and 16 were especially troublesome as Kupp played 34.3% and 58.6% of the snaps. From week 13 on, Kupp scored a touchdown in every game, which salvaged his fantasy value, but his usage was extremely disconcerting. He was regularly out-snapped by Johnny Mundt! It appears as though Kupp is the odd man out when the Rams use 12 personnel. Even with Brandin Cooks gone, McVay has shown that he would rather have Josh Reynolds and Robert Woods out there in two receiver sets. I like Kupp. He has WR1 upside. If you think he plays in two receiver sets and is a near every down player, then he's a steal anywhere past the third round. If you think he comes off the field too much for backup tight ends, then he's a hard fade. https://www.rotoballer.com/player-n...look-great-player-but-questions-abound/736610
 

Extra Point

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The lack of playing time for Kupp is odd, unless it's injury related. The first thing that is brought to mind is that black players may have been upset at him playing. Or perhaps pressure was put against the team by social activist sources.
 

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Cooper Kupp just signed a three-year deal with the seemingly obligatory "White Discount." It's for $48 million, a tremendous amount of dough, but even Weenieworld earlier today expected him to sign for $20 mil per. At running back, a position valued much less than WR when it comes to contracts, Alvin Kamara signed today for 5 years and $75 million, and Dalvin Cook for 5 years and $63 million. While NFL players at all positions have signed record breaking deals this year, Kupp only moves into the top 12 at his position. He won't have to ever worry about paying his bills again, but he could have and should have demanded a better deal. From our good friends at Weenieworld:

Rams signed WR Cooper Kupp to a three-year, $48 million extension.
The Rams went with a short-term deal for Kupp, who settled for less than the $20 million annually Keenan Allen got from the Chargers. Kupp's $16 million APY still places him in the top-12 for receivers. Kupp set career highs in 2019 and should take a step forward after the Rams moved on from Brandin Cooks. Signing this extension gives Kupp a chance to land another big contract in his age-31 season.
 

Bucky

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Expecting big things from Kupp in 2020! Nice to see him rewarded with a healthy contract.
 

white lightning

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Cooper Kupp just signed a three-year deal with the seemingly obligatory "White Discount." It's for $48 million, a tremendous amount of dough, but even Weenieworld earlier today expected him to sign for $20 mil per. At running back, a position valued much less than WR when it comes to contracts, Alvin Kamara signed today for 5 years and $75 million, and Dalvin Cook for 5 years and $63 million. While NFL players at all positions have signed record breaking deals this year, Kupp only moves into the top 12 at his position. He won't have to ever worry about paying his bills again, but he could have and should have demanded a better deal. From our good friends at Weenieworld:

Rams signed WR Cooper Kupp to a three-year, $48 million extension.
The Rams went with a short-term deal for Kupp, who settled for less than the $20 million annually Keenan Allen got from the Chargers. Kupp's $16 million APY still places him in the top-12 for receivers. Kupp set career highs in 2019 and should take a step forward after the Rams moved on from Brandin Cooks. Signing this extension gives Kupp a chance to land another big contract in his age-31 season.

Happy for Cooper Kupp but I agree he should have asked for more. I will say one thing. I have often thought how lucky all of these guys are to be making this kind of money. I could live 10 lifetimes and not make even near what they make in 3 years! Think about that? It's no wonder Americans are sick of these crybaby athletes crying how tough their life is? Cry me a river. They are so out of touch with reality that it makes me sick. I love the game but hate the money they get paid and that's why I rarely go to see them play live. The same of movies and concerts. Occasionaly will I spend that type of money. Very rarely. TV, Radio and the computer is the best seat in the house anyway.
 
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Overall not a bad deal for Kupp. Like Mike Trout, he signed a moderately large short-term contract when relatively young, leaving him open for another big payday before he gets too old. Obviously Kupp isn't going to get the huge raise Trout did, but he's still putting himself in a good position.
 

Don Wassall

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Here are Kupp's snap count percentages for the past five games: 53%, 72%, 89%, 65%, and 62%. A decision was made mid-way through the 2019 season -- when Kupp was tearing up the league, being in the top three among receivers statistically -- to demote him and otherwise reduce his role. When he does play now, he's mostly running short routes, whereas before he ran downfield more often and as a result had a number of big plays, including long TD catch and runs. He's great after the catch as he's very elusive, and pretty much uncoverable. Apparently he's too talented for his own good in the anti-White construct known as the NFL and the fake news sports media that props it up.
 

white lightning

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Here are Kupp's snap count percentages for the past five games: 53%, 72%, 89%, 65%, and 62%. A decision was made mid-way through the 2019 season -- when Kupp was tearing up the league, being in the top three among receivers statistically -- to demote him and otherwise reduce his role. When he does play now, he's mostly running short routes, whereas before he ran downfield more often and as a result had a number of big plays, including long TD catch and runs. He's great after the catch as he's very elusive, and pretty much uncoverable. Apparently he's too talented for his own good in the anti-White construct known as the NFL and the fake news sports media that props it up.

The NFL and the powers that be must hide the truth at all times. Do not allow whitey to shine. I notice it even more on many games on national tv. They hide the white stars or at least ignore them in the red zone. Keep the dwfs in their zombie state of mind.
 

Don Wassall

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A good article illustrating how vastly over-rated straight line 40 times run in shorts are. But because it's the only football measurement in which Blacks on average have a slight advantage over Whites, it's been weaponized and turned into the linchpin justification for the Caste System in football and U.S. sports in general.

‘He Looked Explosive’: Former Rams Scout Shares How Cooper Kupp Won Him Over

by Lorenzo Reyna

Cooper Kupp celebrated his 28th birthday on Tuesday. But if it weren’t for what a former Los Angeles Rams director of college scouting saw in a thin, slow wide receiver from Eastern Washington before the 2017 Senior Bowl, the world likely wouldn’t have known about a future third round steal.

Brad Holmes, who is now the general manager of the Detroit Lions, spoke one-on-one with The Athletic’s Chris Burke on June 14 about how he went about his scouting process in identifying the dominant Football Championship Subdivision wideout.

Kupp entered the Mobile, Alabama, showcase measuring in as a 6-foot-1, 198-pound target. He put up astronomical stats at the FCS level: 428 receptions, 6,464 yards and 73 touchdowns. But, there were two dilemmas Kupp faced before going against talent from the Power Five conferences and other Football Bowl Subdivision programs: His reported 40-yard dash time of 4.6 and his level of competition.

But as Holmes described it to Burke: “He looked explosive.”

Holmes spent 2013-2020 with the Rams running the scouting department. The man credited for helping the Rams draft Aaron Donald, Tyler Higbee and Todd Gurley looked past Kupp’s 40 time and FCS competition. He instead looked at things from the GPA data perspective, telling Burke:

“I’ve told the Cooper Kupp story — that’s more of cognitive bias, in terms of just every time you saw him play football, the guy was good, you liked him. But I remember we saw him at the Senior Bowl, he was the best player on the field. Nobody can cover this dude. He looked explosive. And his shuttle and all that kind of reflected that, but his 40 time was in the 4.6s. He did it at the combine and at the pro day, so the last thing in your head was that 4.6.”

Holmes looked closely at Kupp’s peak game speed, average game speed, average distance covered and peak acceleration — all metrics used in determining a player’s overall speed from the GPS perspective. Holmes discovered Kupp played faster in pads than in shirts and shorts, telling Burke:

“I’ll never forget, it came out that his GPS time at the Senior Bowl was the fastest. So, it’s like, ‘OK, now that makes sense.’ But it was because he was playing football. He looked fast, he looked explosive on the football field. In tights, on that Eastern Washington track, it didn’t look fast.”

What likely also helped Kupp’s draft status in Mobile was his confidence. He shared this in a January 26, 2017 interview with ESPN’s Mike Triplett:

“I believe in myself. I believe in the player that I am. And ultimately I believe I was made to play this game, that God created me to be great at this thing. So I’ve put in that time, I’ve put in the work to make sure I’m the best that I can be. And being as I have that belief in myself and know where my identity lies, I know I can step on the field here and play with anyone.”

Kupp’s scouting report by Pro Football Focus released on March 10, 2017 described the EWU standout as one with “really strong hands,” “plays faster than his 40 time” and “great after the catch.” However, PFF shared two of his biggest concerns: Acceleration and once again, his level of competition.

Now, the 28-year-old has 288 receptions, 3,570 yards and 24 touchdowns in 54 games. Kupp now has a PFF grade of 80.8. He proved what happens when a small-school product takes advantage of a Senior Bowl invite. He wowed spectators and showed Holmes he’s faster than a 4.6 receiver.

https://heavy.com/sports/los-angeles-rams/kupp-senior-bowl/
 

white lightning

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Excellent article. At least a few coach's and scouts can look past the 40. It's all about game speed and performance when it counts. Jerry Rice proved how overated the 4o times are as he is the leading wide receiver in career yards yet run a 4.6. The
same thing with the all time leading rusher Emmitt Smith. Both great players who could not run a great 40. Black players often get the benefit of the doubt while whites don't because of racist stererotypes.

So glad Kupp got a chance and shined on the highest level. I hope he goes for 1000 yards again this fall.
 

Extra Point

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What a bogus metric the 40 is with no pads.
If you play with padding/equipment etc. you should be measured in full uniform. It would be far more accurate.

Absolutely correct! The game is played in pads, not in shorts.

Many sports media people and DWFs measure athleticism solely on the basis of 40 times. That's only one aspect of athleticism.
 

Don Wassall

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Ha, something we've known here for years. Kupp is uncoverable, what sucks is when Sean McVay deliberately demoted him halfway through 2019 when he was tearing up the league. Now of course he has to share billing with Robert Woods, but I'm excited to see what happens with the Rams offense this season with Matt Stafford at the helm. I don't think Stafford will have any problems throwing to Kupp, and I'm even hopeful that Jake Funk will make the team and even get some touches during the season.
 

Bucky

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Ha, something we've known here for years. Kupp is uncoverable, what sucks is when Sean McVay deliberately demoted him halfway through 2019 when he was tearing up the league. Now of course he has to share billing with Robert Woods, but I'm excited to see what happens with the Rams offense this season with Matt Stafford at the helm. I don't think Stafford will have any problems throwing to Kupp, and I'm even hopeful that Jake Funk will make the team and even get some touches during the season.

Haha yup it's almost as if he dominated every single level he's played on. Who'd a thunk it! Well said though, very much looking forward to The Rams this season.
 
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