Getty Cooper Kupp tries to keep the football against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during a 2020 Los Angeles Rams game on Monday Night Football.
Cooper Kupp has earned these titles: The league’s most open wide receiver according to analytics and one of the league’s most productive slot wide receivers with consecutive 90-catch seasons as proof.
But even the fifth-year slot wide receiver for the Los Angeles Rams wants to be known more as just a slot option.
In a ESPN Insider interview with Jeremy Fowler released on Friday, Kupp admits he doesn’t want to be used in one spot on the Rams’ offense, or as he described it being “pigeonholed.”
“I’m always asking for more,” Kupp told Fowler. “I never want to get pigeonholed in one thing. The goal for everyone here, the more you can do the better.”
The Fun Part About Playing the ‘X’ Receiver
According to PFF, Kupp had 62% of his snaps from the slot last season. Career wise, he’s had 1,212 snaps from that area of the receiving core.
And one of Kupp’s most memorable touchdown scampers came when he operated from the slot against the New Orleans Saints in 2019.
Cooper Kupp. Man among boys 😤
#NOvsLAR (via @thecheckdown)
Plus in the red zone that same year with three Seattle Seahawks near his vicinity.
🗣COOPER KUPP! COOPER KUPP!
Back within one at the half!
There’s also one more big catch he delivered against the ‘Hawks – where he again operated inside and caught over star safety Jamal Adams.
COOPER KUPP OVER JAMAL ADAMS
But if he’s the outer most WR on certain packages, Kupp still finds a way to get open, especially if it means tangling up some ankles like he did here in this clip versus the Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Cooper Kupp is unstoppable with routes like this. #RamsHouse
📺: #LARvsTB on ESPN
📱: NFL app // Yahoo Sports app: t.co/TIcsVC5VZ1
And it’s the “X” spot that Kupp says can help draw more solo matchups, which is what WR’s like him desire.
“There are really fun things about being singled outside as an X that I don’t get to experience as much,” Kupp told Fowler. “I’d love to do that stuff. At the same time, I know what my role is in the offense, being able to execute my role is the utmost priority. If my number is called for other stuff, that comes into play as well.”
A Potential New Kenny Golladay For Matthew Stafford?
He may not get mentioned much in Detroit since Calvin “Megatron” Johnson is forever linked to Stafford’s career, but Kenny Golladay became a back-to-back 1,000-yard wideout in 2018 and ’19 with No. 9 throwing him the ball. “Babytron” made plays like this with Stafford.
Kenny Golladay snatches the ball for a pretty @Lions touchdown! #OnePride #NYGvsDET @kgxix
📺: FOX
📱: NFL app // Yahoo Sports app
Watch free on mobile: t.co/a16R5wPShJ
But Golladay showed his willingness to work inside – using a chip block before freeing himself up on this red zone score against the Arizona Cardinals from 2019.
This is too easy for Matthew Stafford & Kenny Golladay. @kgxix @Lions #DETvsAZ #OnePride
📺: FOX
📱: NFL app // Yahoo Sports app
Watch on mobile: t.co/PoZiStO3mL
Kent Weyrauch of PFF wrote on Thursday that the new Rams’ QB could have a new “Golladay” to throw to in Kupp, writing:
“If Kupp can establish himself in a role similar to what Kenny Golladay provided for Stafford, he should be able to separate from Robert Woods in terms of target market share. Kupp finished as WR4 in 2019 and is primed for another big year as the Rams push their chips in to chase a Super Bowl.”
Fowler also has a big prediction for Kupp this fall:
“There’s a feeling Kupp will get a boost in a Stafford-led offense, which is a lot to ask for a player with 186 catches the past two seasons. But his name was called a bunch during the practice I saw, and the quick chemistry between quarterback and slot receiver seemed obvious. Robert Woods will get his, too, of course. But maybe Kupp’s game will expand, which he has thought about lately, especially if that means more work on the outside.”
Was there also a possibility of returning kicks too? Kupp’s name was mentioned as a punt returner when the unofficial depth chart got released on Tuesday, which eventually got cleared up by head coach Sean McVay.
Sean McVay was asked about Cooper Kupp being listed as the punt returner on the Rams’ recently-released unofficial depth chart.
McVay, dryly: “I didn’t see that depth chart, if we did. He won’t be our punt returner, no.”
This L.A. Rams offense has versatile weapons to choose from – with Woods a go-to option on motions, DeSean Jackson a deep threat and past return man, rookie Tutu Atwell being used as a slot and specialist in the past and fellow rookie Jacob Harris coming in as a hybrid tight end/receiver option.
But the slot WR Kupp adds to the versatility, and clearly hopes to be used in other WR spots starting September 12.
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