Unlike Todd Gurley, Rams receiver Cooper Kupp won’t slump in year two

Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Cooper Kupp enters his second season in LA, leaving some to wonder if the Sophomore Slump will play a role as it did with Todd Gurley.

The Los Angeles Rams are seeing the long offseason questions often posed at this time of year. One has some writers and team sites wondering if second year wide receiver Cooper Kupp would suffer from the dreaded “Sophomore Slump.”

Rams fans will remember the disappointing second season coughed up by running back Todd Gurley. Gurley, who had been Offensive Rookie of the Year, all but went missing when the team kicked off the LA edition in 2016. In his defense, it was also an anemic offense that was all but dead in the water after getting off to a 3-1 start.

That said, unless Los Angeles gets upside down offensively, it’s more logical to see significant growth from Kupp as he gets into his sophomore season.

He has at least one new fan, as recently acquired receiver Brandin Cooks recently said he was one of the “smartest players” he’s been around. But frankly, it’s more than that.

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Kupp has the added benefit of being with a team and head coach who are offensive centric, versus what Gurley faces two years ago. Under Jeff Fisher, the Rams were an embarrassment on offense. They were slow, unimaginative, and single dimensional.

Not the case in LA, where head coach Sean McVay has managed to take a Rams offense that was once dead in the water, and turn it into a high octane, high scoring machine.

Kupp is a big part of that machine. But it’s also not all on him, as was the case with Gurley in 2016.

One more thing worth mentioning is the trust of quarterback Jared Goff, who like Kupp, should also benefit from a full season in the McVay war room.

Bottom line, it’s just not likely that the second year receiver will suffer a “Sophomore Slump” in 2018. While production may drop because of the addition of Cooks, Kupp just won’t be a guy who disappears in year two.