LA Rams: 5 players who could crack next year’s CBS Top 100

Healthy sure-handed receiver

The LA Rams offense is blessed with wide receiver Cooper Kupp. While there are those who will point to Kupp’s absence when the LA Rams get into postseason play, that in itself shows just how important the pass catcher is in the Rams offense. Like many of the Rams’ offensive weapons, he is neither the fastest nor the tallest in the NFL.

He does, however, know his business, and has led the LA Rams receivers in three of the past four seasons he has been on the team. The one year he didn’t? He was injured at eight games. So without the obvious factors, how can Kupp hope to be counted among the best in the NFL?  Well, he has the mind of a quarterback in the body of a wide receiver.

Stated another way, he is one of the smartest players at the position in the NFL, and that being said, he knows how to do his job.

Cooper Kupp has been trending upwards since he broke into the NFL in 2017. Well, 2020 was a bit of an anomaly. Although Kupp’s completion rate skyrocketed to nearly 75 percent, his yards per reception declined, and his touchdowns plummeted. The cause was simply the offense shrinking the football field to get Jared Goff a quicker opportunity to complete his passes.

While the shorter field helped the completion rate, it actually helped defenses by shrinking the field and allowing them to crowd the box. From a position close to the line of scrimmage, defensive backs had solid options to play coverage or rush the quarterback. That won’t be the case in 2021, as the Rams have committed to stretching the field once more. The player who should benefit the most from that return to deep passes? None other than Cooper Kupp.