No shortcuts for LA Rams Cooper Kupp NFC Offensive Player of the Month

LA Rams wide receiver Cooper Kupp is just doing what he’s done his entire career. He runs incredible crisp deceptive routes. He flashes enough speed in the process to create impressive separation. And when the ball arrives, he digs in and delivers some of the best YAC (yards after catch) in the NFL. But he would not be on the football field unless he can block. The LA Rams offense runs on a simple principle. No block? No rock.

Cooper Kupp can do it all, and he has. 2021 is the same old, same old.

Suddenly, the NFL is sitting up and taking notice. It could be for good reason. You see, after three games, Cooper Kupp leads the entire NFL in receiving yards (367) and receiving touchdowns (5). And he’s just getting started. It was one helluva September for the receiver out of Eastern Washington. If things hold on this current route, it could be one helluva 2021 NFL season.

Wide receivers earning the NFC Offensive Player of the Month is a big deal.  It’s happened three times before, and the company of that select group is noteworthy indeed: Torry Holt, Isaac Bruce, and Henry Ellard. A great accomplishment. An even better group of players to join.

The Rams didn’t switch up their head coach. It’s still head coach Sean McVay designing the offensive playbook and calling the plays. It’s not the offensive line. They are the same offensive linemen as 2020, and for the most part, as 2019.

The difference, if you need a cause and effect to be drawn up here, is the quarterback position. The Rams traded for QB Matthew Stafford, who has himself earned two of the first three NFC Offensive Player of the Week awards. It seems that the success of an NFL receiver is dependant upon the quality of the quarterback throwing to him. Funny how that goes.