What happens if LA Rams WR Cooper Kupp is healthy enough for 17 games in 2024?

LA Rams veteran wide receiver Cooper Kupp is about to compete in his eighth NFL season. So far, his career has been riddled with injuries. In fact, he has suffered injuries so frequently that he has only played a complete season in four of his seven NFL seasons. His last full season was 2021, the year in which he caught 145 passes for 1,947 yards and 16 touchdowns. But that was just in the regular season. In the 2022 NFL Playoffs, he added 33 more receptions for 478 yards and six touchdowns.

It's no wonder that he has failed to play a complete season ever since.

In 2022, he played nine games. In 2023, he played 12 games, plus a postseason contest. Combined in those two seasons (plus a playoff game), Kupp put up 139 receptions for 1,576 yards and 11 touchdowns. While not as superb as his 2021 performance, those numbers are pretty good.

And that is when he was hobbled, banged-up, and limited. Go figure.

While declining production is inevitable for every NFL player, and especially so for a physical-style receiver like Cooper Kupp, have we been looking in the wrong direction of his career? After all, the Rams coaching staff is convinced that Kupp remains very healthy as the 2024 NFL season inches ever closer. If the team was truly concerned in a steep decline from Kupp in 2024, the team had any number of chances to add a talented wide receiver multiple times in the 2024 NFL Draft.

The team opted to only draft former Texas WR Jordan Whittington. Whittington is the type of receiver who not only runs under the radar of many teams, but whose physicality and passion for all aspects of football make him an ideal padawan for Kupp in 2024.

But his selection also indicates that the team is looking for a huge season out of Kupp in 2024. I, for one, believe it as well.

Kupp not only played just 12 games in 2023, but he caught just 62.1 percent of the passes thrown his way. Despite those career nadirs, he still managed to put up 747 receiving yards and five touchdowns. So what does a 'normal' season look like for Kupp?

In 2019, Kupp caught 72.6 percent of his passes, 94 receptions, for 1,161 yards and 11 touchdowns. Even if you factor in any competition for the football from Puka Nacua, Demarcus Robinson, and the running game, those numbers look rather conservative. And with Nacua on the football field, it's not any stretch of the imagination to envision Kupp and Nacua combining for 2,600+ yards and 20+ touchdowns in the passing game.

While all eyes will be on Puka Nacua this season, I can see a huge rebound out of veteran WR Cooper Kupp. He missed five games in 2023, and still had good numbers. He won't miss any games in 2024, and will put up great numbers.

And no, he remains uninterested in coaching football after he retires from playing the game.

Thanks for reading.