The emergence of this Rams WR made Kupp expendable, and it's not who you think

Jordan Whittington's emergence made Cooper Kupp expendable

Rookie wide receiver Jordan Whittington had a similar type of season in 2024 that Puka Nacua had placed on display in 2023. The difference? In 2023, the Rams welcomed back Cooper Kupp but decided to trade veteran wide receiver Van Jefferson. So Nacua's emergence created the same response in 2023 that Whittington's emergence appears to be creating now. Jefferson landed with the Atlanta Falcons.

But Puka Nacua set All-Time NFL Rookie Receiver records, and Whittington struggled to see playing time. Ah, but that is what precipitated this decision, you see. Whenever Cooper Kupp played, Whittington didn't. Kupp was on the football field in Weeks 1 and 2 but sat out Weeks 3 through 7, finally sitting out Week 18 as well. Rookie WR Jordan Whittington's most productive games were Week2 3, 4, 5, and 18.

Notice the pattern? In those four games, Whittington hauled in 19 of 25 passes for 265 receiving yards and zero touchdowns. On the season, Whittington hauled in 22 of 28 passes for 293 yards. As you can see, Whittington's best work happened when Cooper Kupp was not on the football field.

Was it an anomaly? It's tough to come to that conclusion. In Week 18, Whittington was on full display against the Seattle Seahawks starting secondary. On the day, he haled in three of four passes for 86 yards. He also rushed twice for another 12 yards. That is an outstanding day for a player to come off the bench and put up those kind of numbers against a division rival, while catching passes from the backup quarterback.

It was a finale that convinced the team that Jordan Whittington is indeed ready for a larger role.

While Whittington did not catch 39 passes in his first four NFL games like Nacua, he was not targeted 52 times either. He did catch 18 of 23 passes, which is a slightly better catch rate. The team traded Van Jefferson to keep a red hot rookie wide receiver, Puka Nacua, on the football field in 2023. Now, the team is simply walking the same path, but only at the end of the season, to trade Cooper Kupp to return a red hot rookie wide receiver, Jordan Whittington, to the football field in 2025.

Better late than never, righ? As always, thanks for reading.

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