In 2021, Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Cooper Kupp put together one of the greatest seasons in the history of his position. Kupp earned the receiving triple crown, leading the NFL in receptions, yards and touchdowns and taking home the AP Offensive Player of the Year Award. His 145 receptions and 1,947 yards were both the second highest for a single season in NFL history.
Kupp also set the NFL record for most receptions in a single postseason as well as the second-most yards and touchdowns as he helped lead the Rams to the Super Bowl. As such, it came as little surprise that he landed at the No. 4 spot on the NFL’s top-100 players list a year ago.
Unfortunately 2022 was a completely different story for Kupp, who saw his season end after just nine games due to an ankle injury that required surgery. Even though he is still widely considered one of the NFL’s elite players, his down year necessitated a drop in this year’s version of the NFL’s top-100 players list, seeing him fall all the way down to 47th:
47. @CooperKupp #NFLTop100 pic.twitter.com/dRyeNADL3m
— NFL (@NFL) August 1, 2023
This drop was obviously due to Kupp missing half the year and is by no means a sign of his talent. Even in those nine games that he did play, Kupp was outstanding, finishing with 75 catches for 812 yards and six touchdowns. The fact that he still led the Rams in all three categories is a sign as to how reliant the team was on the star receiver.
Now healthy coming into 2023 and with a healthy Matthew Stafford at quarterback, Kupp is set to bounce right back and re-establish himself as one of, if not the premier player at his position in the NFL. Minnesota Vikings’ Justin Jefferson, Miami Dolphins’ Tyreek Hill and Las Vegas Raiders’ DaVante Adams are the other players whom most view as the league’s best wide receivers and the Rams star is right there with them.
Expectations as a whole are down for the Rams coming into this season, but the team still has its three leaders in Kupp, Stafford and Aaron Donald leading the way. After injury-plagued years for all of them, they are undoubtedly motivated to re-establish themselves, and the Rams as a whole as a force to be reckoned with.
For Kupp, that means powering this offense which will lead to some seriously gaudy numbers and a jump right back near the top of next year’s top-100 list.
