Rams News: Zac Taylor Says Cooper Kupp Is ‘One Of The Smartest Players’ He’s Been Around
Cooper Kupp
Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

After recording a historic regular season, Cooper Kupp can put the cherry on top with a championship after helping lead the Los Angeles Rams to Super Bowl LVI.

Kupp was sorely missed in the Rams’ last Super Bowl appearance but now gets to lead their offense in the biggest game of the year. Opposing defenses have had no answer for the receiver and the Cincinnati Bengals will surely be trying to find ways to slow him down.

Bengals head coach Zac Taylor is more than familiar with Kupp and the Rams given his time with the organization as the quarterbacks coach and he had nothing but praise for Kupp, via Jake Rice of Bengals.com:

“He’s one of the smartest players I’ve ever been around at any position. He really approaches the game like a quarterback to be quite honest with you. … I threw to him at his private workout at Eastern Washington. (I) split time with his backup quarterback and we missed one throw on a back- end line, hammer route. I overthrew him and that was the only incompletion of the day.

“Cooper (is) a big picture thinker. So he really understands the structure of the defenses, the nuances of the route running. He cares about the run game as well. There’s oftentimes he would screenshot pictures of defenses with run thoughts.

“You would wake up the next morning to a midnight text from Cooper Kupp with thoughts on things that could help the offense. He’s certainly rare that way. I certainly think highly of him and (wide receiver) Robert Woods. Those were the two guys that are still there that were there when I was there. Eric Yarber, the receivers coach there, has done a tremendous job with that room and I have a lot of respect for those guys.”

While Kupp is lauded for his on-field ability, he has built a reputation for his football IQ and how he sees the game from both an offensive and defensive perspective. Super Bowl LVI will surely be an exciting matchup between two high-powered offenses with all eyes on Kupp and the Rams.