NFL
What are Cooper Kupp stats? The LA Rams WR is on for MVP
When it comes to talk about the 2021 MVP, the Los Angeles Rams wide receiver is included in the chat, and history making is also on the line.
As any Fantasy Football player with him in his ranks, Cooper Kupp has been a revelation this season. His consistent form has seen him take care of several records and and on Sunday that kept on running, securing his Los Angeles Rams a playoff spot.
Cooper Kupp keeps catching
Los Angeles (11-4) overcame three interceptions by Matthew Stafford, who was 21-of-37 passing for 197 yards. Stafford did connect with Odell Beckham Jr. for the wide receiver's fourth touchdown in the last five games, while Kupp continued his productive season with 10 catches for 109 yards.
Also in NFL news:
That is the 14th time that Kupp has beaten the 90-yard milestone this year, a record for him, and that means that there has only been one game in which he has not reached it. That came against the Arizona Cardinals in Week 4.
So, since that disappointment, where he caught five for 64 yards, he’s since gone 11 consecutive games hitting at least 90 yards. And he’s gone over 100 yards in each of his last four!
As it stands, he is the NFL’s leading yard maker and is closing in on Calvin Johnson’s 2012 record of 1,964 yards. Sitting on 1,734, Kupp needs just 230 more to tie it. We’re all watching and if he keeps performing and the Rams keep going, the MVP award is a serious possibility…
Could Cooper Kupp win MVP?
It often ends up in the reliable hands of the superstar quarterbacks, but a lack of consistently convincing performances from them has led to discussion over a skill-position player potentially taking home the most prestigious individual NFL honour. And Cooper Kupp is in that conversation.
Kupp has established a phenomenal rapport with quarterback Matthew Stafford in the latter's first year with Rams. That connection has seen Kupp emerge as the clear number one receiver in the NFL from a statistical standpoint.
However, with reigning MVP Aaron Rodgers on a charge for a Green Bay Packers team with the number one seed in the NFC in their sights, the prospects of Kupp actually taking home the prize look slim.
Yet he could still end the 2021 NFL season with a slice of league history as discussed above, after already becoming the first NFL player to have 1,600+ receiving yards and 110+ catches through his first 14 games of a season.
Who's next up for Cooper Kupp?
Week 16 was a handy contest for Kupp against a Minnesota Vikings defense conceding nearly 400 pass yards per game, the third-most in the NFL. Next is a Baltimore Ravens team that has given up more passing plays of 20 yards or more than any other in the league. A matchup with the San Francisco 49ers defense would present a distinctly tougher challenge. However, even in the Rams' blowout loss to the Niners in Week 10, Kupp still caught 11 passes for 122 yards.
Kupp has received double-digit targets in all but one game in 2021 and is doing an excellent job of continually creating separation from defenders.
He has registered a burn, which is when a receiver wins his matchup with a defender on a play where he is targeted, 63.6 per cent of the time, above the average of 60 per cent for wideouts with at least 25 targets. His burn yards per route average of 4.1 is the best among receivers who meet that threshold, indicating that no wideout in the NFL is generating more separation than Kupp when he beats his defender.
Kupp is a skilled separator who receives a consistently heavy workload. That may not be a recipe for him winning MVP but, given what he has done with his target share to this point, it is a mix that can put him in position to end the regular season in record-breaking fashion.