Cooper Kupp

PFF SCOUTING REPORT: COOPER KUPP, WR, EASTERN WASHINGTON

The PFF analysis team breaks down the prospects of Eastern Washington’s Cooper Kupp ahead of the 2017 NFL Draft.

https://www.profootballfocus.com/draft-pff-scouting-report-cooper-kupp-wr-eastern-washington/?utm_content=buffer7468e&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=nfl

Name: Cooper Kupp

School: Eastern Washington

Position fit: Versatile WR

Stats to know: Kupp averaged a very high 3.32 yards per route run last season, and his 89.3 overall grade would’ve ranked second among all FBS receivers.

What he does best:

Really strong hands. Doesn’t wait for the ball to come to him, he’ll attack it at the catch point. Rarely loses in contested catch situations.
Plays faster than his 40 time, especially for his size.
Very smart player, recognizes different coverages and will adjust his routes to find the open space. Very good at finding and settling in holes in zones.
Good footwork, strong in and out of his cuts. Was able to beat tight coverage at the line of scrimmage with feet.
Great after the catch, can make defenders miss with shifty moves but also big enough to drive through tackle attempts.
Good route-runner, can disguise routes with head and feet fakes and double moves.
Very good at using his body at all levels, can box out defenders and use his size to get jump balls.
Uses his hands well to win at the catch point.

Biggest concern:

Acceleration can be an issue. Takes him a bit to get going, may not have that kind of time and space against NFL players.
While he was effective at running every route he ran, scheme at Eastern Washington limited those routes. Will need more experience running more complex routes.
Sometimes seems to run a little upright which can slow him down in and out of his breaks.
Competition level. There were times where Kupp was clearly just a bigger and better athlete than some of the defenders he played against. This won’t be the case in the NFL.

Player comparison: T.J. Houshmandzadeh

Houshmandzadeh was never considered the fastest or strongest or most athletic player on the field. But he made up for it with phenomenal route-running and strong hands. He was very intelligent and knew how to get open against all defenses. He used his size to box out defenders and make tough catches in contested situations. All of this can also be used to describe Kupp. It’s not crazy to think that Kupp could have a similar NFL career to Houshmandzadeh.

Bottom line: Kupp is one of the most exciting prospects in the draft class, in that there is very little he can’t do on the football field. He’s likely never going to be the fastest or strongest player on the field, but he’s quick, he’s smart, he has phenomenal hands and he knows exactly where he needs to be to get the ball. Concerns about his outside receiver potential are mostly overblown (he averaged 5.11 yards per route run outside the slot in 2016). His performance during Senior Bowl week showed that he can play just as well against higher levels of competition. Kupp may not have the flashiness of some of the other receivers in this class, but he very well could be one of the best in it.

Meet Cooper Kupp: The best college football player you’ve never heard of

Sam Gardner
Aug 23, 2016

http://www.foxsports.com/college-football/story/why-cooper-kupp-is-the-player-to-watch-in-college-football-this-season-082316

ARK CITY, Utah — Any coach in college athletics will tell you that recruiting is far from a perfect science, and there’€™s no better evidence than Cooper Kupp.
An All-American wideout at Eastern Washington, Kupp may be the best college player in the country, to say nothing of his place in FCS history. A rising senior, Kupp has already caught more passes for more yards and more touchdowns than Jerry Rice — and has done so in two fewer games. And by the midway point of this season, he should hold every major FCS receiving record there is.
But coming out of high school in Yakima, Washington, Kupp wasn’€™t just overlooked by the major FBS programs that dot the Pacific Northwest. He was hardly on the radar for anyone, at any level.
“€œIt was frustrating for him, and it was frustrating for me too,”€ Kupp’€™s father, Craig, said recently. “€œYou just don’€™t quite understand it.”€
That the 6-foot-2, 208-pound Kupp wasn’€™t pursued by every program on earth is clearly a massive oversight, and with the benefit of hindsight, any recruiting coordinator worth his title knows they should have been knocking on his door. Even so, it’€™s almost implausible that a player of Kupp’€™s caliber could fall through the cracks.
Fortunately for those misguided coaches across the country, Kupp has a plan to make sure it never happens to anyone else again.
An economics major with a minor in business administration, Kupp owns a 3.62 GPA and might be as bright in the classroom as he is talented on the gridiron. And during his time on the Eastern Washington campus in Cheney — pronounced CHEE-nee — he’€™s taken a particular interest in the study of what he calls econometrics.
“€œIt’€™s similar to the ‘Moneyball’ stuff,”€ says Kupp, referencing the 2003 Michael Lewis book and 2011 film, as he watches TV in his hotel room on the first day of Big Sky media days outside Salt Lake City. “€œIt’€™s the measurement of efficiency, putting labels on things and seeing, ‘€˜How much does this variable effect this dependent variable?’€™ And in doing that, you can put together some really interesting models.”
One of the models Kupp has created was inspired, knowingly or not, by his own experience as an undervalued high school star. In it, Kupp takes 30 different figures available for any high school player and plugs them into a formula. The formula then crunches the numbers and spits out a result that predicts how productive that player will be in college.
Some of the variables Kupp’€™s model considers are predictable — height, weight, speed, on-field stats — but others, like hair color or the enrollment at a player’€™s school, are perhaps less obvious.
“€œTypically kids with dark-colored hair mature faster than those with light-colored hair,”€ explains Kupp, who is blonde. “€œSo if you have a guy with dark-colored hair and a guy with light-colored hair and they both perform the same at the high school level, do you want to take the guy who has already developed all the way or the one who hasn’€™t?
“€œI just like figuring that kind of stuff out and manipulating variables,”€ Kupp continues. “€œSo, like, what’€™s more important, a 5-foot-8, 160-pounder running a 4.3, or a 6-foot-3, 220-pounder running a 4.5? Which one is going to be better?”€
Kupp readily admits that his model is far from perfect, and he’€™s constantly tweaking the algorithm to get it just right. But someday — hopefully after a long NFL career — he says he’€™d like to market the product to programs across the country to improve their approach to recruiting. He’€™s also begun to develop a model that projects draft position for college players.
But as Kupp dives into the minutiae of the draft-position experiment, which he says he did for fun, I stop him to pose a question: Have you ever projected your own college career through your high school-to-college model?
“€œYeah, I did,”€ Kupp says, almost shyly, trying to hold back a knowing smile.
And?
“€œI guess you might say the results were pretty good.”€

*****
On the surface it would appear that Kupp was born to play professional football on account of his genetics alone.
His father, a quarterback, was a fifth-round draft choice of the New York Giants in 1990 and also spent time with the Cowboys and Cardinals during a brief stint in the NFL. And Saints fans will recognize Jake Kupp, Cooper’€™s paternal grandfather, as a Pro Bowl left guard who spent the majority of his 12-year career in New Orleans, starting in the franchise’s inaugural season in 1967.
“€œGrowing up I knew they’€™d both played, but it was kind of interesting, because if you go and hang out with my grandpa, you’€™d see his trophies in the basement or his Saints helmet up on the shelves, but he just never talked about that kind of stuff,”€ Kupp said. “€œIt was never something that we heard from him, or even my dad. You had to force them to talk about it.
“€œI think that’€™s just the kind of people they are,”€ he continued. “€œThey’€™re not defined by what they’€™ve done and where they’€™ve played. It wasn’€™t NFL quarterback Craig Kupp and NFL guard Jake Kupp. They were just Dad and Grandpa.”
Additionally, Kupp’€™s mother, Karin, a personal trainer, played soccer at Pacific Lutheran University, where she and Craig are in the school’€™s athletic hall of fame. Karin’€™s father, Tom Gilmer, was also a former PLU quarterback and longtime high school football coach in Tacoma, and Cooper’€™s great-uncle, Jeff Kupp, played O-line at Eastern Washington in the 1980s, as well.
But early on in his own career, Kupp’€™s size was limiting, if not completely prohibitive, when it came to his goals on the field.
“€œMy freshman year, I was 5-foot-4 and 115 pounds when I first weighed in,”€ Kupp said of his introduction to the football program at A.C. Davis High School in Yakima. “€œI remember because I was wearing ankle weights, so I was probably more like 112. But if you were to ask me then where I was going to be in four years, I still would have told you I was going to play at USC.
“€œThat was just my mindset,”€ Kupp continued. “€œI never had a doubt in my mind that I was going to play football at the next level, and not just play, but play at a big time school.”
Fortunately for Kupp, his father and grandfather were also late bloomers and impressed upon Cooper the importance of mastering his position early, before the growth spurt they knew would someday come.
“€œWhen he was young, playing Grid Kids, he stood out as an athlete, but around sixth or seventh grade, the other kids just took off and had these phenomenal growth spurts, and Cooper just kind of stayed where he was,”€ Jake Kupp said of his grandson. “€œAnd I remember just how frustrating that was for him, because size-wise, it was very difficult for him to compete with the other kids. So he was just one of the kids at that time, but he had this desire and this passion to be better.”
“€œWe developed the same way that Cooper did, so we knew he would get there eventually,”€ Craig Kupp added. “€œWe had lots of conversations about getting footwork down and working on fundamentals and understanding the game so that when you do get your body, you’€™re going to leapfrog folks. You’ve got to have that base, and then the speed and athleticism will be there later.€”
As a sophomore, Kupp made the varsity team at Davis, and while his numbers weren’€™t yet eye-popping — he caught 19 passes for 230 yards his first season — his dad saw a talented, if awkward, player that was primed to make a statement.
“€œI just remember, as a sophomore, it was so funny to look down there,”€ Craig Kupp said. “€œBecause he was one of those guys with long legs, but his number was halfway tucked into his pants.
“€œHe’€™d go to the summer camps and he wouldn’€™t stand out from a physical standpoint, but he was a real good, precise route runner,”€ he continued. “€œAnd when the field work would start, at least to me, he was light years ahead of most of the kids from a technical standpoint. But for some reason it didn’€™t translate. It didn’€™t capture the attention of the coaches that were there.”
As a junior, Kupp became a key deep threat for the Pirates, catching 31 passes for 811 yards and seven touchdowns, but even a breakout season did little to change the way he was viewed at the next level.
“€œTo be frank, he was the skinny white kid from Davis who had good hands,”€ said former Davis offensive coordinator Jay Dumas, now the receivers coach at Central Washington. “€œHe didn’€™t look like a Division I football player. I’€™ve seen kids over the last 20 years going to summer camps, and you can kind of tell the body types that are getting recruited. But Cooper, when he was a junior, he didn’€™t look like them. He looked like a Division II, Division I-AA recruit.”
So Kupp made it his singular goal to be even better, and as a senior he reeled in 60 catches for 1,059 yards and 18 scores, leading Davis, once a perennial doormat, to a second straight winning season for the first time since the late ‘˜60s. He’€™d also grown to be 6-foot-1 and 185 pounds, and in 2011, the Seattle Times named Kupp one of the top 100 recruits in the state.
But Kupp still struggled to catch the eye of college coaches, despite the fact that his family hired a recruiting service to help get his name on someone’€™s — anyone’€™s — board. Jake Kupp, a Washington grad, also tried to use his connections at his alma mater to help, even reaching out to Steve Sarkisian directly to plead his grandson’€™s case.
Yet when Kupp walked off the field following his final high school game, he did so without a single scholarship offer in hand.
“€œMy goals were set to have more opportunities,”€ Kupp said. “€œSo it was tough going through that season and not having concrete proof that there is something for you at the next level.
“€œWe couldn’€™t get anything back from these coaches,”€ he added. “€œNot even a note saying, ‘€˜Hey, we took a look, but sorry, it’€™s not going to work.’€™ We couldn’€™t get anything, and when you’€™re going through that it’€™s kind of disheartening.”
Thankfully, Kupp had a wild card in his offensive coordinator, Dumas. One of Dumas’€™ former teammates at Curtis High School in Tacoma was Eastern Washington head coach Beau Baldwin, and throughout Kupp’€™s high-school career Dumas, a former Washington State wide receiver, tried to get his old pal to take a serious look at his latest find.
“€œI remember early on, he said, ‘€˜Hey, I’€™ve got this young kid, and I’€™m telling you, down the road,’”€ Baldwin recalled of Dumas. “€œHe was already seeing it when it wasn’€™t necessarily the easiest thing to see.
“€œSo we saw him in football camps and kind of saw how he moved and how he did things and, it was like, ‘€˜Hey, who knows?’”€ Baldwin continued. “€œBut then as he started to grow into his body and we got to watch him as a junior and a senior and got to be around him, we saw some of the little things and the intangibles that when you didn’€™t get a chance to truly be around him, you may not see.”
Particularly, Baldwin and the Eastern Washington staff were impressed by the effort Kupp put into learning the Davis offense.
“€œI remember many days after practice, before practice, watching film with Cooper like he was an assistant coach,”€ Dumas said. “€œI literally leaned on him for ideas, for things that he felt good about. And the amazing thing with Cooper was, if we were watching film together, he rarely watched film in terms of what he was doing. He always watched film in terms of what we were doing so he understood exactly how the offense was running and what we were trying to accomplish.”
“€œThose were things that we valued,”€ Baldwin added. “€œSo we thought, ‘€˜Hey, he may be a little under-recruited, doesn’€™t come from a football factory, ran a bad track time’€™ — these were things in our favor that gave us a chance to recruit this kid that probably wasn’t going to get recruited heavily.”
It was three weeks after that final game when Kupp, also a three-year letter-winner and state champion in basketball, got a call from Baldwin during basketball practice offering a partial football scholarship to Eastern Washington. Soon after, Idaho State joined the bidding with a full scholarship offer, and a short time later, Baldwin matched it.
Kupp then paid a visit to both schools and ultimately decided to go with Eastern Washington, a perennial power one year removed from an FCS national championship.
“€œAt the time, Idaho State was not a great team, and they had been struggling,”€ Kupp said of the Bengals, who showed promise during the Jared Allen years, but went a combined 4-40 during Kupp’€™s time at Davis. “€œBut really, it was the relationships I had at Eastern. I visited Idaho State first, then visited Eastern, and once I was at Eastern I knew it was the right place.€”
And while some in Kupp’€™s position may have viewed signing with Eastern Washington as settling, that was never Kupp’€™s approach.
“€œCoop didn’€™t feel overlooked,”€ Dumas said. “€œHe didn’€™t look at it like, ‘€˜I’€™m better than that guy that’€™s going to that school.’€™ He was genuinely happy to have a scholarship to go play Division I football and go get an education, and I think that helped him when he got there. He didn’€™t get there thinking that he should have been somewhere else. When he got to Cheney, he was home.”
*****
Simply earning a scholarship wasn’€™t enough for Kupp, however. He still had NFL aspirations and knew he had to make the most of his time as an Eagle to make them a reality. But almost immediately after arriving on campus shortly after his 19th birthday, Kupp and his coaches were met with the dilemma of what to do with his freshman season.
At the time, Eastern Washington boasted a trio of accomplished veteran receivers in Greg Herd, Brandon Kaufman and current Eastern Washington receivers coach Nick Edwards. Initially, Kupp hoped to play right away, but it soon became clear that snaps and targets would be limited if he did, making the prospect of taking a redshirt likely.
“€œI’d been playing football for however long it was, nine years, 10 years, so the thought of not being able to go out and compete for a year was tough,”€ Kupp said. “€œBut in my head, I was going to treat it as if I was playing on Saturday either way. So I took that fall camp and said I was going to make the coaches have a tough decision by the end of it.”
Over the next few weeks, Kupp did just that, and eventually his coaches left the decision up to him, although they encouraged him to consider sitting out for the sake of his own development.
“€œWhen he got to campus, he outplayed Brandon, Greg and Nick, and they were all All-Americans and 1,000-yard receivers at one point in their career,”€ said Boise State receivers coach Junior Adams, at the time the receivers coach at Eastern Washington. “€œSo I was kind of left with the dilemma of whether to play this kid or redshirt him.
“€œNow I say I’€™m the one that ended up redshirting Cooper Kupp,”€ Adams continued with a laugh. “€œBut honestly, looking back, it was probably good for him and his career.”
It also turned out to be quite the coup for Eastern Washington.
“€œKnowing what I know now, would Portland draft Michael Jordan?”€ Baldwin added of the decision to redshirt Kupp. “Yeah, I might have had a different mindset, and I probably could have used him. But knowing that he’™s coming back this year, I’€™m also pretty happy that we didn’€™t.”€
With Kupp on the sidelines, Eastern Washington went 9-2 during the 2012 regular season and reached the semifinals of the FCS playoffs, where it lost to Sam Houston. Kupp, meanwhile, was named the offensive scout team player of the year and impressed the coaches with his commitment to preparation.
“€œA lot of guys get into what we call scout mode or redshirt mode — where maybe by spring ball they’€™re back at it — and that’€™s just human nature,”€ Baldwin said. “€œThey’€™re a bigwig on a high school campus and all of a sudden they’€™re running scout team, and it’€™s tough to continue to stay motivated every day in practice when you don’€™t have a game. But because he is so rare in how he attacks things, he was practicing as a redshirt like he was the go-to guy that Saturday.”€
“€œFrom a mindset standpoint, he was going to play as a freshman, and if not, he was going to act as if he was,”€ Craig Kupp added. “€œHe’€™s just that kind of guy. He’€™s always doing extra stuff, but it’s not extra to him. It’€™s just what you should be doing.”

And in keeping with the lessons he learned growing up in a football family, Kupp made a conscious effort to be as coachable as possible.
“€œPeople always say they’€™re mentally tough, but he defines it,”€ Adams said. “€œYou can tell him something once and he’ll be able to correct it, and he just does a really good job of self-evaluating and really being critical of his game or how he runs his routes. He’™s very, very detailed. Some people like details, but he loves details, and you don’€™t find many kids at that age that have that type of mindset or that type of head on their shoulders.”
Kupp also took a particular interest in learning everything he could about his team’€™s playbook, just as he did at Davis.
“€œI want to know the entire offense,”€ Kupp said of his approach. “€œI want to know what everyone is doing on every play, all the way from protection to tailback to progressions of quarterbacks. I want to understand plays, and because I understand plays better, I’€™m able to play the game faster and more efficiently. And I think that was one of the things that set me apart.€”
“€œI tease him about it, like, ‘€˜I think Cooper has a problem, I think Cooper has OCD with football,’™ but it’€™s benefited him because he doesn’€™t want to leave any details unnoticed,”€ added Dumas. “€œHe’€™s not watching film and studying to brown-nose. He’€™s watching film and studying because he really gets off on it, almost like he gets a football high by knowing exactly what everyone is doing.”
As a result — and thanks to his physical growth in the weight room — Kupp was at the top of the Eagles’ depth chart when his redshirt freshman season began. But still, there were questions as to how his skills might translate on Eastern’€™s bright red field.
“€œIt was kind of like nothing changed, just the same thing all over again,”€ Kupp said. “€œPeople don’€™t have high expectations of me, but I’€™m not trying to be the best I can be for them. I just want to be the best me I can be and know that that’™s going to be enough.”
Any lingering doubt was erased, however, in Kupp’€™s first game, as he hauled in five catches for 119 yards and two touchdowns during the first two and a half quarters of a 49-46 win at Oregon State. (He left the game after cramping up in the third.) Two weeks later, Kupp played through a painful hip pointer to catch five passes for 70 yards and a touchdown against another FBS foe, Toledo.
From there, Kupp caught a touchdown pass in all but one start for the Eagles, setting an FCS record with a TD catch in 14 consecutive games. Over the team’€™s final six regular-season outings combined, Kupp caught 10 touchdown passes and averaged nearly 160 yards receiving per game.
Led by Kupp, Eastern Washington reached the national semifinal for the second straight year, this time losing to Towson in Kupp’€™s only game without a score (he still caught eight passes for 124 yards), and Kupp finished the season as the FCS leader in receiving yards (1,691) and receiving touchdowns (21). For his efforts, Kupp was given the Jerry Rice Award as the FCS Freshman of the Year.
“œI don’€™t want to say I expected to do it, but my goals were to be an All-American,”€ Kupp said of his redshirt freshman campaign. “€œAnd I know if I were to have that conversation with someone before my freshman year, they’€™d probably laugh it off and say I think too highly of myself. But that’€™s just how I have to operate. And then I was able to go out and achieve that, which was really cool.”
And while some may posit that Kupp set the bar too high in his first season, Kupp says the thought never crossed his mind.
“€œYou ask yourself, ‘€˜What did I do my freshman year that got me to where I was able to play at such a high level?’€™ and then take that and try to step it up the next year,”€ Kupp said. “€œSo I came into my sophomore year with the attitude that I had to earn it again.
“€œI just didn’€™t want to get complacent or get stagnant in my growth as a receiver,”€ he continued. “€œI wouldn’€™t be able to sleep at night if I didn’€™t know I was trying everyday to be the best, not just for myself but for the team. As part of this team, if I’€™m not the best I can be on Saturday, then I’€™m letting all 80 of these guys down who are suiting up with me.”
*****
By the time he was a sophomore, Kupp was no longer flying under anyone’€™s radar, so perhaps it came as a surprise to some that Kupp followed up his debut with a monster second season. However, that’€™s a bit of logic that’€™s lost on his coach, Baldwin.
“€œAnyone who got to watch him day-in and day-out, they never saw a drop-off,”€ said Baldwin, a former quarterback at Central Washington. “€œThey saw him continue to grow and continue to do more and more and come up in big situations.”
Never was that more true than on the road against Washington, when Kupp hauled in eight passes for 145 yards and three touchdowns in a 59-52 loss to yet another major program that never even gave him a look.
“The Huskies were one of the programs — and it was a different coaching staff than is there now — that we just couldn’t get to even talk to us,”€ Craig Kupp said of his son. “€œAnd you know, my dad played football there, so it was quite frustrating that we couldn’€™t at least have a conversation with somebody. So for him to go out and do what he did out there, that was pretty neat.”
Kupp’€™s grandfather called the performance one of the greatest days of his life.
“€œHaving played in that stadium and having come out of the tunnel at that stadium and just knowing what he was feeling, and then just to see his ability to not get carried away with all the hype, it was probably one of my most special memories,”€ Jake Kupp said. “€œJust sitting here talking to you, I can picture that day in my mind like it was yesterday.”€
From there, Kupp’€™s legend continued to grow, and for the season, he finished with 104 catches for 1,431 yards and 16 touchdowns — in two fewer games than his freshman season —€” and earned a consensus FCS All-American nod for the second straight year.
Paced by Kupp and quarterback Vernon Adams, Jr., Eastern Washington seemed poised for a national title run during Kupp’s junior year, but that plan grinded to a halt when Adams transferred to Oregon for his senior season.

“€œThey always ask what it’€™s like losing your quarterback, but really the tough part is one of your best friends leaving,”€ Kupp said of Adams, who was a groomsman in Kupp’€™s wedding last summer. “€œYou go from spending eight hours a day with your boy, you’€™re lifting weights or throwing or watching film, doing something together, and then he leaves, so it’€™s hard.”
Kupp said he and Adams talked several times about the possibility that Adams might transfer, with Kupp assuring Adams that the decision wouldn’€™t impact their friendship either way while also urging him to stay. In the end, Adams switched allegiances to the Ducks but said he wasn’€™t concerned about leaving Kupp hanging without the only college quarterback he’d ever known.
“€œPressure is a privilege, at all times,”€ said Adams, now with the Montreal Alouettes of the CFL. “€œIf people are putting pressure on you, that’€™s a privilege, and it just shows that people are looking up to you and looking for you to make plays for the team. You always want that as a star player, and I never worried about him.”
It was only fitting, then, that Kupp opened his junior season against Adams and Oregon — and had the biggest game of his career on the biggest stage of his life. Though Eastern Washington lost, Kupp caught 15 passes for 246 yards and three touchdowns, prompting Oregon defensive backs coach John Neal to tab Kupp as a potential first-round pick in the 2015 NFL Draft.
“€œI had a nice talk with him and I wanted to tell him I’ve been watching his tape since summertime,”€ Neal told reporters of his postgame conversation with Kupp. “€œI knew we were going to have trouble guarding him.”
Over his first four games last season, Kupp caught 46 passes for 759 yards and 10 touchdowns — and that didn’€™t even include a 20-catch, 275-yard, three-touchdown outburst against Northern Colorado. For the year, he finished with 114 catches for 1,642 yards and 19 touchdowns in 11 games and led the FCS in every receiving category of note.
As a result, Kupp was named the Walter Payton Award winner as the FCS’€™ top offensive player — an honor previously bestowed on such names as Jimmy Garoppolo, Tony Romo, Brian Westbrook, Steve McNair and Dave Meggett.
And then there are the records. The laundry list goes on and on, but suffice it to say Kupp has broken virtually every receiving record that exists at Eastern Washington and in the Big Sky Conference. He’™s also the FCS’€™ all-time leader in career receiving yards per game (122.5) and ended the season on pace to set FCS marks in career receptions and receiving touchdowns as a senior.
The only question that remained was whether Kupp, a projected second- to fourth-round pick, would play a senior season at all.
Fortunately, Eastern didn’€™t have to wait long to get an answer. Eight days after Eastern’€™s final game, Kupp and his wife, Anna, spent a Sunday fasting and praying about the decision, taking into consideration all they’€™d learned about his draft prospects. The next morning, Kupp woke up with a clear decision in mind, and later that day he announced he’d be returning to the school.
“€œI don’€™t want to force anything,”€ Kupp said. “€œI don’€™t want to do something out of my own selfish ambition. I don’€™t want to be something I’€™m not, and something I’€™m not is someone who does something that might not be right just because there’€™s more money in it. I’€™m about relationships, the relationships with my coaches, the relationships with my teammates, with my friends.”
He’€™s also eager for the team to redeem itself after a three-game losing streak to end the 2015 season dropped Eastern Washington from 6-2 and No. 4 in the nation to 6-5 and out of the FCS playoffs altogether. It will be a tall order. Eastern Washington — ranked No. 17 or No. 14 entering the season, depending which poll you choose to follow — opens at Washington State, then plays at five-time defending FCS champion North Dakota State, then hosts Northern Iowa, a top-5 FCS team in its own right.
“€œThat’€™s important to me, too, and so is being able to do this with those guys and my brother for one more year,”€ Kupp said of his younger brother, Ketner, a sophomore linebacker at Eastern Washington. (Kupp also has another little brother, Kobe, and a sister, Katrina.) “€œIf football is going to be a thing for me, God is going to make that a thing for me, and it’€™ll be there a year later.”
That’€™s a mature stance from a then-22-year-old with millions to be earned in the pros and little left to prove on the field, but from Kupp, it doesn’€™t come as a surprise.
“€œI don’€™t see football as a profit-maximization thing,”€ said Kupp, allowing the economist in him to come out. “€œI play football because it’€™s fun. I completely understand that football at the next level is a business, and I want to provide for my family as well, but I’€™m not about the excessive lifestyle, I’€™m not about living extravagantly.
“€œIf God’€™s going to bless me with the opportunity to play this game,”€ he added, “€œI’€™m going to do it because I love it and because I was made to do it.”
*****
Barring some sort of catastrophic injury, it’€™s a virtual certainty that Kupp will get a chance in the NFL this time next year. The question now is whether he’€™ll be able to make as much of that opportunity as he did of the one at Eastern Washington.
Considering the last four years, though, it would seem unwise to write him off as just another flash in the FCS pan.

While many FCS greats do go on to succeed in the pros, there are far more who don’€™t. Terrell Hudgins, the former Elon wideout whose career receptions and receiving yards records Kupp is poised to break, made a brief appearance in Cowboys camp in 2010 but was virtually never heard from again. David Ball of New Hampshire, for now the FCS’ all-time leader in touchdown catches, popped up in a couple NFL camps and bounced around the CFL but never amounted to more than a practice squad fill-in.
But the coaches who have faced Kupp over the last several seasons see plenty of reason to believe he will not only be a pro, but a good one.
“€œI think fans from the Pacific Northwest will recognize him as the second coming of Steve Largent,”€ said Idaho State coach Mike Kramer, the only other college coach to offer Kupp a scholarship. “€œHe’€™s actually bigger than Largent was, but when Largent put his helmet on, it was not the Steve Largent that eventually became a U.S. Congressman. It was not the great guy that everybody thought of. He was a mean, vicious, wicked competitor, and Cooper Kupp is nothing less.”
Portland State coach Bruce Barnum also compared Kupp to the longtime Seahawk and 1995 Hall of Fame inductee.
“€œHe’€™s fluid, he’€™s a great route-runner, and he’s got exceptional hands,”€ said Barnum, the 2015 Big Sky Coach of the Year. “€œEvery team is different with what they do offensively, and when he gets that opportunity in the NFL, I think he’€™ll be looked upon differently by each team. Some like guys who run faster than a speeding bullet, and some want Steve Largent. He’™s a cross between the two, and I’€™m guessing you’€™ll see Cooper Kupp play a lot more years of football.”
Northern Colorado coach Earnest Collins, Jr., against whom Kupp had the best game of his career so far, said he expects Kupp to emerge as “€œthe next great slot receiver in the NFL.”
“€œI think the thing that he’€™ll have that Wes (Welker) and (Julian) Edelman don’€™t is that he’€™s got size,”€ Collins said. “€œHe’€™s 6-foot-2 and I think he’€™s going to be phenomenal. He just has a special talent that’€™s kind of rare. And you can say, ‘€˜Well, he’€™s doing it against FCS talent,’€™ but he did it against Oregon too. It’€™s not like he’€™s just torching lower-level talent. He’€™s torching whoever he comes up against.”
During Kupp’€™s career, he’€™s only been held under 50 yards receiving twice, most recently against Cal Poly last season. But even Tim Walsh, the Mustangs’™ coach, admits there’€™s no secret to stopping him.
“€œWe played the entire defense on him,”€ Walsh said. “€œIf we were going to lose, we didn’€™t want it to be because Cooper Kupp beat us, and to me that’€™s the ultimate compliment you can give a player — that he alone is capable of winning the game.
“€œHe’€™s the type of player that will play 11 or 12 years in the NFL,” Walsh added. “€œAnd I think because of his size, he’€™ll be an impact NFL player. I don’€™t think there’€™s any question. If he was playing at USC, he’€™d be a first-round draft choice. Out of Eastern Washington, maybe he’€™s a third-round pick, but he’€™s still going to have a tremendous career regardless.”
Predictably, Kupp’€™s own coach is also firmly in his corner.
“œIf he was in the NFL this fall, I think he’€™d catch 90 balls — I really do,”€ Baldwin said. “€œHe’€™d do it on just about every team, and if you use him in a certain way, it might be 100 in a 16-game season. I see him being a high-volume guy, even at that level.
“€œPeople always say he’€™ll be a slot, but I argue that a little bit,”€ Baldwin continued. “€œI’€™m not saying he’€™s not a great slot, but I don’€™t think he’€™s pigeonholed into that, either. I think he can go out there and win against NFL corners, too. I believe that. He has the versatility and the intelligence to move all around in an offense. He always has, and I don’€™t see why that would change at that level.”
As is his best friend and former quarterback.
“€œQuote me on this: Cooper Kupp is the best receiver in the country right now,”€ Adams said. “€œNo DB in the country can guard Cooper Kupp right now. I played at Oregon, and we had some great receivers there, but Coop is the best receiver I’€™ve ever played with. I’€™ve never seen anybody work like him. I’€™ve never seen anybody, on game day, come alive like him.
“€œHe should go in the first round this year,”€ Adams continued. “€œI’€™m sure the scouts want to see him run under a 4.4, and he’€™s going to have two to three months to prepare for that, and I guarantee he runs underneath a 4.4 and goes in the first round.”
But perhaps Kupp’€™s most ringing endorsements have come from the pros who helped raise him. Both his father and grandfather said they were surprised by his decision to stay in school, and both are looking forward to big things from him once he finally does move on.

“€œIt was exciting for me, when I went through it, to be able to share that experience with my dad, and to be able to talk to him about his experience and that type of thing,”€ Craig Kupp said. “€œAnd to be able to have that, now, with Cooper — gosh, what a cool thing. It’€™s a pretty rare deal, and it’€™s a blessing, and we’ll keep our fingers crossed that it happens and that we can all experience that together.”
“€œThis is very, very selfish on my part, but my wife and I, we travel, we went to all the games last year, and I just can’€™t imagine what it will be like to be able to watch Ketner on Saturdays then hop on a plane and go off to some NFL city and watch Coop play the next day,”€ Jake Kupp added. “€œLife couldn’€™t get any better than that.
“€œI also kind of have an understanding what he’€™s going into, but he’€™s in a whole different league from me,”€ the Saints’ Hall-of-Fame inductee continued. “€œI was basically a journeyman player, but Coop is a couple levels above what I ever was, and I think he could be one of the very best.”
Not surprisingly, Kupp has higher expectations for himself and says his goal is to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. But at the end of the day, the best player you’€™ve never heard of is also among the most humble and will be satisfied with whatever happens after his unexpected —€” but statistically predictable —€” rise to the top of the college football world.
“€œIf I’€™m a coach and I see someone who can play, I’€™m not going to say, ‘€˜You don’€™t fit the mold,’”€ Kupp said. “€œIf you can play, coaches in the NFL want those players on the field. They want guys who know the game and love to compete. So I think there’€™s a place for me.
“€œSuccess in my mind is, when it’€™s all said and done, are you happy with what you did?”€ Kupp added when asked how he’€™ll evaluate his career whenever it finally ends. “€œAnd if I walk away knowing I did the best that I could possibly do, then I’€™ll be happy with myself. However long that ends up being, whether it leads to me being a Hall of Famer or not, I’€™ll walk away feeling like I was successful.”

PFF: RAMS SELECT KUPP TO SUPPLEMENT RECEIVING CORPS

https://www.profootballfocus.com/draft-rams-select-kupp-to-supplement-receiving-corps/

The Rams needed help on the receiving end in a big way, and got some with EWU’s Cooper Kupp.

The Los Angeles Rams selected wide receiver Cooper Kupp the third round of the draft Friday night.

Kupp’s 89.3 overall PFF grade in 2016 was the second-highest in the draft class.

Eastern Washington QBs had a passer rating of 140.2 when targeting Kupp.

Kupp had 88 receptions for 1,220 yards when lined up in the slot, both ranking in the top five of the draft class for slot production.

When lined up outside, he still averaged 5.11 yards per route run, higher than when in the slot.

Kupp gives Rams QB Jared Goff another weapon who can line up outside or in the slot, and is one of the better route-runners in the class.

I’m digging this guy’s description. I like disciplined route running and hands of steel over lightning speed and jitterbug stuff. I mean, I like that stuff, but I’d rather have a guy who runs his route and makes the catch for 10 yards every time than a guy who busts a highlight every other week, and drops 6 passes in the same amount of time.

PA Ram wrote:

Okay–I like the pick and hope for the best. But the one concern I do have with him is his speed. He is slooooooow. I looked up the 40 times for some of the guys he’s being compared to(Edleman, Amendola, Jordy Nelson)and they are all in the 4.5s. He could not break 4.6 at the combine. His second run was worse than his first.

He will have to rely on that route running to gain the separation but hopefully that’s enough. Another guy with great hands and a slow time is Nelson Spruce. He’s slower than Kupp. And he looked like he could play. So we’ll see.

I sure hope he’s a nice clutch go-to guy for Goff.

I believe in the old Al Davis adage that ‘speed kills’, but it ain’t everything.

The Rams have drafted a lot of speedy guys over the last few years to no avail. Speed is nice but you gotta be able to play. Kupp looks like he can play.

Bruce is the best WR the Rams ever had and he was slower than many LBs in this league.

If you’re looking at the wrong things, you’ll miss the point about new Ram WR Cooper Kupp

VINCENT BONSIGNORE

link: http://www.ocregister.com/2017/04/29/bonsignore-if-youre-looking-at-the-wrong-things-youll-miss-the-point-about-new-ram-wr-cooper-kupp/

As part of their due diligence in digging into Eastern Washington wide receiver Cooper Kupp, the Rams requested an official 15-minute sit-down with the record-breaking receiver at the NFL combine in March.

Teams get only 60 such sit-downs spread over three nights in Indianapolis, and considering there are more than 300 prospects on hand it’s imperative for teams and players to make the most of the opportunity.

In Kupp’s case, the experience was, well, enlightening.

As part of the process, Rams coach Sean McVay put Kupp through a series of technical questions designed to get into his head and create a baseline for his cerebral knowledge of the wide receiver position.

McVay may be only 31, but he’s a football lifer who might as well have grown up clutching a playsheet in one hand and a whistle in another.

The pace, cadence and lingo in which he speaks is pure football.

In Kupp, McVay found almost a kindred spirit.

“You felt like you’re almost talking to a receiver coach,” McVay remembered.

Good thing for Rams receivers coach Eric Yarber, then, that Kupp still has a whole bunch of football to play before he starts contemplating a possible coaching career. McVay pointed that out to Yarber, who was barely a month into his new job at the time, as Kupp walked the Rams staff through the ins and outs of playing wide receiver.

“I looked over a (at Yarber) I said, ‘You’re lucky we just hired you man. We might have to hire this guy if he was coaching.’” McVay said.

He was joking, of course. And for now, Yarber’s job is safe. In fact, if Kupp has any say in the matter Yarber might soon be in line for a promotion. But it will be Kupp’s play rather than his words that help elevate Yarber’s profile.

The Rams made Kupp the 69th pick in the NFL draft Friday night and they envision him being a highly productive player in McVay’s offense and a trusted ally of second-year quarterback Jared Goff.

Those 15 minutes in Indianapolis didn’t cinch the deal, but they did shed some light on how a small-school standout who checked in with a 4.6 time in the 40 could put together such a dominant four-year run at FCS-level Eastern Washington.

Including the blowtorch he took to the Pac-12 every time he stepped foot on the field with the big boys.
Kupp finished his career with 428 catches for 6,464 yards and 73 touchdowns, which is a ridiculous level of production on any level.

But he saved a particular slice of savagery for the Pac-12, a conference that deemed him too slow coming out of high school to offer him a scholarship. In four games against Washington State, Washington, Oregon and Oregon State, Kupp served up a hefty spoonful of told-you-so with 40 catches for 716 yards and 11 touchdowns.

That’s an average of 17.9 yards per catch and a touchdown every 3.6 times he caught a ball.

If you don’t know what to look for in breaking down what makes a good wide receiver, the numbers probably make no sense considering Kupp can’t out-sprint some NFL linebackers in a straight-line 100-yard dash.

If you do know what to key on – the elite numbers Cooper posted at the combine in the three-cone and short shuttle drills, his footwork at the line of scrimmage, the precise route-running, the grasp of his assignment and the nuances of whatever coverage he’s working against, and his elite pass-catching ability – it makes all the sense in the world why he’s able to produce record-breaking numbers against whoever he lines up against.

“His above-the-neck approach, in terms of the way that he sees the game, it’s almost through the quarterback’s perspective,” McVay said. “He understands that, he understands route distribution.

“Then, I think he’s wired the right way. You can see he’s always got a plan at the line of scrimmage with how he’s going to work versus different coverages and where the holes are in that coverage, and he’s got great hands.

“I think you see a guy that understands the game. You watch him play, you see he’s got those pre-snap plans that, a lot of times, you don’t see. He is one of the more polished college receivers that I’ve evaluated coming out in a while, and that’s why you feel good about him. We’re excited to see how when we get him in that building, and then he’s able to go compete with our players how that translates.”

The above-the-head aspect is a survival kit Kupp began packing as soon as he figured out he wasn’t able to blow past defenders or physically fight them off to create separation.

“Early on when I wasn’t faster than guys, I wasn’t stronger than guys, I had to have something and that’s what I had – I had creativity in my route-running, knowing how to set guys up and get open,” he said. “And that’s something that I saw that my body may not be where it needs to be but I can still create a ton of separation by understanding how routes are run and understanding coverages.”

And even as a wispy high school freshman with no business of actually believing he’d one day play college football – let alone in the NFL – Kupp was laying the groundwork for the possibility.

“I was 5-4, 119 pounds and I had two-pound ankle weights on both ankles,” he said. “And I believed whole-heartedly that I was going to see this day, that I was going to play in the league and perform at a high level. Had to go through a lot of coaches telling me I needed to change my goals for myself. But that’s the way I set my goals, I set my goals laughably high and I want to pursue those things and my work ethic (paid off)”

As the years progressed, 5-4 and 119 turned into 6-2, 204, and little speed turned into good enough speed. In the meantime, the son and grandson of two former NFL players had established a level of work ethic, preparation and polish that, when combined with his emerging physical traits, allowed him to produce at a high level no matter the competition.

“I had to work for everything I got and I learned that at an early age and it was really a blessing in disguise,” he said. “Because I had those traits, I knew what it took to be great and when my body stared to catch up that stuff stuck with me and really created me into the player I have been.”

Granted, had Kupp thrown down a 4.3 40 time to back up all those gaudy stats we’d be talking right now about a top 10 draft pick. He was available to the Rams in the third round because he isn’t an explosive athlete who can take the top off a defense.

But that doesn’t mean he can’t excel playing a role that suits his physical profile and enhances his nuanced understanding of how to play wide receiver.

“I think he’s shown that he can win on routes from width as well,” McVay said, “I don’t want to exclusively say that he is a slot, but once some of those traits and characteristics, in terms of the ability to recognize coverage, be able to recognize if I’ve got an option route, working one way or the other. I think those are some of his best assets and qualities. He’s a football player and we’ll move guys around.”

steve smith said kupp was the best receiver in this draft.

I never even watched Kupp play but damn those highlights look awesome! He might not run fast but his mind is very fast. I don’t see him as an Bruce type wr with Kupp having a couple inches in height and 25 lbs. on Bruce. Bruce had a very good top gear that won’t show in 40. Kupp is topped out at 40 yds. Bruce was still accelerating at 60 yards with those gigantic gazelle like strides.What I like the best about Kupp and Reynolds along with Woods is the hands. They all have exceptional hands.

yeah, the second video with the oregon and oregon state coaches raving about him is telling. he was a beast against pac-12 competition. and this was against defenses that were likely focused on him. especially impressive considering the talent surrounding him was probably less than ideal.

i’m gonna venture a guess and say he gets around 70 catches and 800 yards next season.

Well i just watched the highlights and I think they just drafted a white guy.

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zn wrote:

wv wrote:

Well i just watched the highlights and I think they just drafted a white guy.

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There you go again, bringing highlights into it.

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Very well. I will focus my laser mind on the situation and give you a searing analysis. Kupp has a one-syllable last name. Like Isaac Bruce. And Torry Holt. And Marshall Faulk. Jim Brown. Deacon Jones.

This is why he was not overdrafted. This is why he will be a hall-famer.

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• This reply was modified 7 years, 6 months ago by Agamemnon.