Cooper Kupp's opponents break down what makes the WR so hard to stop

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. -- If you're looking for Cooper Kupp aft practice, helium tin often beryllium recovered successful the receptor of a antiaircraft back.

On the tract aft practice, close aft a play oregon successful the locker room, he's asking the Los Angeles Rams DBs what they're seeing from him, and asking for tips and tells they spot oregon consciousness against him during practice. And it's not lone All-Pro cornerback Jalen Ramsey he's asking, but rookies Cobie Durant and Russ Yeast arsenic well.

Durant, a fourth-round prime retired of South Carolina State, said helium couldn't judge a "Triple Crown guy's asking maine questions and getting pointers from me."

"He's conscionable trying to play the crippled earlier helium adjacent gets to the game," Yeast said. "And that's what benignant of makes him great."

And that's however Kupp continues to improve, adjacent coming disconnected a play successful which helium led the NFL successful catches, yards and touchdown receptions and was named Super Bowl LVI MVP. Somehow, Kupp has go an adjacent bigger portion of the Rams' offense, accounting for 33% of his team's targets this season, which is the highest complaint successful the NFL.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers experienced firsthand conscionable however hard it was to effort to halt Kupp doubly past season, including successful the divisional round, wherever helium had 9 catches for 183 yards and a touchdown to assistance nonstop the Rams to the NFC Championship Game.

"He does everything well," said Buccaneers caput manager Todd Bowles, who was Tampa Bay's antiaircraft coordinator past season. "He blocks, helium runs routes, he's outside, he's inside, he's successful the backfield, he's astatine the enactment of scrimmage, he's successful motion, helium throws passes, helium catches the ball. ... He has bully size that goes unnoticed erstwhile he's blocking, but helium has bully size to get connected you.

"He's 1 of them uncommon players that comes astir each mates of years."

ON SATURDAY MORNINGS, Kupp's astatine the beforehand of the wide receivers gathering room, clicker successful hand. He runs those Saturday meetings, wide receivers manager Eric Yarber said, "because helium is conscionable a manager connected the field." Perhaps the biggest compliment comes from Rams wide receiver Ben Skowronek, who says having Kupp tally the meetings is "pretty overmuch the aforesaid arsenic having Coach Yarbs tally it."

"When we travel to the sideline aft plays, Cooper tin archer you precisely what happened connected each play, astir similar Sean," Yarber said. "And it conscionable helps maine retired that much. It makes it that overmuch easier to coach."

But it's not conscionable the wide receivers country he's acquainted with. How elaborate is Kupp's cognition of the Rams' offense?

"I mean, helium knows our violative enactment calls," violative coordinator Liam Coen said. "He knows the calls, helium knows the intent."

That cognition "makes him play much, overmuch faster," Yarber said, adding that the time earlier successful practice, erstwhile violative linemen made the incorrect call, Kupp noticed close away.

"He pushed it to a secondary feline and Cooper said, 'No, no, no, no. You got 54. Push it to 54,'" Yarber said. "And I mean, helium helps everybody out."

And though helium enactment up humanities numbers past season, Kupp is the benignant of subordinate who would travel to the coaching unit aboriginal successful the week with tally ideas.

"Not lone walk ideas, but tally ideas wherever helium was progressive blocking," Minnesota Vikings violative coordinator Wes Phillips, who was the Rams' pass-game coordinator and choky ends manager successful 2021, said. "[He] listened erstwhile the enactment manager was giving his tally presumption arsenic acold arsenic techniques, blocking. He asked questions. All the things that helium did successful the walk crippled were truly special, but helium was truly peculiar mentally successful each different aspects.

"For a feline starring the league successful receiving, and he's coming in, saying, 'I deliberation this tally would beryllium good. I tin assistance seal the borderline close here,' is rare."

The cognition of the discourtesy comes from the enactment helium puts successful and his preparation. Cincinnati Bengals cornerback Chidobe Awuzie said helium and Kupp trained unneurotic erstwhile they archetypal got to the league. "Seeing the mode helium approaches the game," Awuzie said, "I haven't truly seen a receiver attack it that way, that meticulously, with that overmuch tendency to learn, to study, to larn from radical who played the presumption astatine a precocious level.

"He's not going to spell to slumber earlier helium gets thing done. He's astatine the installation each the time, trying to get amended film-wise. And past erstwhile helium goes home, it doesn't halt there. It continues. That whitethorn proceed for 8 hours, 9 hours, I don't know. I conscionable cognize he's a existent shot junkie -- similar a existent shot junkie."

Buccaneers cornerback Jamel Dean said helium tin archer conscionable however good Kupp understands the defense.

"Having that movie survey and past being capable to, like, execute it and admit it connected the drawback and the tally -- that's his quality that helium has [over] astir receivers," Dean said.

Kupp says that enactment comes from his tendency to ever beryllium coached.

"If I stepped connected the tract like, 'I'm not going to larn thing caller today,'" helium said. "That wouldn't beryllium me. That's a precise boring happening for me. I privation to beryllium capable to proceed to learn."

That mindset helped Kupp, successful his sixth NFL season, make his way running. Kupp said helium leaned connected veterans connected the roster astatine the time, including Brandin Cooks, Sammy Watkins and Robert Woods, who said Kupp was "like a sponge, soaking up everything."

It's truthful hard to support Kupp, Yarber said, due to the fact that helium makes each way look the same.

"That makes you play honest," Yarber said. "You can't leap things. If you leap things, he's making it look the same. And if you thought helium was going in, helium gives you the look ... that he's going in. But he's breaking out."

Bengals cornerback Mike Hilton said Kupp is "real decisive successful his [release]" disconnected the enactment of scrimmage -- and knows however to onslaught a defender's leverage.

"Your [release] arsenic a receiver is truly however you acceptable up your defender," Hilton said. "If you straight-line [release] them, obviously, it's going to beryllium much vertical routes. ... But accidental you're moving a slant. You evidently privation to [release] extracurricular due to the fact that you're trying to bushed the defender inside. So you [release] extracurricular and spell backmost underneath. That's what Kupp does, man."

Skowronek said Kupp "does a truly bully occupation of knowing pre-snap, post-snap looks, leverages based disconnected immoderate sum it is and being capable to onslaught leverages."

"And I deliberation that's what makes him truthful peculiar is being capable to bash that and conscionable knowing coverages truthful good and conscionable having a program each clip helium gets up to the enactment of scrimmage," Skowronek said.

Bengals caput manager Zac Taylor, who was the Rams' adjunct wide receivers manager during Kupp's rookie play said Kupp "is similar a backmost playing receiver" due to the fact that helium wants to cognize the "why" of each play.

"If helium needs to spell an other gait to interruption it disconnected and get open, [he can]," Durant said. "He tin get unfastened whenever helium wants to, I consciousness like. He's not Triple Crown for nothing."

Coen said helium thinks it's Kupp's wide cognition of the crippled that has helped him go a amended subordinate successful each aspects, whether that's successful the walk oregon the tally game.

"Every receiver wants the shot arsenic overmuch arsenic humanly possible, but wherever bash you acceptable successful the concept?" Coen said. "How tin you assistance your teammates get unfastened successful a batch of instances? The nuances of his crippled are evidently [based off] experience, but besides the enactment that you're alluding to."

KUPP TOOK A large leap guardant past season, ending the 2020 play arsenic a coagulated receiver for the Rams and ending the 2021 play arsenic Super Bowl LVI MVP and putting up historical numbers successful the process. One quality for Kupp betwixt those seasons was the summation of backmost Matthew Stafford. McVay said the brace "immediately had a peculiar rapport," thing helium could spot adjacent arsenic aboriginal arsenic their archetypal grooming campy together. The brace are truthful adjacent that Kupp wore Stafford's No. 9 jersey erstwhile helium signed his declaration hold successful June.

"You could benignant of spot a large play for Cooper coming, conscionable based connected the antithetic things that they were capable to get done," McVay said.

Every morning, Coen said astatine 6 o'clock oregon adjacent earlier, Stafford and Kupp are successful the movie country together.

"And they don't conscionable ticker walk plays," Coen said. "They ticker routes, they ticker tally game, they ticker the antiaircraft structure."

Ramsey, who goes against Kupp during practice, said the chemistry with Stafford "is 2nd to none."

"When a backmost and receiver person chemistry, it's truly pugnacious to support them anyhow due to the fact that they cognize however they privation the routes run, they cognize wherever the shot placement volition be," Ramsey said.

There's nary uncertainty Stafford has leaned connected Kupp this season, particularly erstwhile the discourtesy has struggled to determination the shot consistently. Kupp presently accounts for 71% of his team's receiving touchdowns, which is tied for astir successful the NFL, and 39% of his team's receiving yards, which is 3rd successful the league down Vikings receiver Justin Jefferson and Miami Dolphins receiver Tyreek Hill.

"They've got a emotion transportation going connected there," San Francisco 49ers information Jimmie Ward said. "He stays connected him the full play."

Stafford said helium knows helium tin beryllium connected Kupp connected the tract due to the fact that "he does a large occupation of being wherever helium is expected to beryllium astatine the close time."

"He has a large conception and knowing of what we're trying to get done, some successful the tally crippled and the walk game," Stafford said. "And past he's a physically talented guy. When helium gets those one-on-one opportunities, helium tin triumph and springiness maine a aboveground to propulsion the ball. And then, an elite trait is catching it and past evidently the tally aft the drawback is beauteous special."

And that feeling from his backmost is wide reflected by his opponents, too.

"He's a large player, 1 of the champion guys successful the league," Buccaneers information Mike Edwards said. "Just watching him connected movie -- helium stands out. The measurement of balls that helium gets, they provender him a lot. He gets unfastened ... shhh [shakes head] ... I don't know, nary substance what. He runs immoderate brainsick routes that you got to effort to halt to guard. He's conscionable a large player. He finds unfastened zones to get in. If you're man-to-man, helium shakes his feline to effort to get open.

"... My rookie year, we played them, I wasn't truly that hep to him. And I was like, 'Man, this guy's beauteous good.' And helium kept getting better. I consciousness similar helium getting amended each year. He's 1 of those guys that keeps progressing each year."

NFL Nation reporters Ben Baby, Kevin Seifert, Nick Wagoner, Jenna Laine and Turron Davenport contributed to this story.