LOS ANGELES — The best rookie receiver in Los Angeles Rams history might have been snagged in the third round.
In Sunday’s 43-35 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, Cooper Kupp from little-known Eastern Washington set a Rams rookie record for receptions. He has 56 of them with three regular-season games remaining, topping the previous record of 54 set by Eddie Kennison, the 18th overall selection in 1996. Kupp’s 783 receiving yards — 118 of which came on Sunday — rank fourth among Rams rookies and are only 141 away from Kennison for the franchise record.
Among NFL rookies in 2017, Kupp ranks third in receptions, behind running backs Christian McCaffrey and Alvin Kamara, and leads in both receiving yards and receiving first downs (38). Among rookie wide receivers, he ranks first in targets per route (23.0 percent) and receptions per route (15.2 percent) and is second in receptions per target (65.9 percent).
Corey Davis, Mike Williams, John Ross, Zay Jones, Curtis Samuel and JuJu Smith-Schuster were all selected earlier, and Kupp has outperformed every single one of them.
Rams coach Sean McVay likes to tell the story about the team’s meeting with Kupp at the combine, when he turned to receivers coach Eric Yarber and joked about how he would be out of a job if Kupp suddenly decided he wanted to coach. The Rams were blown away by Kupp’s football IQ, but they were initially drawn to his precise route-running ability and secure hands. They loved his pedigree, with a father and a grandfather who played in the NFL, and they heard coaches rave about his work ethic.
Kupp only ran a 4.62 40-yard dash, but he excelled at the three-cone drill (6.75 seconds) and the 20-yard shuttle (4.08), which showed off his game speed. Kupp has already gained 327 yards after the catch, fourth-highest among all rookies. There were obvious questions about how quickly he could excel at the NFL level, given the inferior competition he consistently faced in college. But his former coach, Beau Baldwin, who saw Kupp leave Eastern Washington with basically every collegiate receiving record, was confident it would happen immediately.
“I don’t have a single doubt in my mind that he will have an amazing impact in an NFL offense,” Baldwin said at the start of training camp. “I’ve never seen him get defended by anyone. I’ve never seen him struggle. I mean, it’s been consistent, no matter who we played, no matter who it’s against. And he’s got a drive and a mindset that he’s not going to allow himself to not have success.”