Overview
Position: Wide receiver
Height: 6’2″
Weight: 204 pounds
School: Eastern Washington Eagles
Combine Performance Data
40-yard dash: 4.62 seconds
Vertical jump: 31 inches
Broad jump: 9 feet, 8 inches
Three-cone drill: 6.75 seconds
20-yard shuttle: 4.08 seconds (fifth among wide receivers)
Cooper Kupp 2017 NFL Draft Profile
Football is in Cooper Kupp‘s bloodlines. His father, Craig Kupp, had a brief stint in the NFL at quarterback after getting drafted by the New York Giants in 1990. Going back one generation, his grandfather Jake played in the league as an offensive lineman from 1964-75, including an eight-year stint with the New Orleans Saints. He was a team captain for five of those years and is currently a member of the franchise’s Hall of Fame.
Kupp carved his own path as a wide receiver at FCS school Eastern Washington. After redshirting, he started out on a pathway that eventually put him in elite company. As a redshirt freshman, he finished with 1,691 receiving yards and 21 touchdowns en route to winning the Jerry Rice Award, given to the nation’s top FCS freshman. His next three seasons saw Kupp average 1,591 yards and 17.33 touchdowns per year.
More importantly, the record books looked a lot different at the conclusion of Kupp’s collegiate career. He is currently the all-time FCS leader in career receptions (428) and touchdown catches (73). And his 6,464 career receiving yards is an NCAA record across all divisions. Though his Eagles never unseated North Dakota State from their dominance at that level of college football, Kupp helped lead the team to the national semifinals in two of his four seasons there.
Strengths
- catches just about anything thrown his way;
- pulls the ball in with soft hands away from body;
- can create yards after catch with burst, vision, or powerful stiff arm if need be;
- adjusts to the flight of the ball, bringing in passes thrown above, behind and in front;
- surefire vertical threat that can go up and get it in contested catch situations;
- extremely efficient in space, finding gaps in zone coverage with ease;
- had a combined 446 receiving yards and six touchdowns against Pac-12 opposition (WSU, Oregon);
- put up historic receiving yardage totals in college.
Weaknesses
- product of a fairly vanilla offense in terms of overall scheme;
- will face a steep learning curve in learning an NFL playbook;
- could use better acceleration off line of scrimmage to eat cushions in zone and soft man;
- tends to do a little too much with his feet during cuts on change of direction routes;
- needs to show more in terms of downfield blocking in run support;
- dealt with a recurrent AC joint injury to his left arm during senior year.
NFL Comparison: Jordy Nelson
Teams With Need at Position: Arizona Cardinals, Baltimore Ravens, Buffalo Bills, Chicago Bears, Los Angeles Rams, San Francisco 49ers, Tennessee Titans
Projection: middle to late second round
Bottom Line
Kupp’s historic level of production in college speaks for itself even if it did come against inferior competition at times. His skill set as a high volume pass-catcher with soft hands and the ability to get extra yardage in various ways is highly prized at the next level. Though there are concerns about whether he can consistently separate underneath against elite cover corners, Kupp possesses plenty of attributes that have wideout needy teams excited about what he brings to the table. It’s why he’s a consensus top-five prospect at the position and almost certain to be off the board at some point on day two.
