Hamstring and ankle injuries put a big dent in Cooper Kupp’s 2023 season, and fantasy owners weren’t thrilled. These injuries led to the emergence of Puka Nacua in Sean McVay’s offense. Now at 31 years old, what is Kupp’s potential in 2024?
2024 Fantasy Football Profile: Cooper Kupp
2023 in Review
Kupp’s injuries resulted in him recording his lowest reception total since 2018 and the second lowest in his career. Matthew Stafford tried to get the ball in his hands when possible with 95 targets. Kupp caught just 62% of those passes and only tallied 737 yards. His five touchdowns were also tied for the second-lowest total of his career.
On the positive side, Kupp received 23.4% of total targets in the Los Angeles Rams offense when he was healthy. Kupp produced enough points to be the WR23 a year ago. Those numbers were boosted significantly by Kupp making every catch count. He produced 12.5 yards per reception, meaning he wasn’t padding his reception numbers on five-yard out routes.
2024 Projection
Piggybacking off of the positives from 2023, Kupp should see a lot of targets this year even with Nacua. He’ll have the opportunity to bounce back from a season ago. If he could produce those numbers with an injury-riddled season, how much better can he be when healthy?
Cooper Kupp had more targets, receptions, and touchdowns in the red zone than Puka Nacua did last year.
— Dave Kluge (@DaveKluge) July 1, 2024
The Rams could have one of the best offenses from a fantasy perspective this year if Kupp can stay healthy. This is a guy who just three years ago was 53 yards shy of 2,000 receiving yards with 16 touchdowns. That kind of talent doesn’t just disappear overnight even though he’s on the wrong side of 30.
Just like every player who misses games and doesn’t live up to expectations the previous season, there’s going to be some hesitancy from people when drafting Kupp. He might not be the same player he was three years ago, but he’s still a player who can go out there and put up 1,200 yards receiving.
Cooper Kupp Fantasy Football ADP
Despite the hesitancy, Kupp is showing everyone he’s still one of the better receivers in the game. He might not be a first-round pick anymore, but the Eastern Washington alumni is going early in drafts. Kupp’s current ADP is 41, and he has been taken as early as 23 and as late as 66.
Even with the 66th pick, that is a sixth or seventh-rounder in most leagues with 10 or 12 teams. His ADP of 41 is good value for him as it makes him a target in rounds 4-5. This matches our latest mock draft as Kupp was first off the board in the fourth round. The 23rd overall selection is a bit of a reach and an indication someone is living in the past or panicked during their pick.
Cooper Kupp talks about the mindset that took him from a high school kid with no college offers to a Super Bowl champion.
"I'm going to go earn it again, every single day." 💯 (via @CooperKupp) pic.twitter.com/ChvxBFoEpJ
— NFL (@NFL) July 8, 2024
The injuries are something that can’t be overlooked with Kupp, but they also aren’t a reason not to draft him. Kupp is more than capable of serving as a WR2 for every fantasy football team. If you invest in wide receivers early and often and can slot him in the FLEX spot, consider yourself lucky.
Kupp will still provide solid production for those who draft him. He’s worthy of a pick in the right spot unless the Rams get aggressive and trade for Davante Adams which has been reported as a possibility.
Main Photo: [Lon Horwedel] – USA Today Sports
