Brad Holmes shares story of Cooper Kupp’s emergence at 2017 Senior Bowl
Rams coach Sean McVay and general manager Les Snead have developed an incredibly strong relationship in the last four years together in Los Angeles, leading to three playoff berths and a Super Bowl appearance. They work in concert during the draft and throughout free agency, identifying players who fit the mold of what the Rams are looking for.
Cooper Kupp certainly checked plenty of boxes for Los Angeles in 2017 when he entered the draft out of Eastern Washington, which led to him being drafted in the third round. He wasn’t the top receiver in the class or even considered a fringe first-round talent, but Kupp has turned out to be one of the best picks from that entire class.
Lions GM Brad Holmes, who was formerly the Rams’ director of college scouting from 2013-2020, shared a story of how Kupp stood out at the Senior Bowl in 2017, which really caught the Rams’ eye. His testing numbers weren’t the best, but he was uncoverable at the Senior Bowl and his GPS time was the fastest in Mobile.
“I’ve told the Cooper Kupp story — that’s more of cognitive bias, in terms of just every time you saw him play football, the guy was good, you liked him. But I remember we saw him at the Senior Bowl, he was the best player on the field. Nobody can cover this dude. He looked explosive. And his shuttle and all that kind of reflected that, but his 40 time was in the 4.6s. He did it at the combine and at the pro day, so the last thing in your head was that 4.6,” Holmes told Chris Burke of The Athletic.
“But, I’ll never forget, it came out that his GPS time at the Senior Bowl was the fastest. So, it’s like, “OK, now that makes sense.” But it was because he was playing football. He looked fast, he looked explosive on the football field. In tights, on that Eastern Washington track, it didn’t look fast.”
Kupp doesn’t win with his speed on the field. That’s not his forte. He gets open because he’s a precise route runner who knows how to set up defensive backs from the slot. And after the catch, he’s difficult to bring down, displaying excellent balance, vision and quickness to avoid tacklers.
As a third-round pick, Kupp has been a certified steal for the Rams. If not for injuries, he’d very likely have three consecutive 1,000-yard seasons already to go along with his 24 touchdowns in just four years.
Kupp is a perfect example of the Rams looking past drills such as the 40-yard dash to identify guys who play faster or are more explosive on the field than they do on the track.
