The LA Rams have been without some key contributors for multiple games this season. As a result, the team has struggled mightily to find success. At 1-4, the evidence has been rather clear. Without a healthy and dependable roster, the team will continue to lose games and squander the remaining years of veteran quarterback Matthew Stafford's career.
And nobody wants that.
So the news about LA Rams veteran WR Cooper Kupp trending in the right direction to compete in Week 7 against the Las Vegas Raiders is welcome news indeed. But let's not be too hasty about euphoria. After all, there is always a trade-off in the NFL, and therein lies the problem. Even though the team did not place Cooper Kupp on IR, the team did consistently place him on the inactive list each week while he was injured.
As Kupp suits up to play, the matter then pivots to who will be inactive on gameday in his place?
While that seems like a trivial matter, it's not exactly a whim. The team has been actively developing both veteran and rookie wide receivers in the post-Kupp/post-Puka Nacua passing offense. While not yet perfected, the team has been getting excellent production out of veteran WR Tutu Atwell and rookie WR Jordan Whittington. So the question becomes, does the offense revert to targeting Kupp exclusively once more? Or will the team learn the annual lesson that this offense needs to target more than one receiver to ensure Kupp can suit up for the entire season?
And yet, we have raising this topic once again, proving that this offense has learned nothing yet. Kupp will exhaust himself trying to contribute. It's up to the coaching staff to ensure that never happens.
Kupp appears to be ready to compete in Week 7
The matter of Cooper Kupp's injury was always considered to be a multi-week setback for the team. But the Rams roster had saturated their Injured Reserve designations by Week 2, so the team gambled on keeping Kupp on the active roster and avoiding exhausting one of the limited restorations from IR to the team's active roster.
And yet, the team will still exhaust all restorations from IR long before the team runs out of injured players.
Be that as it may, Kupp appears more and more likely to suit up for Week 7. That was confirmed by the comments of Rams HC Sean McVay:
Of course, there is that matter of coachspeak that is a term used to describe an NFL head coach saying a lot of words, but ultimately saying very little in the way of meaningful information. And yes, Rams HC Sean McVay is extremely verbose, sometimes recalling intricate details of an offensive play called years ago.
And he proves that recollection in discussing the play years later, in exact detail.
So it's important to showcase WR Cooper Kupp as well. It's not enough to say 'he's doing well,' and leave it at that. It's just as important to share and visual evidence to that effect. Thankfully, we have that to share as well. As a result, you can see that there appears to be no limits to what Kupp can do right now.
There it is. Kupp is running at full speed, making breaks without hesitation, and appearing to be everything that the LA Rams expect him to be on game day.
So what problems may arise?
Two games in five days may be too aggressive
The first area of concern is the fact that the Rams play two NFL games in five days. Of course, hosting both games at SoFi Stadium is an advantage. But, can the team truly expect Kupp to return from a high ankle sprain, and subject himself to two games in five days?
- Week 7, Oct. 20: Las Vegas Raiders | 1:05 p.m. | CBS
- Week 8, Oct. 24: Minnesota Vikings | 5:15 p.m. | (Thursday Night Football) - Amazon Prime Video |
- Week 9, Nov. 3: at Seattle Seahawks | 1:25 p.m. | FOX
- Week 10, Nov. 11: Miami Dolphins | 5:15 p.m. | ESPN
If the Rams are wise, and govern the workload for Kupp in Week 7, it's doable. But that is not something fans can count on. You see, when it comes to Kupp, the offense seems to be rather addicted to running the offense through him.
Let's be clear, the Rams targeted Cooper Kupp 27 times in just two games. After five games, only TE Colby Parkinson has more targets (32). Kupp caught 18 of those passes. After five games, only TE Colby Parkinson (19) and rookie WR Jordan Whittington have matched or exceeded that mark. After five games, veteran WR Tutu Atwell leads the team in receiving yards (281 yards) while only catching 17 passes.
My point is: Don't expect QB Matthew Stafford to keep everyone involved in this offense.
So far in 2024, Cooper Kupp has averaged nine receptions and 13.5 targets per game. Unless the offense reduces their rate of targeting Kupp, (and I don't think it happens), he will be burned out after Week 8.
The problem lies in who does the head coach and starting quarterback trust? After all, in Super Bowl LVI, the Rams offense was almost exclusively QB Matthew Stafford throwing to Cooper Kupp after Odell Beckham Jr. fell to injury. While that chemistry allowed the team to win their first Lombardi Trophy for the city of Los Angeles, California, it created a nearly-addictive reliance upon Kupp in the offense afterwards.
And Kupp's inability to stay healthy enough to play week-in and week-out has derailed the offense in the past three seasons.
What of Rams other offensive weapons?
Some would argue that having too many solid offensive weapons is a champagne problem. While that may be the case with some offenses, that is not how it shakes out for the Rams. The return of Cooper Kupp, if it happens, almost certainly places Kupp back into the main targeted WR of the offense.
That creates problems for an offense still struggling to put up points. This was supposed to be the season that the Rams offense carried the team. And yet, the team is averaging just 18.6 points per game. If you factor out the pick-six by DB Jaylen McCollough, the offense's 88 points work out to just 17.6 points per game, That is a 27th-ranked offense in 2024. The Rams offense is the most expensive offense in the NFL per OTC.com, while the defense is the cheapest. In fact, the team is spending four times more on offense than the defense.
So what is this team getting for the money? Not much.
But who or what is to blame? Well, for starters, the team is far too predictable on offense. Of nine offensive touchdowns scored this season, RB Kyren Williams accounts for seven of them. And that reliance upon one player for all of the scores, when he has not demonstrated the ability to remain healthy through a 17-game season, is concerning.
That same reliance on Cooper Kupp to drive the team's aerial assault, despite being injury-prone, is also a concerning matter. Yet the team falls into the same trap, year after year. Are there other options? Of course. And they are:
WR Tutu Atwell
I feel bad for WR Tutu Atwell. Despite a limited role in this offense throughout his career, he continues to show up and deliver at a moment's notice. And if the Rams chose to emphasize a 12-personnel package offensive game plan, Atwell is the ideal offensive weapon to make defenses pay for crowding the box with 8 defenders.
And yet, in his fourth NFL season, a guy who has hauled in 74 of 127 targets for 1062 yards and four touchdowns continues to beg for targets in this offense. That is shameful for an NFL wide receiver who averages 14.4 yards per reception. Atwell is averaging a 68 percent catch rate and 16.5 yards per reception in 2024. He may be small, but he is mighty, blocking as well as his teammates.
The offense should not reduce his targets with the return of Cooper to the active gamedary Rams roster. But if history repeats itself, that is exactly what will happen.
Tight ends: Colby Parkinson, Davis Allen, Hunter Long
I am confounded by the disconnect between the team's front office and the Rams coaching staff. The Rams adore tight ends, and we have visual proof that despite boasting tight ends Colby Parkinson, Davis Allen, and Hunter Long, the team actively pursued rookie tight end Brock Bowers in the 2024 NFL Draft.
I continue to ask, Why?
The front office loves to load up this roster with tight ends, making a compelling case for the offense to deploy two tight-end formations more frequently. But the team has only done so once, and that just so happened to be the Rams' single victory. Is it any wonder that fans and Rams blogger websites continue to emphasize two tight-end offensive plays? Why not go with what works?
And then there is that matter of TE Tyler Higbee getting healthy and returning. At that point, the team must decide whether to carry four tight ends. But this offense only plays one tight end at a time.
There is plenty of untapped offensive production in the Rams' tight end room. Second-year tight end Davis Allen has yet to catch a pass this season. TE Hunter Long has hauled in both passes thrown his way. And while Colby Parkinson is struggling under the workload so far, he may yet level up. But much like the challenges posed to the offense with Kupp's return, Tyler Higbee's return may cause the same ripple effects to the tight end room.
Rookie WR Jordan Whittington
Much like the surprising impact of rookie WR Puka Nacua in the offense last season, rookie WR Jordan Whittington has already proven to be far more talented in this offense than a late Day 3 selection should be. But with Kupp's return, will the offense continue to target Whittington at a rate to continue to feed his growth and development?
I'm afraid that may not happen.
When the team lost Kupp in the first four weeks in 2023, the team did not have any trust in veteran WR Demarcus Robinson, did not have any confidence in veteran WR Tutu Atwell, and simply promoted rookie WR Puka Nacua in a desperation move that panned out with the jackpot. The offense is not desperate enough to go all-in on Whittington in 2024.
That is not to say that Whittington does not deserve a heavy workload. He caught seven of ten passes against the Green Bay Packers in Week 5 for 89 yards, by far his most productive game of the season. And Whittington has put up 121 yards after the catch so far, a huge number that continues the tradition of successful Rams wide receivers.
The thing is, he needs targets to continue showing up big on game day. But with Cooper Kupp returning, those targets get harder and harder to come by.
Would Puka Nacua have set any rookie receiving records in 2024 if he faced the same conditions currently facing Jordan Whittington? Perhaps not. But Whittington will not showcase his full potential with the return of Kupp. And that, unfortunately, simply is the state of the offense.
RBs Blake Corum/Ronnie Rivers
I don't mean to sound like a broken record, skipping back to the same old stanza, but the LA Rams invested their 83rd overall pick in Round 3 of the 2024 NFL Draft to select Michigan RB Blake Corum. That's a pretty valuable draft pick to get just 13 carries and 53 rushing yards out of the guy in the first five games. Like many young players, how can the guy learn to handle any level of workload in the NFL with those crumbs? Let's break it down to just 2.6 carries and 10.6 yards per game.
Veteran RB Ronnie Rives is not better with just 10 carries and 51 rushing yards so far.
Kupp's return will squelch the team's interest in running the football. The offense loves to count on Kupp late in the game, and every defensive coordinator in the NFL knows it. So any hope of getting carries to the team's other running backs is about to take a plunge off a deep cliff. Unfortunately, the team needs to continue to emphasize other running backs. This offense tends to stick with the same player stubbornly, and Kyren Williams is every bit as injury prone as Cooper Kupp.
Investing in carries with other running backs not only helps to extend the durability of Williams, but it sets the offense up to succeed if the team must pivot to alternative options in case of injury. And it's brutally obvious that the offense has to establish some other running back on the team as capable of scoring in the Red Zone beside Williams.
The Rams were not forced to select Blake Corum, and to be quite honest, I was very surprised that the team chose any running back so early in the 2024 NFL Draft. And my reasons for that surprise have played out. The Rams hesitate to use rookies in this offense, particularly ones who are selected early in the draft. As a result, the team fails to leverage the inherent advantages of that inexpensive talent in the offense.
WR Demarcus Robinson
The LA Rams did not even play veteran WR Demarcus Robinson until the second half of the 2023 NFL season. But when they did, he proved to be the missing piece to make the entire offense purr like a high-performance racing engine. In fact, Robinson had a four-game streak of scoring a touchdown, something that the team needs desperately in 2024.
But Robinson proved to be a worthy and dependable receiver in 2023. This season, the veteran wide receiver has struggled to sustain his historic catch rate. Despite a 63.5 percent catch rate, Robinson is struggling in 2024 with a 52.2 percent catch rate this season. But he has one touchdown, the only score besides that of Cooper Kupp and Kyren Williams from the offense.
This offense tends to route offensive snaps and targets to the hottest WRs on the roster. Right now, I'm not sure the team views Robinson in the 'hot hand' category. So his workload may diminish with Kupp's return.
WR Tyler Johnson/Xavier Smith
The two wide receivers most likely to be impacted by the healthy return of WR Cooper Kupp are Tyler Johnson and Xavier Smith. For Smith, his streak of elevations from the team's practice squad to play on game day has likely ended. For WR Tyler Johnson, he will almost certainly take the place of Cooper Kupp on the team's weekly inactive list.
That may not seem like a big deal for fans. But Tyler Johnson has caught 10 of 15 passes for 119 yards this season, He has some potential to grow his role in this offense. That is likely over.
Likewise, Xavier Smith has proven to be very dangerous for the team in his punt returner role, averaging over 18 yards in three punt returns. But the team needs to find him a roster spot to continue to use Smith on special team's, and finding a free roster spot is highly unlikely as the team must navigate creating slots for healthy players who are returning to the active roster.
While the team may not be rebuilding this season, the team has many characteristics of a young team trying to rebuild. There is an overwhelming abundance of young saplings on this roster that could grow into huge and sturdy oak trees someday.
But the Rams have their biggest shade tree, Cooper Kupp, back. And the canopy of his share of snaps and targets will cast shade far and wide over the rest of the roster.
