The importance of Cooper Kupp’s return in 2019 cannot be overstated. He was Jared Goff’s favorite receiver last season before injuring his knee twice, the second of which was a torn ACL. Kupp is extremely valuable to the offense, and it showed in Goff’s regressed numbers after the second-year wideout went down.
Their chemistry is already off the charts, consistently connecting week in and week out. Kupp’s hands were much-improved in 2018 after dealing with some drops as a rookie, showing he’s already making great progress.
Goff regularly delivers accurate passes to Kupp, too, which makes their pairing deadly against opposing defenses. Of all the active quarterback-wide receiver pairings, Goff and Kupp are No. 1 in catchable target percentage, according to Pro Football Focus.
It’s a testament to how often they’re on the same page because Goff is regularly throwing accurate, catchable passes in Kupp’s direction. There are hardly ever any mix-ups or miscommunications, with Goff having a great sense of where Kupp will be at any moment.
Since Kupp entered the league in 2017, he has done nothing but be the go-to slot receiver for Los Angeles as the Rams’ quarterback has had a 127.0 passer rating, 11 touchdowns and just two interceptions when targeting the young receiver with catchable passes. Although, they’re not the longest-tenured couple – Kupp’s 84.9 catchable pass percentage leads all qualifying duos
Kupp saw 50 targets in just eight games last year as a consequence of his season being cut short due to an ACL injury. The excitement is mounting for the Rams receiver’s return, and his name has even been circulating in Comeback Player of the Year discussions as we approach NFL Training Camp. Undoubtedly a challenge, although, that award may not be out of reach for Kupp. In one-and-a-half seasons Goff has targeted Kupp 139 times resulting in 118 catchable passes. If the L.A. duo continues at this rate, they could be one of the most in-sync duos in the entire league.
There is endless potential between Kupp and Goff as long as both stay healthy and remain with the Rams for the foreseeable future. It’s also worth noting that the duo of Brandin Cooks and Goff was ranked seventh on PFF’s list, making the Rams the only team with two pairings among the top 10.
The catchable target percentage of Cooks and Goff is 79.1, slightly ahead of Andy Dalton and Tyler Boyd and only 0.4 percent behind JuJu Smith-Schuster and Ben Roethlisberger.
