Los Angeles Rams WR Cooper Kupp is going to land on injured reserve on Saturday, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter. This move isn’t all that surprising given the reports coming out this week. Kupp is dealing with a hamstring injury and it could be serious enough to hold him out more than the minimum four games. So now that we know Kupp is going to miss more time, what should you do if you already drafted him in fantasy football?
Panic. Just kidding.
It’s unfortunate if you drafted Kupp early in your fantasy draft this season. He appeared to be OK early in training camp before the hamstring issue popped up. He went to see a specialist and here we are with Kupp on IR. QB Matthew Stafford is healthy to start the season but the wide receiver room will be lacking with Kupp sidelined. Let’s take a look at internal options to replace Kupp.
You can’t really replace a healthy Kupp. At his peak, he was one of the best WRs in the NFL. Just looking at the depth chart, WR Van Jefferson should get the first crack at being the No. 1 WR for the Rams to start the season. Behind Jefferson, TE Tyler Higbee is going to get plenty of work. While he isn’t a WR, if you have a FLEX spot that allows TEs, Higbee isn’t a bad pickup in shallow leagues with 8-10 teams. Deeper formats it’ll be harder to find Jefferson and Higbee.
Going further down the chart, we find Tutu Atwell, Ben Skowronek and Puka Nacua. Atwell was a second-round pick back in 2021 and played most of the second half of last season. He showed some big-play ability with a 62-yard TD against the Saints in Week 10. In that Baker Mayfield comeback win over the Raiders, Atwell was targeted nine times with five catches for 50 yards. While Atwell isn’t a replacement for Kupp in terms of playing style, the opportunity could allow for him to take on more consistent targets. Atwell feels like a good waiver claim right now to ease the loss of Kupp.
We’ve covered Jefferson, Higbee and Atwell. Skowronek and Nacua are the two names remaining. As a rookie fifth-round pick out of BYU, Nacua is more of an unknown. It may be tough for him to get snaps/targets unless there’s another injury or Jefferson and Atwell struggling. Skowronek is interesting. In 14 games in 2022, Skowronek had 39 catches for 379 yards. In those games he picked up 16 first downs, so Stafford could look to Skowronek as a possession receiver. Skowronek and Kupp also have similar frames.
The other avenue you could take is exploring a trade with another manager. Look at your roster and see where you have the most depth/strength. You may need to sacrifice a top player but adding depth will be important. Kupp could be back in a month or so. He also could miss the entire season. Losing your fantasy league in Week 1 is never fun. That could be the case if you drafted Kupp in the first round. Assess things after Week 1 and try and sell high on someone who has a strong week.
