You can’t. But you must. At least that’s how it feels. Especially with the walking boot tweet, and watching the way the Cardinals’ front seven obliterated the Rams’ patchwork, wet-paper-bag offensive line.
Many Cooper Kupp owners expected a fully-healthy sixty minutes yesterday, with some absurd percentage of the Rams’ target share, and somewhere in the ballpark of 25.0 FPTs.
Not to be. And it likely won’t for a while. While Kupp’s walking boot situation doesn’t sound as bad as Isiah Pacheco’s, it’s never a good sign. We’ll prepare for the worst.
General note: for early season returns, we should be very concerned about the Rams’ offense now. Their Injured Reserve repository is too crowded already, but I could see Kupp sitting out a few weeks. The Rams have a Week 6 bye, and many of their injured offensive linemen, plus Nacua and maybe Kupp could come back in Week 8 healthy for a second-half surge.
Meanwhile, let’s start by taking a look at how the Rams might replace Kupp if he indeed misses time, and whether or not their depth chart options are worth rostering. Beyond that, I have one other wide receiver who I’m going to grab in leagues where I own Kupp.
This is going to be a pinch-your-nose operation, but isn’t that always the case when a beloved superstar goes down with an aggravation to a legacy injury?
Waiver wide receivers to replace Cooper Kupp
Jordan Whittington, WR, Los Angeles Rams
We know we’re choosing between former Tampa Bay Buccaneer Tyler Johnson and rookie wide receiver Jordan Whittington. He played at the University of Texas with another star wideout in Xavier Worthy.
In deeper leagues, it makes sense to add both Whittington and Johnson as a Kupp owner. We know Matt Stafford is a kingmaker with wideouts. Cooper Kupp was a WR2 at best before Stafford joined the roster in 2021. And, though fans of BYU Cougar football might have known that Puka Nacua was a greased-up off-road vehicle who could just rev YAC if given the ball, Puka Nacua largely came out of nowhere last year. Again because of Matthew Stafford.
We are encouraged that McVay seems intrigued enough by Whittington’s preseason that he’s already been involved in the running plays during regulation games. Whittington is quick, but he’s raw. All of his workout metrics grade as above average heading into the 2024 NFL Draft:
- 40-yard dash: 61st percentile
- Speed score: 67th percentile
- Burst score: 49th percentile
- Agility score: 86th percentile
- Catch radius: 69th percentile
We know the Rams drafted him in part because he was a fantastic blocker in the run game at Texas. But they’ll need Whittington to flash his receiving chops.
The Rams are going to either have to come to terms with getting decimated until their offense heals up, or they’re going to have to start manufacturing touches for the playmakers they have left.
There’s always the chance that Demarcus Robinson becomes the WR1, simply because of his veteran savvy. It might be a 50/50 split between Johnson and Whittington.
Whittington just strikes me as the bigger play guy to whom the Rams have already shown commitment re. manufacturing touches. He’s been involved on jet sweeps. And Johnson had issues with drops in Tampa. I like Whittington to emerge as Matt Stafford’s new binky, should he ever find enough time to throw the ball again.
Alec Pierce, WR, Indianapolis Colts
I’ve written about Alec Pierce a lot this year, both in my NFL Next Gen Stats column for Week 1, as well as my Week 2 Wide Receiver Streamers article (which I’ll be publishing each Friday). Here’s some of what I said:
I can’t even believe Alec Pierce is only 12% owned. We really have gotten skeptical of
big games, haven’t we? Especially from unproven quarterbacks and former WR3s.
I wrote a piece on the most impressive and potentially-material NFL Next Gen Stats earlier this week in my NFL Next Gen Stats: Highlighting key stats from Week 1. Here’s what I had to say of his 60-yard touchdown catch and 57-yard post route catch from Anthony Richardson:
Anthony Richardson 60-yard touchdown pass to Alec Pierce
Most impressive stat: 21.21 mph. That’s what Alec Pierce topped out at after the inward cut on this post route. To put it into perspective, we all thought Chiefs WR Xavier Worthy’s jet sweep speed on Thursday was game-breaking. He topped out at 18.45 mph, almost 3 mph slower than Pierce.
Tyreek Hill’s career-long 80-yard touchdown catch from Tua only saw Tyreek top out at 20.42mph.
Honorable mention: The pass traveled 65.3 yards through the air. That’s the third-longest in the NFL Next Gen Stats era. Wild.
Anthony Richardson 57-yard pass to Alec Pierce
Most impressive stat: 20.21 mph. That’s what Alec Pierce topped out at after the inward cut on this post route.
Outlook:
Richardson has found his new explosive threat. Pierce might be the ship most raised by Richardson’s rising tide. Pick him up on waivers, and monitor his receiving yards line on DraftKings Sportsbook for this Sunday.
I was so surprised Pierce went unnoticed on waivers this week that I was able to grab him myself in my hometown legacy league. I think he has a chance to be a big-play threat for your FLEX every week.
Folks seem to be concerned that the eventual return of Josh Downs is going to really impact Pierce’s value. But I just think the advanced metrics are too impressive so far this season for Richardson to all of the sudden look away from him.
On Sunday against the Packers, he had five receptions for 56 yards and a touchdown. More promising? His targets more-than doubled in Week 2 (7) from Week 1 (3).
He’s a must-add for Cooper Kupp owners, and a nimble add for anyone who needs wideout help on your roster.
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