Does Cooper Kupp Belong in the MVP Conversation?
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With a few weeks left in the NFL season, MVP talks ramp up. While quarterbacks like Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady typically receive the bulk of the MVP hype, there are often other valuable players that deserve plenty of recognition as well. One of those players who’s having a historic season is none other than Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Cooper Kupp.
Kupp is challenging Michael Thomas’ receptions record, Calvin Johnson’s yards record and multiple franchise records held by Rams legend Isaac Bruce. After years of trying to prove his worth to the Rams and the NFL, Kupp has stormed onto the scene with what has the potential to be a historic season.
But, in order to show how Kupp lines up in a case for the NFL’s Most Valuable Player, we first have to define what “Most Valuable” means.
Normally, “Most Valuable” for the NFL MVP award means the quarterback with the best record and the best stats. This season, that is probably either Brady or Rodgers. The last non-quarterback to win the MVP award was Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson after his monster 2012 season. Since the award was created in 1957, it has been awarded to a wide receiver zero times, a kicker once, and a defensive player only twice. Essentially, since Lawrence Taylor won the award in 1986, if you aren’t a quarterback, you have to have a historic season as a running back to win the award.
Ok, that’s the history of the award and what the NFL deems as “Most Valuable” but what should the award mean? Well, ideally looking at value should be something we can measure. In baseball, you have Wins Above Replacement, or WAR, which measures a player's worth above a replacement-level player at their position. In basketball, you have the Player Efficiency Rating, or PER, which measures how efficient a player is on every single play throughout a game.
While NFL quarterbacks have QBR or passer rating, any player at any other position can only measure up to the stats from their predecessors. That is why, since the creation of the NFL MVP Award in 1957, the only non-quarterbacks who've won the award are players who set records at their respective position, posting historic numbers.
What Kupp has done has been so important for the Rams this season. With Matthew Stafford joining the team and learning an entirely different offense than he ran for 11 years in Detroit, Kupp had to be the guy. Not only has Stafford and Kupp developed an incredible on and off-the-field relationship, but the work ethic those two have shown has been imperative to the Rams' success through the first 14 weeks.
Without Robert Woods on the field this season and with DeSean Jackson released midway through the year, Kupp has been the main target more than ever. Targeted 154 times through 13 games, Kupp has proven that he can be the most valuable person on the Rams. Is he the most valuable player in the entire NFL? That remains to be seen. But, with Kupp on record watch for the remainder of 2021, just know that an MVP could be right around the corner.
Kupp leads the NFL in receptions, yards and touchdowns among all wide receivers.
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