If you are a fantasy football manager with WR Cooper Kupp on your roster, this year has been a roller coaster — and that has never been a term used to describe the star. We all remember his triple crown-winning year in 2021 when he finished as the WR1 with almost 2000 yards receiving and 16 TDs. After a down year in 2022 punctuated with injury, we were ready to see the same old Kupp this year.
Hopes were initially dashed when Kupp went down to a hamstring injury in the preseason. He seemed to recover but reaggravated it soon after, and the Rams put him on IR to start the season. He missed the requisite four games, returning in Week 5 against the Philadelphia Eagles, and finished that week as the overall WR12.
But it wasn’t as easy as slipping right back into the lineup. While he was away, rookie WR Puka Nacua did play and began what is looking to be one of the best rookie seasons ever put together at the position. Even with finishing Week 6 as WR61, Nacua is still the overall WR4, begging the question of whether the Rams have started to move on for the over-30-year-old Kupp.
When questions surround a player and their future usage, especially a player the caliber of Kupp, it’s a great time to ask the question: Should you buy or sell the Rams WR?
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Should You Trade Cooper Kupp in Fantasy Football?
When Kupp returned in Week 5, we all thought Puka Nacua would disappear. However, the two coexist together quite nicely.
In the three games they have played together, each player has enjoyed two top-12 weeks. It’s reminiscent of the 2019 season in Los Angeles when Kupp and Robert Woods were both top-20 fantasy WRs.
So what do you do with Kupp, who’s coming off a down game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, moving forward? You don’t bail on a talent like Kupp that quickly.
With two fantastic options on the field together, there will be games where they flip-flop fantasy finishes, but the overall targets are what you should be looking at. In the three games that the two WRs have played together, Nacua has 30 targets total, and Kupp has 28.
If a manager in your league has gotten the yips about Kupp and is looking to unload, go after him immediately and try to trade for him.
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The new hotness is excellent, and to be clear, I believe Nacua does have that “it” factor and will be relevant in fantasy for a long time. But the combination of talent, experience, and breakfasts shared with QB Matthew Stafford scream dependability.
With the San Francisco 49ers losing on Monday night, all of a sudden, the NFC West is a little more up in the air, and you never count out Sean McVay to compete. As long as Stafford stays healthy, the offense will continue to move, sending fantasy goodness the way of Kupp.
In PFN’s Week 8 consensus rankings, Kupp is the WR3, and Nacua is the WR11.