Cooper Kupp Confident Lightning Strikes Twice With Sam Darnold, Seahawks
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Changing colors to blue and green, Sam Darnold and Cooper Kupp hope to build a strong connection in the Pacific Northwest as new cornerstones for the Seahawks’ offense. [/caption]
RENTON, Wash. - Building a rapport with a new quarterback can be a long, drawn out process for an NFL receiver, especially for one such as Cooper Kupp, who had spent each of his first four seasons with the Los Angeles Rams snagging passes exclusively from Jared Goff.
But in the case of Kupp, the prevailing narrative that chemistry development takes time for quarterbacks and receivers was flipped on its head. Though they had never previously played together, the two veterans instantly hit it off, leading to a historical storybook season for Kupp. Aside from achieving the rare feat of clinching the triple crown by leading the league in receptions, receiving yards, and touchdowns, he captured Super Bowl MVP honors as the Rams downed the Bengals to win their second Lombardi Trophy in franchise history.
Now transitioning into the next stage of his career after signing with the Seahawks on March 18, Kupp recalled the instantly natural fit with Stafford during his introductory press conference, crediting his upbringing learning the game from a quarterback’s perspective under the tutelage of his father Craig - who briefly played in the NFL with the Cardinals - for easing the transition process with a new signal caller.
“Honestly, it was very fast, and I think part of that, one was Matthew [Stafford], when he was in Detroit, I think he had like five offensive coordinators in his time there. So he had seen all these different ways of running an offense. Then coming into OTAs I don't know, it just clicked. It just clicked.”
After eight seasons in Los Angeles, including the past four with Stafford, Kupp will once again have to acclimate to playing with a new quarterback in his homecoming to the Pacific Northwest, as Seattle shuffled the deck under center by trading three-year starter Geno Smith to Las Vegas before signing Pro Bowl gunslinger Sam Darnold to a multi-year contract as his successor.
Having starred at FCS program Eastern Washington, Kupp has only crossed paths with Darnold previously when the Rams played against him, including in January when they beat the Vikings in the wild card round, but the two players were in college around the same time period. The veteran wideout, who joked that his original dream was to be a running back at USC following in the footsteps of Reggie Bush before quickly realizing that vision was a pipe dream, frequently watched the Trojans with Darnold orchestrating one of college football’s most explosive offenses.
Selected third overall by the Jets in the 2018 NFL Draft, Darnold stumbled out of the gate under the weight of massive expectations, throwing 45 touchdowns and 39 interceptions in three seasons with the franchise before being traded to the Panthers. Two subpar seasons in Carolina later, he found a lukewarm market for his services as a free agent, ultimately signing as a backup to Brock Purdy in San Francisco, where he benefited from working with then-pass game coordinator Klint Kubiak, gaining a new outlook on how to play the quarterback position that set him up for success when opportunity knocked last season.
When first-round pick J.J. McCarthy went down with a season-ending knee injury during the preseason, Darnold was thrust back into a starting spot for the first time in two years, and he couldn’t have written a better comeback story. Thriving with weapons around him such as All-Pro receiver Justin Jefferson, he tossed a career-high 35 touchdown passes while leading the Vikings to a 14-3 record, outperforming all expectations individually and as a team.
“I had watched him quite a bit when he was at USC competing there. Watched him early in his career, and I thought, man, in terms of thrower of the football, he makes some incredible throws,” Kupp explained. “Went through some things -- he's been through some difficult circumstances, but his confidence, his ability to maneuver those things and be able to come back and have the year that he did last year when in this league it's a hard thing to do.”
While Stafford enjoyed far greater success early in his career with the Lions than Darnold did bouncing around with multiple franchises, as Kupp noted, he likewise dealt with constant turnover learning new offenses under a plethora of different offensive coordinators. The same can be said for Darnold, who not only had multiple coordinators in New York in his first three seasons, but also had to internalize new schemes in stops in Carolina, San Francisco, and most recently Minnesota playing for offensive guru Kevin O’Connell.
Even if his path to Seattle stands out as a 180 degree contrast to Stafford’s journey to Los Angeles, Kupp saw the same confidence from Darnold on the opposite sideline in a pair of games against Minnesota last season. Admiring all he has overcome to turn his career around to become a Pro Bowler after a challenging start, Kupp thinks finally landing in the “right system” proved to be the game changer for the journeyman quarterback, and he’s been set for future success helming a new-look offense reuniting with Kubiak as the offensive coordinator with the Seahawks.
Further helping the situation, leaning on his quarterback-driven mindset in how he sees the game, Kupp has no doubts his presence will make adjusting to new surroundings a heck of a lot simpler for Darnold just as he did with Stafford with sights on pushing for a championship in his home state.
“It's not about what other people think about you, it's who you believe that you are, and him being able to come out and compete like he did last year, I think that speaks a lot to the person. I'm really excited about obviously a great football player and just seeing how he works, how he goes about his business, and I've heard all the great things, and excited to build this thing with him.”
