In today’s NFL, wide receiver is a young man’s game.
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Last season, each of the league’s top 14 wideouts in terms of receiving yardage were younger than age 30. The top 11 were between ages 21 and 26. And of the 22 receivers who reached the 1,000-yard mark last year, just three were age 30 or older.
For the Seattle Seahawks, that begs the question: How much does 32-year-old Cooper Kupp have left in the tank?
Kupp, who signed a three-year deal with the Seattle in March, had a standout eight-year run with the Los Angeles Rams. The Yakima native racked up 7,776 receiving yards and 57 touchdown catches over that span – including an astounding 1,947-yard season in 2021, when he finished with the second-most receiving yards in a single season in NFL history.
But since that historic 2021 campaign, injuries have limited Kupp to just 33 of 51 games over the past three seasons. And while Kupp averaged a spectacular 90.2 receiving yards per game in 2022, his per-game average plummeted to just 61.4 yards in 2023 and 59.2 in 2024 – which were two of the three lowest averages of his career.
So, what are reasonable expectations for Kupp as he enters his ninth NFL season? FOX Sports NFC West reporter Eric Williams was posed that question Monday on Seattle Sports’ Bump and Stacy.
“Cooper can still play,” Williams said. “He still has gas left in the tank. He can still get it done in terms of creating separation in the middle of the field. I just think it depends on how you use him in an offense. And I think the Seahawks are built in terms of the way they’re gonna run that offense – a run-based approach – that’s gonna use him most effectively.
“He’s obviously not a guy that’s gonna be running a lot of go routes as an ‘X’ receiver. But he’s still a guy that can get open in compacted space on third down and in the red zone. … The key for Cooper is staying healthy.”
Listen to the full conversation with FOX Sports’ Eric Williams at this link or in the audio player at the bottom of this story. Tune in to Bump and Stacy weekdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. or find the podcast on the Seattle Sports app.
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