August ended with a bang as, in the early evening of August 31, news hit of Cooper Kupp suffering a setback in his recovery from a hamstring injury early in the month.
Rams HC Sean McVay said WR Cooper Kupp, who was not dressed out for the portion of today’s practice open to media, “got a little muscle strain.”
— Stu Jackson (@StuJRams) August 31, 2023
“Fair to say” it’s a setback for Kupp, who is currently day to day.
While our entire staff adjusts projections and rankings, our Adam Hutchison has offered this injury-related perspective and here is my instant reaction to yesterday's news.
Remember, this is just my opinion here.
I usually think of these things in terms of percentages. As of right now, I'd break it down into three categories:
1. Best-case: 30%. He misses a few weeks. But by midseason, he is putting up high-end WR1 numbers and is a Top 5 overall player when it really matters. Remember, Kupp has averaged 24.6 fantasy PPG (PPR) over the last two seasons. He's worth a late first-round pick.
2. Medium-case: 50%. He misses a month, and when he returns, is a strong WR2 but not the dominant 100-yard every-week guy he has been the last two years. He's worth a third-round pick.
3. Worst-case: 20% This is post-injury Michael Thomas, A.J. Green, Jordy Nelson, Julio Jones, etc., and Kupp is the next in a line of wide receivers to fall off a cliff almost out of nowhere.
If you balance those odds out, I think you end up with a high-risk, high-reward pick that should go right around 25th overall. I don't think there is any way, knowing what we know now, that it would make sense to take him over Garrett Wilson, Davante Adams, Jaylen Waddle, and that tier of guys.
I'd probably lean toward DeVonta Smith and Tee Higgins over Kupp too, but those are close.
I'd roll the dice on Kupp before I'd take Calvin Ridley, DK Metcalf, Keenan Allen, or Deebo Samuel.
In my overall rankings, that puts him right in the middle of this big tier:
