Cooper Kupp has become a weekly fantasy football stud

Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Cooper Kupp may be behind Brandin Cooks on the depth chart, but he’s becoming a favorite target for star quarterback Jared Goff, meaning he’s poised to be one of this year’s breakout stars in fantasy football.

Cooper Kupp started his 2018 season on a positive note, clearing 50 receiving yards in each of the Los Angeles Rams’ first three games. He even caught two touchdown passes in those three games, showing the potential to be a red zone threat for this explosive Rams offense.

In Week 4, Kupp had his breakout performance in fantasy football, as he caught nine passes for 162 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Kupp was simply untouchable, taking advantage of a flawless, MVP-caliber performance from sophomore quarterback Jared Goff to torch an uncharacteristically burn-prone Minnesota Vikings’ defense.

While Todd Gurley and Brandin Cooks are the two most talented skill-position players on the Rams offense, Kupp has blossomed into a second-year standout. Against the rival Seattle Seahawks in Week 5, Kupp followed up his Thursday Night Football breakout by posting similarly strong numbers against an even stronger secondary.

The Seahawks defense had few answers for Kupp, who received more targets than expected due to Cooks’s possible concussion. Deep into the third quarter, Kupp paced the Rams offense with six receptions for 90 yards and yet another touchdown reception, needing just nine targets to cobble together a great fantasy performance against the Seahawks defense.

On an evening where Todd Gurley averaged under 3.0 yards per carry and no other Rams pass-catcher stood out, Kupp was the star of the show in a close game for Goff and the Rams. Goff leaned on Kupp when in trouble, as his average of over 10.0 yards per attempt through about three quarters of play was mostly due to Kupp’s excellence.

As a rookie, Kupp showed plenty of potential by converting 62 receptions into 869 yards and 5 touchdowns. A playmaker at the wide receiver position, Kupp has increased his yards per reception average from 14.0 last year to 14.5 so far this year, posting about 90 receiving yards per game with an average of one touchdown per game.

In other words, Kupp is averaging about 15 fantasy points per game in 2018, which means he’s approaching “must-start” territory as a true fantasy stud in this electrifying Rams offense.

Coming into Sunday’s game against the Seahawks, Kupp had a catch rate of 75.0% to go with his 14.5 yards per reception. Although Cooks has been even more productive than Kupp this season, that’s still excellent production from the No. 2 wide receiver. And with Cooks potentially injured, Kupp’s role with the Rams offense may increase in Week 6, giving him more opportunities to build his rapport with Goff.

Both Kupp and Goff came into the league in the same year, and that can be an early indication that a special connection will follow. Kupp’s production speaks for itself, and it takes a talented receiver to be able to shoulder the load against a secondary like Seattle’s. There have been several breakout stars in fantasy football through the first five weeks of the regular season, and Kupp needs to be mentioned as one of the biggest at the wide receiver position.