THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford was asked how he and wide receiver Cooper Kupp could possibly top their success from last season.
Stafford joked, “You can’t sit there and go, ‘Well, the only thing to do now is go for 2,500 yards and I’ll throw for 7,000. That’s unrealistic.”
But offensive coordinator Liam Coen knows one of the Rams’ offseason moves could not only make this offense more dangerous, but help Kupp as well. While Kupp and now-Rams wide receiver Allen Robinson II have been utilized differently in their careers, both receivers are so versatile, Coen said, the Rams can use variations of formations to move both around to different spots and create favorable matchups.
“Getting Cooper [Kupp] on a nickel, getting Allen [Robinson] on a backer and then switching those guys,” Coen said. “And vice versa. We think it will be difficult to defend and it was obviously difficult to defend [Kupp] over the last few years and having the kind of guys that we had. But given that diversity that Allen brings to us, I definitely think that it will present some challenges to the defense.”
Coen said Robinson’s route tree is “extremely expanded from probably years ago, or maybe what we’ve had our other receivers do.”
“I mean, he can run a lot of routes that Cooper can, you know — some of those option routes and choice routes and things that we asked Cooper to do — because he just has an unbelievable ability to play underneath himself,” Coen said.
Kupp had one of the best seasons a wide receiver in history — winning the receiving “triple crown” with 145 receptions for 1,947 yards and 16 touchdowns — and did so running 58% of his routes out of the slot, with Robert Woods or Odell Beckham Jr. playing opposite Van Jefferson on the outside. Still, Kupp was able to…
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