Cooper Kupp knows pre-snap motion isn’t just window dressing. For him, it’s a tool - and if there’s no payoff attached, it’s not worth doing.
That was the message Kupp delivered during a training camp conversation with ESPN’s Mina Kimes, as the Seahawks continue leaning into more motion before the snap. His point was blunt: movement only matters if it gives the offense something back.
“I think the whole point of it is you don’t motion, you don’t do all this stuff just because people say you should do it,” Kupp said. “There’s gotta be a purpose behind it, there’s gotta be something you’re gaining out of it and I think that’s something that we’re learning right now, where are the places, we’re gaining intel, we’re giving ourself leverage.
There’s no point going out there and moving around and having guys running around before the snap just to run around. But I think we’ve done a great job of it.”
That answer fits the player. Kupp spent years with the Los Angeles Rams turning little pre-snap details into a major edge, and in 2021 he put together one of the most dominant receiving seasons in league history: 145 catches, 1,947 yards and 16 touchdowns. That run earned him Offensive Player of the Year and Super Bowl LVI MVP.
The reason motion matters is pretty simple once the ball is about to be snapped. It can force a defense to tip its hand.
If a defender travels with the receiver, that usually points to man coverage. If the defense holds its shape, zone is the likelier answer.
That kind of information gives the quarterback a cleaner picture before the play even starts.
It also helps the receiver. Coming into a route with momentum can soften the challenge of a press look and give a wideout a better shot at separation. For Kupp, now 33 and entering his tenth NFL season, those details still matter.
He’s working through all of that in Seattle under head coach Mike Macdonald and new offensive coordinator Brian Fleury, and the camp chatter suggests the Seahawks are being careful about when they use motion and why. The goal isn’t to make the formation dance. It’s to create an edge.
Seattle has plenty to build around as it tries to defend a championship. Kupp signed with the Seahawks ahead of the 2025 season after his release from the Rams, and the team went 14-3 before rolling past the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LX.
That win gave Kupp his second championship in four seasons. In his first year with Seattle, he caught 47 passes for 593 yards and two touchdowns, operating as the second option behind Jaxon Smith-Njigba.
Now the Seahawks are aiming to become the first NFC team to repeat as Super Bowl champions since the 1993 Dallas Cowboys. They’ll open that title defense at home against the Patriots on September 9, a rematch of the Super Bowl.
Kupp has also been encouraged by what he’s seeing from the rest of Seattle’s receivers. In a separate interview with NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, he said the team has “unbelievable football players” in the room and added that several young players are “playing some really good football right now.” Eleven receivers currently make up that group.
That kind of depth matters if the offense wants to keep using motion the right way. The more players who can sell it cleanly and then execute after the snap, the harder it gets for defenses to zero in on one matchup. Kupp has seen that movie before.
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