When the Seahawks traded for Cooper Kupp last offseason, they knew exactly what they were getting on one side of the ledger: a veteran receiver with injury baggage and a passing-game résumé that had already peaked in Los Angeles. What they may not have fully appreciated was how much value he’d bring in the places fans don’t usually look.
That’s the part Seahawks wide receivers coach Frisman Jackson has seen up close. Kupp’s impact wasn’t just tied to catches, yards, or where he lined up on the depth chart. It showed up in the run game, where his approach to blocking forced Jackson to rethink how he teaches the position.
“Before I had Coop, when I talked about the run game, it was very limited, because most wideouts say, ‘Give me my rule, who I’m supposed to block, and that’s the end of it,’" Jackson said. "With Coop, I’ve really had to be locked in.
He’s going to ask me, what’s the Mike point, what’s the call that the O-line is going to and how it affects his block. He really changed my coaching style and philosophy and how I teach the run game to the guys.”
That kind of detail matters. Wide receivers are usually judged by what they do with the ball in their hands, not by the work they do setting up a run or helping spring a play.
Kupp, though, arrived with a different mindset. If the ball isn’t coming his way, he’s thinking about how to make the rest of the offense better.
The numbers back up Jackson’s point. According to NFL Pro, Seattle’s yards per carry jumped from 3.2 to 4.6 with Kupp on the field last season, a 44 percent increase.
The Seahawks also went from 0.3 yards before contact to 1.3, a 333 percent rise. And when Kupp was out there as a blocker, Seattle’s explosive run rate climbed from 8.2% to 11.9%.
That’s a pretty clear sign that his value went well beyond the stat sheet. Even with a drop in production compared to his Rams peak, Kupp still ended up as the most valuable starting receiver in the NFL among players who didn’t reach 80 targets.
Kupp’s career has always been a strange mix of “elite” and “not quite the best,” even though his peak was historic. He won the receiving Triple Crown, took home Offensive Player of the Year, and earned MVP honors in the Rams’ 2021 Super Bowl win. Now he has a second Super Bowl on his résumé, which only strengthens the Hall of Fame case.
And in Seattle’s playoff run, his role still mattered. He was a focal point in the Super Bowl run, came up with clutch catches to help seal the win, and finished as the leading wide receiver in the final game. For a player whose first season in Seattle didn’t produce the kind of numbers he once posted in Los Angeles, that’s a reminder of the bigger picture: Kupp’s worth has never been limited to the box score.
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