Cooper Kupp is one of the five best route runners in the NFL. It’s what makes him a special receiver because by no means is he the biggest or fastest at his position.
He’s expanded his route tree over the years, too. Back in 2021, he showed off a new route against the Buccaneers, which Sean McVay called the “ocho.” It combined an Omaha, China and out route, with Kupp faking to the outside, breaking inside and popping back out. He completely lost the cornerback on the play and beat the Bucs for a touchdown, which had Twitter buzzing afterwards.
If you don’t remember the route, here’s another look at it because it’s worth watching again.
No WR has been more impressive through Week 3 than Cooper Kupp — currently leads the NFL in yards per route run (3.86), per @PFF. pic.twitter.com/OJhqIorqHe
— Austin Gayle (@austingayle_) September 28, 2021
During an interview with Rams Wire this week, Kupp shared the story behind the route, which stems from a practice with Jared Goff during the 2020 offseason when COVID-19 caused OTAs and minicamp to be canceled.
He and Goff noticed a cornerback jumping the China route during 7-on-7s, so Kupp had the idea of breaking outside after cutting to the inside. A year later, McVay called it against the Bucs and it worked to perfection.
“I think (McVay) might have ran that or had that in possibly with Washington, but he never taught it to us,” Kupp recalled. “Then during the COVID years where we had no OTAs, players got together, did some 7-on-7s and our defense knows all our plays, has seen all our stuff. This corner kept jumping those little China routes. So I was talking to Jared at the time and said ‘Let’s just hit ‘em. Let’s give ‘em that same look and after I come back in, I’ll pop back out and Sean ended up hearing about it and ends up getting it in. Really glad he ended up calling the play a few years ago against the Bucs. Really glad he called it.
Hunter Renfrow has gotten a lot of praise for some of the routes he’s run with the Raiders, including one that looks similar to Kupp’s above. Kupp appreciates what Renfrow has done in Vegas, but he believes Greg Olson deserves some credit, too. Olson was with the Rams in 2017 and was the Raiders’ offensive coordinator from 2018-2021 before re-joining the Rams in 2022.
“Then Renfrow got all the credit for the stuff that Greg Olson had him doing,” Kupp added. “You watch that stuff, the stuff that Renfrow was doing with the quadruple moves off the Chinas and the out-and-ups and all that stuff, it was pretty special. But kudos to Ollie for letting those guys do that because that’s some creative stuff they were doing over there.”
When asked what his favorite type of route to run is, Kupp couldn’t necessarily pick just one. He likes anything that gives him an option at the top of the route – better known as a choice route.
He’s glad McVay has given him some creative freedom with his routes, playing a part in Kupp’s development as an all-around receiver.
“Any route that gives me kind of a wide range of freedom, a little creativity,” he said. “I like being able to do that. I like plays that give me some room to be creative, I guess. Sean through the years has expanded for me some of those routes where he’s giving me creativity, so really thankful for that because it’s made it a lot of fun for me to be able to find ways to win and get to spots. It’s probably a boring answer, but I could just say a choice route. A choice route is fun, give me a couple options and let me make a decision.”
