At this point, Cooper Kupp's breakout season is well chronicled. The Rams' wide receiver led the NFL in receptions (145), yards (1,947) and touchdowns (16) as the focal point of one of the NFL's top offenses.
But the gaudy receiving numbers are nothing new for Kupp, even if they took time to accrue.
Kupp had been productive in years' past — he had nearly 1,200 receiving yards in 2019 and was the team's leading receiver in 2020. So perhaps Kupp was due for a breakout this year, though, the addition of Matthew Stafford at quarterback as well as the lack of a running game probably helped contribute to Kupp's success and usage.
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He had a standout career at FCS school Eastern Washington and set numerous records and took home plenty of hardware too, becoming one in a long line of players who didn't play at a Power 5 school and made to the NFL, where they excelled.
A third round pick in 2017, Sporting News looks at how Kupp went from small college to the big stage and excelled at both.
Where did Cooper Kupp go to college?
Kupp was born and raised in Washington and put up impressive high school numbers but didn't get any offers of any type until three weeks after his senior season. Eastern Washington, where Kupp wound up, presented him with his first offer, while fellow Big Sky opponent Idaho State offered Kupp as well.
Though Kupp didn't go to an FBS school, he did pick one of the top FCS schools to attend — especially as a wide receiver. Eastern Washington is perhaps most known for its bright red field which was installed in 2010 and is dubbed "The Inferno."
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The Eagles are also known for their offensive prowess — prior to Kupp's arrival, the program crowned two Walter Payton Award winners, given annually to the best offensive player at the FCS level, and both were quarterbacks.
During Kupp's stint in Yakima, the Eagles made the FCS playoffs in three out of four seasons and advanced to the FCS semifinals his final year in 2016. The Eagles also ranked fourth, third, eighth and second in the FCS in total offense during his four years with the team.
Cooper Kupp college records
Kupp wasn't just good at Eastern Washington — he was record setting. He finished his career with 428 catches for 6,464 yards and 73 touchdowns and all three of those figures are records in one way or another.
The biggest and most impressive record is his career receiving yards record. Those 6,464 yards are the most in the history of college football across any division and he averaged 125.7 yards per game over his career as a result.
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The rest of Kupp's records are a fraction of his receiving yards record, speaking to just how good he was. With college football on the whole represented, Kupp holds FCS, Big Sky and school records too, just to cover his bases as well.
At the FCS level, he's the all-time leader in receptions, yards and yards per game and scored more than a touchdown a game and of the 52 games he played, he had 100-plus receiving yards 31 times. He's EWU's all-time leader in all-purpose yards and the Big Sky's all-time leader in total touchdowns and single-season catches.
Kupp also won the Walter Payton Award, given annually to the best FCS offensive player in the country. It's notable as he's just the second wide receiver to ever win the award and the third of four Eastern Washington players, the most of any school.
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Despite such a prolific college career, Kupp fell to the third round of the 2017 NFL Draft. He was drafted 69th overall, sixth out of the 32 receivers taken that year.
He was drafted behind Corey Davis, Mike Williams, John Ross, Zay Jones, Curtis Saauel and JuJu Smith-Schuster, with Smith-Schuster being the only Pro-Bowler and Williams being the only other 1,000-yard receiver taken ahead of Kupp.