Kupp in Los Angeles

An unknown wideout from Eastern Washington built a career from a humble start (11.9 FPts/G) as a rookie to winning the receiving “Triple Crown” in 2021 (145-1947-16). Unfortunately, since that point, he hasn’t been able to play a full schedule, hasn’t cracked 1,000 yards or seven touchdowns in any season. He missed eight, five and five games from 2022-2024, respectively. With the Rams still a Super Bowl contending team in their eyes (they gave the Eagles the most trouble in the playoffs), management obviously is determined to improve the wide receiver spot across from budding star Puka Nacua. So, the Rams quickly jumped on free agent Davante Adams (who has cracked 1,000 for the past five seasons). The move left Kupp looking for a place to land and he chose to go back to his roots in the Pacific Northwest.

Kupp in Seattle

A year ago, this move would have been unthinkable. The Seahawks had three quality receivers; DK Metcalf, Tyler Lockett and the youngest of the group Jaxon Smith-Njigba. In a very active off-season, Seattle let Lockett become a free agent and traded Metcalf to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Smith-Njigba, who led the team with 137 targets, 100 receptions, 1,130 yards and six touchdowns will need replacement help.

Hence, in rides Kupp to save the day? It’s a bit more complex than that. The Seahawks also have a new OC (Klint Kubiak) and a new starting quarterback (Sam Darnold) after the team traded Geno Smith to the Raiders. Darnold is coming off a career-best season (4,319 passing yards, 35 TDs, 12 INTs), but finished the season in such a disappointing fashion that the Vikings decided to let him become a free agent and likely go with unproven J.J. McCarthy (knee).

In Minnesota, Darnold was good enough to support two top-25 receivers (Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison) so he shouldn’t have a problem keeping JSN and Kupp viable fantasy options. Kubiak, son of Gary Kubiak, saw his first year as an OC in New Orleans last season hamstrung by losing his starting QB, Derek Carr, for seven games, best receiver, Chris Olave, for nine games and second-best receiver Rashid Shaheed) for 11 games.

Conclusion:

There are a lot of unknown factors in Seattle for this upcoming season. New OC, new QB and new No.2 receiver. But we do know that his quarterback ranked 10th in fantasy last season (much higher than Matthew Stafford) and should still be viable. We also know that Kupp, when healthy, is still fantasy-worthy. He ranked 23rd last season averaging 14.6 FPts/G. In Seattle, the No.1 receiver isn’t as dominant as Nacua was in Los Angeles, so barring the Seahawks drafting an early-round receiver, Kupp should slightly improve on his previous average. Figure his to average 16 FPts/G (up 10%), which would rank him around 15th overall… for as many games as he plays. If healthy all season, that’s about equivalent to the Eagles’ DeVonta Smith.