NFL 2019: Midseason Awards

Comeback Player of the Year – Cooper Kupp

Cooper Kupp

I always thought that the criteria for this award is kind of vague, since you have guys winning it coming off an injury, others who just had a few years of underperforming and then even some guys who were just out of the league for a while.

For me, I ended up with two guys who got hurt last year and two who just had a bad 2018 season, but have turned it around so far. One of those injured players from a year ago is Jimmy Garoppolo. With the 49ers being one of only two undefeated teams left and the offense averaging just under 30 point a game, he deserves to be mentioned here, even if the QB has been more above-average after his ACL tear.

The two guys I think have taken their game to a completely new level compared to last season are Leonard Fournette and Matthew Stafford. The Jags RB simply didn’t look as fast or physical as he did coming out of LSU and during his rookie campaign before missing some time, but he is now second in the league in rushing yards with a league-leading four runs of 40+ yards and being just one catch short of his rookie total in receptions.

Matt Stafford on the other hand was in a situation where for the first time in his career the offense wasn’t about him lining up in shotgun 40 times a game and being asked to pull off late-game heroics. Now he has adjusted to playing more on schedule and converting third downs, while still showing the ability to take over when needed.

The guy I ultimately went with is third-year receiver Cooper Kupp however. While the Rams certainly were not the same team at the end of the last year without a fully healthy Todd Gurley, I thought the loss of Kupp to the ACL injury was also a huge deal, since he got them a lot of cheap yardage and was the go-to guy on third down for them. This year he has come back even better and he has been on an absolute tear so far.

Right now he ranks second in the league with 792 receiving yards and leads all players with 15 catches of 20+ yards. He is also tied for fifth among receivers with 32 first downs gained and has reached the end-zone five times. We saw what he can really do last week in London, when he destroyed the Bengals on seven catches for 220 yards in only two-and-a-half quarters. I always loved this guy since I first watched his tape at Eastern Washington and he has turned into one of the toughest guards in the league.

As the offense continues to revolve more around the pass, you can tell that he is clearly the WR1 on an offense that also features Brandin Cooks and Robert Woods, who have gotten way more of the praise up until this point.

The next three: Leonard Fournette, Jimmy Garoppolo and Matthew Stafford