Cooper Kupp Placed on Injured Reserve; Fantasy Football Players Start to Panic

The Rams put superstar wide receiver Cooper Kupp, who was a first-round selection in the majority of fantasy football leagues, on Injured Reserve.

Los Angeles' star wide receiver, Cooper Kupp , was placed on Injured Reserve the Saturday before their Week 1 game against Seattle. It's a major blow to the Rams, who are underdogs on the road against the Seahawks, and to fantasy managers who spent a first-round pick on the 2021 Triple Crown winner. 

Landing on I.R. will force Kupp to miss the first four games of the season. The Rams' opponents during that stretch include Seattle, 49ers, Bengals and Colts.

Kupp suffered a setback to a hamstring injury he’s been dealing with since early August and saw a specialist in Minnesota earlier this week. He led Los Angeles in receiving in 2022 with 812 in just nine games before his season was cut short by an ankle injury. The year before he nearly broke the single-season receiving record with 1,947 yards and led all players in fantasy points.

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His average draft position has plummeted to WR7 (13th overall) but he was coming off the board in the middle of the first round for much of the summer. 

Kupp’s absence hurts Matthew Stafford’s fantasy viability but it raises the ceiling for receiver Van Jefferson (Michael Fabiano’s WR40 for Week 1) and tight end Tyler Higbee (Fabiano’s TE7 and Start of the Week).

Fantasy Football players took to twitter X to express their frustration with drafting Kupp.

When you draft Cooper Kupp in the first round and hear he may go on IR pic.twitter.com/4MlqXGaVot

— Bill Enright (@BillEnright) September 6, 2023

Hopefully no one or any electronics were injured or broken after hearing the Kupp injury news. 

Prayers to everyone that drafted Cooper Kupp in the 1st rd

— Wo 🧘🏾‍♂️ (@_JustinWomack) September 6, 2023

One fantasy player even offered prayers to people with the Rams receiver on their squad.

One fantasy football player used the popular Spider Man meme to showcase the debate between fantasy players with Jonathan Taylor, Travis Kelce and Cooper Kupp all of whom have either been ruled out for Week 1 or are in danger of missing at least the first game.

My opponent in fantasy this week has cooper kupp pic.twitter.com/9tFcJqTJV8

— Brennon Montgomery (@brenmontgomery) September 6, 2023

Some fantasy players even celebrated when seeing their opponent had Cooper Kupp on their squad.

Avoided Cooper Kupp in all 3 leagues pic.twitter.com/1SSypLL7lH

— Stew (@DStew_7) September 6, 2023

If you avoided drafting the Rams superstar in fantasy, congratulations. This user is very proud for not having Kupp on any of their three teams.

If you do have Kupp on your team, check out some of the options to pick up off the waiver wire.