Ram Digest

Rams WR Kupp Interrupts Team's Pre-Draft Press Conference

Kupp joked with general manager Les Snead about 40 times at the combine.

Timm Hamm

The NFL Draft and evaluating players is an inexact science. Each team has its own set of rules and guidelines regarding each position, a player's performance at the combine, and where they'll take certain players at certain positions in the seven rounds. 

The Los Angeles Rams are no different. But that doesn't mean they always pay attention to their own rules.

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Cooper Kupp and Les Snead

Feb 11, 2022; Thousand Oaks, CA, USA; Los Angeles Rams receiver Cooper Kupp during press conference at Cal Lutheran University. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Cooper Kupp

Rams - GM Snead

Les Snead

One such rule is known in L.A. as the "Bobby Wagner Rule."

It dictates that the team shouldn't trade away from a player they like, even for the benefit of adding picks. The Rams lost out on Wagner in 2012 after trading away from him for extra picks, then watched him develop into a perennial Pro Bowl player in Seattle. 

Another player that applied to was receiver Cooper Kupp. In 2017 Kupp's NFL combine numbers were questionable. With a 4.62 40-yard dash, he didn't demonstrate any of the speed teams typically look for in a receiver.

Those numbers caused Kupp to slide in the draft, where the Rams picked him up in the third round, No. 69 overall. Kupp has never forgotten that, or let the Rams forget it either.

On Tuesday, during general manager Les Snead's pre-draft visit with the media, Kupp crashed the call and asked Snead about 40-yard dash times and the draft.

“Hey Les, can you address how you value the 40-yard dash going through the draft process?” Kupp jokingly asked.

“You know what, some players prove the 40-yard dash wrong and then some players, we don’t listen to our own Bobby Wagner Rule and we wait till the third round because they run slower 40s instead of picking them a little earlier,” Snead replied.

Feb 16, 2022; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Rams general manager Les Snead speaks during Super Bowl LVI championship rally at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Les Snead

Feb 13, 2022; Inglewood, CA, USA; Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Cooper Kupp celebrates after defeating the Cincinnati Bengals in Super Bowl LVI at SoFi Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Cooper Kupp

Feb 25, 2020; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; Los Angeles Rams general manager Les Snead speaks to the media during the 2020 NFL Combine in the Indianapolis Convention Center. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports

Les Snead

Kupp: “I respect it. I respect that process.”

Snead admitted the Rams should've listened to their own Bobby Wagner Rule and selected Kupp earlier since they liked him as a player regardless of his combine times. Luckily for Snead and the Rams, Kupp was still there in the third round.

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Timm Hamm
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