Who Should I Start? Cooper Kupp or Tetairoa McMillan

Wednesday, May 28, 10:14 PM

The Athletic's Michael-Shawn Dugar writes that new Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Cooper Kupp could work underneath in the middle of the field in his first year with the team, with Jaxon Smith-Njigba serving as the big-play threat deeper down the field. Kupp and Smith-Njigba have overlapping skill sets, and general manager John Schneider said the use of tight splits will make the two wideouts hard to defend. Seattle could align JSN more out wide as opposed to in the slot, where he spent 77.4% of his snaps last season. Smith-Njigba led all receivers in yards (956) and catches (79) from the slot in a breakout campaign. It will be interesting to see how offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak uses both Kupp and Smith-Njigba in 2025. Kupp is on the wrong side of 30 and has missed five or more games three seasons in a row due to injuries. JSN has the higher ceiling, and we can't count on a ton of volume from Kupp at this point in his career.

Monday, June 2, 12:22 PM

Rams Wire's Cameron DaSilva reports that the Los Angeles Rams tried to trade up in the first round of April's NFL draft to take wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan, who ultimately was taken by the Carolina Panthers at No. 8 overall. A trade never materialized for the Rams, and they ended up trading back to No. 46 overall and out of the first round entirely. DaSilva writes that the Panthers entertained offers for the pick for teams looking at McMillan, but they were never serious about giving up the pick unless they received a king's ransom. L.A. likely would have had to give up their No. 26 pick, a future first-rounder and likely one of their third-round picks. Instead, the Rams acquired a 2026 first-rounder in their trade back with Atlanta. The Rams only took one receiver in the draft, Konata Mumpfield, in the seventh round out of Akron.