Video: Justin Jefferson and the “Cooper Kupp role”

A great deal has been made of Justin Jefferson taking over the “Cooper Kupp role” in the Minnesota Vikings’ offense now that Kupp’s former offensive coordinator, Kevin O’Connell, is running the show for the purple. But what exactly is the “Cooper Kupp role” besides catching a boatload of passes for a ton of yards?

Well, one of our favorite film guys has taken some time out to explain exactly what it means for Jefferson and what it could mean for the Vikings’ offense.

Brett Kollmann has broken down exactly what Kupp provides to make the Rams’ offense as versatile and explosive as it is. He also illustrates why the Vikings are quite happy that they’ll be able to plug Jefferson into that role, as he’s one of the few wide receivers in the NFL that has the versatility to match Kupp’s and play multiple roles in the new offense.

Much of what Kollman highlights has to do with personnel packages. Last year, per Kollman’s citation of offensive formations, the Rams ran 86% of their plays out of “11” personnel last season (three wide receivers, one running back, and one tight end). They’re able to do this and still run the ball effectively because of Kupp’s ability as a blocker, essentially allowing the Rams to use him almost as a tight end and take advantage of defenses favoring one side of a formation or the other pre-snap. Brett does a much better job of explaining this during the video, so it’s definitely something to watch.

Also, Justin Jefferson is a killer in the run game. I thought he was pretty good, but he’s even better than I realized, I think.

Thanks to Brett Kollmann for putting this video together. He’s done a lot of great work in the past, both Vikings-related and otherwise, and if you haven’t subscribed to him on YouTube he’s definitely worth checking out. Also, he says in the video that he can’t watch the Vikings without drinking because “it hurts,” so maybe he’s really one of us after all.