National Football League

Peter Schrager's Cheat Sheet: Is the Rams' Cooper Kupp the NFL's best WR?

Updated Sep. 26, 2021 11:23 a.m. ET

By Peter Schrager
FOX Sports NFL Analyst

Welcome to the Week 3 edition of the Schrager Cheat Sheet.

Each week, I’ll take a look at several things you need to know heading into the NFL weekend. This week, we’re loaded with nuggets on the Rams, Chargers, Cardinals and more.

Let’s get to it.

Is this Tom Brady's first football game in LA? ' Peter Schrager's Cheat Sheet

Is this Tom Brady's first game in L.A.? Is Cooper Kupp the NFL's best receiver? Find out in Peter Schrager's Week 3 "Cheat Sheet!"

1. The NFL's best receiver? This might surprise you.

Here's a question that is sure to go over with no controversy at all: Is Cooper Kupp the best wide receiver in the NFL?

Hear me out.

Now two full seasons removed from ACL surgery (medical experts say it's often not until Year 3 that the player regains form), Kupp seems to not only be fully healthy but fully evolved as both a receiver and team leader.

Sean McVay was hired as the Rams' head coach in January 2017. His second-ever draft selection (TE Gerald Everett was his first) was a wide receiver out of Eastern Washington with the 69th pick. That receiver is now one of the most versatile players in the sport.

After that 2017 draft, agent Bruce Tollner arranged for Kupp to live with another one of his clients — then-Rams quarterback Jared Goff — over the offseason. QB and WR spent those months playing video games, getting dinners and eventually becoming great friends. It almost immediately carried over to the field in Kupp's first professional season, when he adjusted to the NFL to the tune of 62 receptions and 869 yards. The numbers were outstanding, especially for a third-round pick.

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In Year 2, Kupp was off to a fast start before a season-ending injury cost him an opportunity to play in the Super Bowl. He returned to produce 94- and 92-catch seasons in 2019 and 2020. This season, Kupp has emerged with an NFL-leading 16 receptions through two games. His chemistry with Goff was great. His chemistry with Matthew Stafford might be even better.

I know McVay has long loved Kupp for his football intelligence and selfless approach to the game, but Kupp looks to already have a rhythm with Stafford that must be pleasantly surprising to even the highest-ranking members of the organization.

In Week 1, it was Kupp's 56-yard touchdown against the Bears that stole the highlight reels, but it was a crucial reception on third-and-13 late in the fourth quarter that put the game away. On the play, Kupp caught the ball at the line of scrimmage and fought off four defenders to gain 14 yards and essentially put the game on ice.

In Week 2 against the Colts, it was Kupp whom Stafford focused on in the biggest moments of the contest. He caught nine balls for a career-high 163 yards and two touchdowns.

After that game, Stafford said of Kupp: "He’s one of those guys that’s about as overlooked as anybody in the league. He’s extremely talented, does everything that we ask him to do, whether it’s blocking for his other guys on the team, whether it be receivers or running backs, running down the field making big plays, catching the ball behind the line of scrimmage and going for big plays. He’s a really talented player, and I’m just happy that I get to work with him."

And the Rams are more than happy to have the two of them. But I ask again: Is Kupp the best receiver in the NFL?

That might sound blasphemous to some in a league that features Davante Adams, Stefon Diggs and Tyreek Hill. But who does more things well? Who can beat you outside, inside and in the running game better than Kupp?

Adams, Diggs, DeAndre Hopkins, DK Metcalf, the guys in Tampa, you name the guy — none of them blocks like Kupp and is as willing to get in the muck quite like he does in the running game. At the point of attack, there might be no better blocking receiver in the game today.

On Sunday, the Buccaneers (2-0) come to town (4:25 p.m. ET on FOX and the FOX Sports app) with an injury-riddled defensive backfield. The front seven will be in Stafford's face, no doubt. But he has the best wide receiver — Maybe? Arguably? Can I say that? — in the sport ready to help him any way he can.

Kupp was a safety valve and a great comfort for Goff. He’s an absolute game-breaking threat with Stafford. I'd be shocked if he didn't play a major role in this one.

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2. Brutal loss for the Bolts

The Los Angeles Chargers have to be kicking themselves — even still — after their loss Sunday to the Dallas Cowboys.

Let’s set the stage: The Chargers had a ton of offseason hype and big playoff expectations. They also had everybody's favorite young QB, Justin Herbert, coming off a Rookie of the Year campaign, a healthy Derwin James manning the defensive backfield, and a massive national audience in front of their home crowd for the first time in the new stadium. New uniforms, new coach, new arena, and now a Nantz-Romo game in Week 2?

And then the Chargers came out and moved the ball up and down the field at will, but also committed 10 penalties on offense to lose by three in the final seconds. Ugh.

The illegal shift call has been much discussed — whether it was the right call or not, what the heck was even happening, etc. — but the truth is, that one play didn't cost the Chargers the game.

The penalties you can clean up. But Los Angeles gave up 198 yards on the ground at home, and that's even more alarming than all the yellow flags, especially when you pride yourself on being a defensively sound team. Cowboys right guard Zack Martin was mauling dudes, and Joey Bosa didn't do much despite his hefty contract and status as a No. 3 overall pick.

Perhaps worse than all of that was 2019 first-round pick Jerry Tillery struggling mightily, visibly getting moved off his spot numerous times by both Martin and Cowboys right tackle Terence Steele. Tillery is now in Year 3, and after not taking a snap the entire preseason, hopes are high that it clicks in 2021. It wasn't clicking Sunday.

First-year head coach Brandon Staley is a defensive wiz-kid, and one of the few defensive head coaches in the league. He took this performance especially hard and took much of the blame for Tillery's struggles after the game, saying: "A lot of it's me doing a better job coaching the guy, and that's what we're putting all our time into."

Tillery talk — that's why you come here, right? Laugh all you want, but if the Chargers are going to compete with the heavyweights of the AFC, their heavyweights upfront need to be ready to go blow-for-blow.

3. Cardinals look promising, but have work to do

The Arizona Cardinals are 2-0 and have won two games in very different ways.

Their first victory, a 38-13 blowout of the Titans, was a complete annihilation of a preseason Super Bowl contender, and it was done in Tennessee. Arizona's win over Minnesota in Week 2 could not have been any more bizarre, or lucky.

Yes, I say lucky. Anytime you win a game in which you give up a pick-6, throw another interception, have a terrible roughing-the-punter penalty and run out of bounds on the final offensive drive when you're up by one point, we can call it "lucky."

OK, maybe "fortunate" is the better word. Truth is, the real Arizona Cardinals are somewhere between the two versions we've seen thus far. They'll win plenty of games this season, but they can't expect to win too many in which they play like they did last Sunday against Minnesota.

Kyler Murray's highlights and stats have him in the WAY TOO EARLY MVP conversation, but the clock management on Arizona's final drive — again, he ran out of bounds while up one late in the fourth quarter — was highly questionable.

It's fun when the Cardinals are winning. Arizona is now 2-0, and they only have room for improvement. They've got the struggling Jacksonville Jaguars this week and can use that game to clean things up. The NFC West opponents are on the horizon.

4. Sneaky good in Denver

I loved seeing Broncos WR Courtland Sutton have a career day Sunday versus the Jaguars.

Because 1.) Courtland is a great kid and has been through a ton. 2.) It shows that the Broncos’ passing game isn't just "Throw to Jerry Jeudy and hope for the best."

Sutton had just one catch against the Giants in Week 1, but on a hot and muggy Sunday in Jacksonville in Week 2, the former Pro Bowler caught nine passes for 159 yards, and he did so a year removed from tearing his ACL.

Missing Jeudy, who suffered a high ankle sprain in Week 1's victory in New Jersey, it would have been understandable if the passing game took a step backward. Instead, Teddy Bridgewater — who, by the way, now has a 120.7 passer rating — focused on getting Sutton going. The play of the day came when the Broncos needed it most: Up by three in the third quarter, Bridgewater let it fly for a 55-yard strike to Sutton. Denver scored two plays later and cruised from there.

I know wins over the Giants and Jaguars aren't much to get excited about, but both of those wins came on the road and with different offensive playmakers standing out. It was Melvin Gordon and Jeudy in Week 1; it was Sutton, Noah Fant and rookie Javonte Williams in Week 2.

Denver's D is stout. If the offense can keep putting up points — with an array of weapons — the Broncos could be a sneaky team come December, and maybe January.

5. Tom Brady's first game in L.A.?

The Rams face the Buccaneers on Sunday, and it's the first time Tom Brady has ever played an NFL game in Los Angeles.

But it's not the first time he has been in a game in Los Angeles. OK, there's a catch, and this might be up for debate in what counts as a game and what does not.

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Brady was on the legendary Michigan Wolverines team that won the 1998 Rose Bowl, which was, of course, played in Pasadena, California. FOX NFL Kickoff analyst and Heisman Trophy winner Charles Woodson was that contest's biggest star, and Ryan Leaf was slinging it for the Washington State Cougars that day. But it was Brian Griese under center for the Maize and Blue; Brady was the backup and didn't even take a snap.

Brian Griese is now calling "MNF" games on ESPN — yes, folks, there's a telecast other than the Eli and Peyton one over at the Worldwide Leader — and Brady is looking to defend his seventh Super Bowl title, 24 years after that Rose Bowl win.

So, can we say this is Brady's first time playing a game in Los Angeles? I reached out to my guy Matthew Hamilton, a star producer/researcher for "Good Morning Football" and one of my best buddies in the biz.

"Given that he didn’t physically PLAY in that Rose Bowl, I would say this is his first time actually playing in Los Angeles," he said. "If you want to be a stickler, sure, you can count Brady standing on the sidelines for an entire game watching Tai Streets carve up the Cougars secondary as him technically ‘playing’ in L.A. But since he didn’t take a snap let alone attempt a pass, I’m considering this as a first for Tom."

OK, so there is the star researcher and stats guy. How about the star of the actual team, himself?

I texted Woodson. Why not?

Here’s his take: "That Rose Bowl might not be a ‘Brady Game,’ but … it absolutely is another Brady championship."

My verdict? The Rose Bowl counts. Did he put the pads on? Learn the playbook? Make the trip? Celebrate? This isn’t Brady’s first-ever game in Los Angeles.

6. Clooney sighting

Saturday night in Los Angeles, I went to a restaurant called Craig's with a few colleagues from FOX Sports, and George Clooney was there.

I live in New York City and see celebrities walking around every day, but to see Clooney? In the flesh? That was something. And it led to a lively conversation at my table. Your favorite George Clooney film is ___?

I might be alone on this one, but I absolutely love "Hail! Caesar," the 2016 Coen brothers flick that has multiple belly-laugh scenes, including some that might not be green-lit in 2021. Clooney is great as Baird Whitlock, a 1950s matinee idol, who isn't the sharpest tool in the box. Josh Brolin is even better. Channing Tatum steals the film when he's on-screen, too. It's awesome and somehow gets lost in the shuffle when discussing the Clooney canon.

Peter Schrager is an NFL writer for FOX Sports and a host of "Good Morning Football" on NFL Network.