New Seahawks WR Cooper Kupp Envisions Lethal Tandem with Jaxon Smith-Njigba

Henry McKenna

NFL Reporter

GREEN BAY, Wis. — In some ways, the addition of Cooper Kupp made perfect sense for the Seattle Seahawks. The team traded star wideout DK Metcalf, and, in turn, the Seahawks needed the best receiver they could get. Kupp absolutely qualified.

In some ways, the signing of Kupp was confusing. Last year, receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba dominated out of the slot — which was where Kupp excelled for most of his eight-year tenure with the Rams. And so the move put two elite slot receivers into the same offense.

But that’s not how Kupp sees their pairing.

“The best offenses, historically, have the ability for guys to do different things,” Kupp told me at Seattle’s joint practices with the Packers last week. “You don’t have three one-trick ponies. You’ve got three guys that can do everything you ask them to do. You never know where you’re gonna see someone, and you never know what route you’re gonna get, and it’s very challenging on defense. We’ve got the opportunity to do that with our guys.”

Cooper Kupp, a Washington native who attended Eastern Washington, signed with the Seahawks in March after being released by the Rams. (Photo by Jane Gershovich/Getty Images)

Last year, Smith-Njigba took 77.6% of his snaps from the slot and Kupp took 62.4% from inside. They’ll tell you that it won’t matter.

In preseason and joint practices, both receivers were moving around the formation. They split wide. They stood in the slot. They stacked on top of each other in the slot. They motioned across the formation. They made use of condensed formations. In other words, so far the evidence is proving them right.

“I think you’ll see everything be better,” Smith-Njigba told reporters early in training camp. “Route-running, catching — it’ll all just level up. That’s kinda what I work on. There are specific things that I try to detail my work on, but I think overall, you’ll just see me take it to the next level.”

Seattle’s starters looked dialed in against the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 2 of the preseason, with new Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold, who has replaced Geno Smith, going 4-for-4 for 34 yards, including a throw to Smith-Njigba for seven yards.

But perhaps even more importantly, the Seahawks’ receiver combination looked effective against the Packers in joint practices at Lambeau Field last week. Smith-Njigba and Kupp found space within the Green Bay defense, which, admittedly, didn’t have cornerback Nate Hobbs or safety Xavier McKinney in team drills. That highly competitive practice might have been the strongest case that the two pass-catchers are not too similar. They’re showing an instant chemistry with each other.

And they’re building their rapport with their new quarterback.

“All of that stuff [with Darnold] has been just gradual and continual,” Kupp told me. “Every day it’s like, ‘Man, we’ve seen this now. … We know where we want to get to, how we want to get there.’ Some of the best stuff has been from when we have had misses. We were already on the same page. But it’s like, now we know this is how it’s going to be, and where we want to be at.”

Kupp and Sam Darnold talk before Seattle’s preseason game against the Raiders on Aug. 7. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)

The 32-year-old Kupp and the 23-year-old Smith-Njigba will share the slot, but it does seem like the younger receiver will take on a much bigger role on the outside. And there was no obvious discomfort there during the joint practice. Darnold was 7-of-9 when targeting Smith-Njigba. Darnold also found Kupp for a completion on the first throw of 11-on-11 drills — and they later converted a third-and-11 when Kupp drew a defensive pass interference penalty.

Darnold’s only interception of the practice came on a deep pass to a streaking Smith-Njigba that hung up just long enough for Packers safety Evan Williams to pick it off. That’ll be the area of focus for Seattle — improving deep-ball efficiency without either of its top two wideouts being pure speed threats.

Everyone is in a new offense this year, even the Seahawks’ returners. Klint Kubiak replaced former offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb. But Darnold and Kupp have familiarity in the system that Kubiak runs, which is an offshoot of the Kyle Shanahan coaching tree. Both of Kupp and Darnold’s previous stops were Shanahan offshoots, with Rams coach Sean McVay and Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell running similar schemes.

“It’s been cool bringing all our experiences and molding it into what is going to work for us,” Kupp said. “And just as a team, Coach [Kubiak] has been awesome in terms of just trying to accentuate guys’ skill sets and hear ideas on how things have been done in the past and how we operate.”

Jaxon Smith-Njigba caught 100 passes for 1,130 yards and six touchdowns in 2024, his second NFL season. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)

The truth of the Kubiak (and Shanahan) system is that the passing game might not even be the area that takes priority. Running backs Zach Charbonnet and Kenneth Walker III could end up being the focal point as the Seahawks try to pivot toward a ball-control, defense-led team under head coach Mike Macdonald, who rose in the NFL as an outstanding defensive mind.

But the Seahawks are trying to acclimate Smith-Njigba to a new offense in a new role while getting Kupp and Darnold adjusted to a new team. Kupp said that the communication between him and his QB has been extremely high-functioning.

“We’ve been able to have some good conversations around how we see the game,” Kupp said. “We talk ball. We have questions. After a play, you get back to the sideline and it’s like, ‘What do we see? What do we like or not like?’ We aren’t sure what the best answers are. … We’ll have more of those conversations and continue on.”

Seattle’s offense might have plenty of familiarity, in one way or another. But it absolutely has a new look. So, yes, those conversations will continue on and on — and perhaps if they go well, they might even carry into the postseason.

Before joining FOX Sports as an NFL reporter and columnist, Henry McKenna spent seven years covering the Patriots for USA TODAY Sports Media Group and Boston Globe Media. Follow him on Twitter at @henrycmckenna.

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