Huard: Eastern Washington’s Cooper Kupp turning heads at Senior Bowl

One of the players making the most noise ahead of the Senior Bowl wasn’t up for the Heisman Trophy, nor did he play for a national powerhouse. In fact, he didn’t even play for an FBS team.

The player is Cooper Kupp, a wide receiver whose name has been all over the Twitter accounts of notable NFL media members this week. A fifth-year senior from Eastern Washington University, Kupp didn’t generate much buzz when he left Davis High School in Yakima, and he landed out in Cheney. But he leaves the red turf of Roos Field with some significant NFL Draft credentials thanks to his 6,424 career receiving yards, an FCS record he overtook from Jerry Rice.

It also helps that he can do things like this:

Right on cue. Cooper Kupp with a Jermaine Kearse-like grab. pic.twitter.com/pX5j5KzXky

— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) January 25, 2017

So, just how high is Kupp’s draft stock right now? According to 710 ESPN Seattle’s Brock Huard, pretty high.

“He could be a second-round pick,” Huard said on the Blue 42 segment of “Brock and Salk” Wednesday. “Looking at the (media members) who are there (at the Senior Bowl), the name that keeps coming up is Cooper Kupp.”

Huard said that Kupp’s ability as a slot receiver could end up being beneficial to where he lands in the draft.

“I think the value of that slot receiver, we’ve seen it. The league’s leading receiver, Larry Fitzgerald, played where? He played in the slot. Doug Baldwin’s in a Pro Bowl for the first time. Played predominantly where? In the slot. If you watching the New England Patriots, they continue to replicate the Wes Welkers of the world, the Chris Hogans, the Julian Edelmans.

“This is a 6-2, physical, athletic slot player that can take the punishment in the slot and who can run. … He has shown a level of explosiveness that’s caught the eye of everybody.”

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