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2017 NFL Draft Daily Chicago Bears Target: Eastern Washington Wide Receiver Cooper Kupp

By Luis Felipe Saccini

Mar 3, 2017; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Eastern Washington wide receiver Cooper Kupp speaks to the media during the 2017 combine at Indiana Convention Center. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 3, 2017; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Eastern Washington wide receiver Cooper Kupp speaks to the media during the 2017 combine at Indiana Convention Center. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports /
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Continuing the Chicago Bears 2017 NFL Draft prospect watch, we look at a potential replacement for wide receiver Alshon Jeffery.

After the departure of Alshon Jeffery to the Philadelphia Eagles, the Chicago Bears will certainly be looking to add to the position in the 2017 NFL Draft. A great name to look at for a Jeffery replacement is an Eagle as well, the Eastern Washington Eagles wide receiver Cooper Kupp.

Kupp was used as a slot receiver in college and produce elite numbers in his career playing on the inside. In three years, he scored 73 receiving touchdowns, received for 6.464 yards in a total of 428 receptions. That numbers put him as the all-time record holder for the FCS. It is true that a major part of his numbers was made against lower level players, as he played in the Big Sky conference, but his ball skill can’t be downgraded because of that.

Kupp can be viewed as the next great slot receiver in the NFL, but he has the tools to make a transition to the outside. At 6-2 and 204 pounds, you can compare him to Miami Dolphins best receiver Jarvis Landry, if Kupp had played at LSU like Landry, I imagine he would be in the conversation for a first-round selection.

But he did play for Eastern Washington and because of that had to escalate the draft boards and now is in the conversation for a second day pick in the draft next month. Some will say Kupp did not have a great showing at the scouting combine and this might hurt his stock, but if you compare him to Landry again that he put up solid numbers. He ran a 4.62 40-yard dash, Landry ran 4.61. Kupp also had a two and a half inches higher vert jump than Landry (31 to 28.5) and a six inches longer board jump (116″ to 110″).

Next: Bears Complete Seven-Round 2017 NFL Mock Draft

Landry was taken at the end of second round of the 2014 NFL draft, so we could use this as a starting point to evaluate where Kupp can be had. The Bears have the 67th overall pick, so a trade up into the end of the second might be in play if Bears front office want to improve the wide receiver position on the second day. If Kupp’s stock was indeed hurt by the combine then the Bears could wait and pick him at the start of the third round and be happy with it.

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