Photo: Chris Hunkeler on Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons²

Cooper Rush

Quarterback, Atlanta Falcons · #13.

Player facts

Team: Atlanta Falcons
Position: Quarterback
Number: 13
Born: Nov 21, 1993 (age 32)
Birthplace: Charlotte, MI, USA
Height: 6' 3"
Weight: 224 lbs
College: Central Michigan
Experience: 9 seasons
Status: Active

Stats

2026 Passing

	CMP	ATT	CMP%	YDS	AVG	TD	INT	LNG	SACK	RTG	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LNG
Regular Season	22	39	56.4	229	5.9	1	4	24	5	42.5	2	20	10.0	0	11
Career	386	635	60.8	3,995	6.3	21	18	73	30	78.2	64	40	0.6	0	15

Advanced stats

2026 season through week 6. EPA per play is the points a play added to the team’s expected score; success rate is the share of plays that kept the offense on schedule; CPOE is completion percentage over what the throws’ difficulty predicted. Rank is by EPA per play.

	Plays	EPA/play	Success	CPOE	League rank
Passing	44 dropbacks	-0.64	34%	-13.4	fewer than 90 plays

NFL data: nflverse, CC BY 4.0.

Recent games

			Passing											Rushing
Date	Opponent	Result	CMP	ATT	YDS	CMP%	AVG	TD	INT	LNG	SACK	RTG	QBR	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LNG
Sun, Sep 20	vs CAR	L 34-3	10	17	86	58.8	5.1	0	2	17	1	32.6	5.3	2	20	10.0	0	11
Sun, Sep 13	@ PIT	L 20-13	12	22	143	54.6	6.5	1	2	24	4	51.9	3.2	0	0	0.0	0	0

Last 2 games. Click a game for its box score.

About

Cooper Robert Rush (born November 21, 1993) is an American professional football quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Central Michigan Chippewas, and was signed by the Dallas Cowboys as an undrafted free agent in 2017.

From Wikipedia’s article on Cooper Rush, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.¹

Background

Early life

Originally from Charlotte, Michigan, Rush attended Lansing Catholic High School in Lansing, Michigan, with an enrollment of just over 500 students, where he became a three-year starter at quarterback for the football team. Rush also played basketball and baseball (until his freshman year).

In 2010 and 2011, Rush led his team to back-to-back undefeated regular seasons. In 2011, Rush led his team to the state runner-up title. In the Division 5 regional championship game against Dowagiac Union High School, he set Michigan state records with five touchdown passes in one quarter and eight for the game. The team would end up losing in the finals against Powers Catholic High School 56–26, even though Rush registered 300 passing yards and three touchdowns.

As a senior, Rush received All-State, Associated Press' Michigan Division 5/6 Player of the Year and ESPN's Michigan Gatorade Player of the Year honors.

Rush finished his high school career throwing for 7,248 passing yards (455-for-734, 62 percent) and 80 touchdowns to go along with 1,438 rushing yards and 27 touchdowns. A three-star recruit, Rush only received scholarship offers from Central Michigan and Toledo, but received preferred walk-on offers from Michigan, Michigan State, Northwestern, and Western Michigan.

College career

In his redshirt season at Central Michigan, Rush was named the school's Scout Team Player of the Year.

As a freshman, although he began the season as the third-string quarterback, Rush was named the starter by the third game, after Cody Kater was injured (collarbone fracture) and his backup Alex Niznak could not move the offense against the New Hampshire Wildcats. In that contest, Rush came in in the second quarter and helped engineer a 24–21 comeback victory, where he tallied 326 passing yards and three touchdowns, tying the school record for the longest in history (97 yards). Rush would never relinquish the position or miss a start after the game.

As a sophomore, Rush played in the 2014 Bahamas Bowl against the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers. By the middle of the third quarter, his team had fallen behind 49–14, but scored four unanswered touchdowns and were down by only seven points near the end of the fourth quarter, but ultimately lost. Had the try succeeded, it would have marked the largest comeback in bowl history and tied the largest comeback in any Division I game. Rush's seven touchdown passes set an all-time record for all bowl games.

Rush's best season came as a junior in 2015. Through the first 13 games, he had 3,703 passing yards, which was a new school single-season record. Rush completed 66.3 percent of his passes for 3,848 total passing yards, 25 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions.

As a senior, Rush's production dropped to 3,540 passing yards and 23 touchdowns, but with 16 interceptions and a low 59.8 completion percentage.

Rush finished his college career with 49 straight starts, 12,894 passing yards (12 yards short of Dan LeFevour's school and conference record) and 90 touchdowns.