In 2013, Amari Cooper, the now 23-year-old wide receiver for the Oakland Raiders was selected as the fourth overall player in the 2014 NFL Draft. He gained over 1000 yards and 5 touchdowns in his first two seasons, but last year posted less than 700 yards despite having career-high 7 touchdowns.
To examine what went wrong or how to maximize his talent in the future, I studied his games against the Tennessee Titans in week 1, the Kansas City Chiefs in week 7 and the Los Angles Chargers in week 17.
First, Amari Cooper demonstrates elite footwork and route running. He can destroy a corner in press coverage and embarrass a corner in off coverage, and God bless the defensive coordinator who tasks a safety with covering him from the slot in off coverage. His ability to get in and out of cuts quickly is most noticeable and effective when running slants, posts, corners, comebacks, hitches, and out routes.
He was particularly effective when lined up in the slot or in a more inset outside receiver position. Cooper demonstrates elite knowledge and understanding of how to attack the corner. He is excellent at pressing the corner and getting into his blind spot before cutting off his route. Cooper has all the potential to be a top 5 receiver in the league.
There are, however, improvements he must make to reach his potential. Despite his 4.42 speed, he struggles to separate on go routes. For whatever reason, he appears to not take advantage of his footwork at the line to set up and gain separation from the corner. On top of that, he is not the most flexible athlete and is currently not a good jump ball receiver. Not only does this make his go routes less threatening but it also takes away the fear of fade routes on the goal line.
The second biggest flaw for Cooper was his low contested catch rate. Elite receivers bail out their quarterbacks in the biggest moments and especially in the red zone. In the week 1 game against the Titans, the Raiders targeted Cooper in the red zone twice on the same position.
First, Cooper runs a slant route, one of his biggest strengths, and gets significant separation, but quarterback Derrick Carr’s throw was a bit high and behind, nevertheless, it was a catch an elite receiver must make. Second, on a back-shoulder fade, Carr delivers a perfect throw and Cooper fails to make the difficult catch. Two should be touchdown plays turns into the Raiders settling for a field goal.
With the arrival of new head coach John Gruden, hopefully, the Raiders utilize Amari Cooper’s strengths more than the previous staff by using more in the slot of inset. Better utilization and continued development will make Amari Cooper an all-pro for many years to come.
