Raiders counting on rebound season from struggling WR Cooper
ALAMEDA, Calif. — Amari Cooper’s upward career trajectory took a major detour last season when a combination of drops, injuries and overall poor play plagued him all season.
After topping 1,000 yards receiving in each of his first two seasons in the NFL for Oakland, Cooper didn’t even reach 700 yards last season in a fall that was emblematic of the Raiders descent from 12 wins in 2016 to just six a year ago.
That all contributed to the move to bring Jon Gruden back for a second stint as coach and Gruden made it clear earlier in the offseason that fixing Cooper would be a priority and that he expected him to be a focal point of the offense.
Cooper was on a star track after being drafted fourth overall by the Raiders in 2015. He had 72 catches for 1,070 yards as a rookie and then 83 receptions for 1,153 yards in year two, becoming the third player to start his career with back-to-back seasons with at least 70 catches and 1,000 yards receiving after Odell Beckham Jr. and Marques Colston.
But he took a major step backward last season when he had just 48 catches for 680 yards with nearly one-third of that production (210 yards) coming in a Thursday night win over Kansas City. Cooper had more than 70 yards receiving just one other time all season, when he gained 87 of his 115 yards on a single catch in the season finale.