NOW IS THE TIME
With a pass-happy coach in place, is this the season AMARI COOPER shows he belongs in the ‘elite NFL receiver’ conversation?
Amari Cooper cracks a smile only if you ask the perfect question with the perfect dose of humor sprinkled in, and even that might not make him flinch.
For example, a rare smile flashed after a reporter asked earlier this year if Cooper had ever seen a coach’s face turn beet red for all seven periods of an offseason workout, referring — of course — to the new guy, Jon Gruden.
Outside of that, Cooper’s grins come few and far between. He’s not irritated at life, rather he’s just a guy whose personality won’t always light up a room if you’re not in his corner.
Elite receivers such as Antonio Brown and Odell Beckham Jr.? Now those are vibrant personalities that match gridiron talent.
You’ll never see Cooper take a helicopter to training camp like Brown or jump out of a moving car and dance to Drake’s “In My Feelings” like Beckham. Even Julio Jones, clearly elite but carrying fewer theatrics than the other two, has more pizazz than Cooper off the field. Cooper seems just fine with who he is outside the No. 89 jersey. He’s trying to match those guys in another way.
Widely considered the leaders of the NFL’s elite wide receiver fraternity, Pittsburgh’s Brown, New York’s Beckham and Atlanta’s Jones highlight a club Cooper can see on the horizon. Reggie Wayne, who ranks in the all-time top 10 in receptions and receiving yards, ranked the top 10 receivers in the league for NFL.com and placed Cooper in the “just missed” category along with four others. How many receivers are “elite” in the NFL is open to debate, but the bottom line remains that Cooper isn’t one of them entering his fourth year in the league.
If there ever were a time to join the upper echelon at his position, it would be now, under a coach who has produced a 1,000-yard receiver in each of his 11 seasons as a head coach in the NFL. If Cooper can’t do it in 2018, or in the near future under Gruden, he might never be able to.
“You just look at what (Gruden) did for me for the four years I had him,” said Tim Brown, a Hall of Fame wide receiver who starred under Gruden in Oakland. “Look at my numbers and touchdowns and things of that nature. If he could do that for a guy who was 32 or whatever at the time, man, what can he do for a guy that’s 25 with all the talent that he has?”
Because Brown told us to look at his numbers, let’s do just that. In four years under Gruden in Oakland, Brown averaged 84.5 catches, 1,162.25 receiving yards and 8.75 touchdown catches per year from 1998-2001.
Cooper hasn’t eclipsed 83 catches, 1,153 receiving yards or seven touchdowns in his first three years in the league. Brown was 32, 33, 34 and 35 when he
posted those numbers.
Cooper doesn’t turn 25 until June 2019, but the point stays the same: a 24-year-old receiver in his prime is playing under a coach whose offense should provide every possible chance for his eliteness to shine through.
Cooper is the only receiver in Raiders history to post back-toback 1,000-yard receiving seasons to begin his career. He averaged 77.5 catches, 1,111.5 receiving yards and 5.5 touchdown catches over 2015 and 2016.
In 2017, despite catching seven touchdowns, he reeled in only 48 passes for 680 yards. This season, he has a healthy quarterback in Derek Carr playing for a quarterback guru in Gruden, a pairing that should do wonders for Cooper. Oh, and don’t forget adding Jordy Nelson, Ryan Switzer and Martavis Bryant, all upgrades over last year’s group behind Cooper that will alleviate pressure.
“That’s what you want as a wide receiver. That’s what you want as a playmaker. You want the ball in those crucial situations. You want to be depended on,” Cooper said. “You want to be counted on when it’s time to make a big play . ... We definitely have a lot of specialty plays for myself and for other guys as well. I see it playing out well. We try to execute it every day out there on the field, and so far it’s been going really good.”
Injuries slowed Cooper’s trajectory last season, but he’s still tasked this year with proving he’s the receiver he was in Years 1 and 2. A matchup nightmare, a threat to score at any time from any spot on the field, a flat-out dominant wide receiver. Not a hobbled No. 1 option who could produce a deep catch-and-run every now and then and also drop catchable balls just as often, if not more.
Tim Brown, Jerry Rice, Keyshawn Johnson, Keenan McCardell, Michael Clayton, Joey Galloway and Antonio Bryant comprise the crew that gives Gruden a 1,000-yard receiver in each of his 11 head-coaching years.
Yes, yards aren’t the sole factor in determining class, but the gaudy numbers, if anything, prove Gruden’s history of grooming pass-catchers who produce.
If there’s one receiver capable of extending Gruden’s streak to 12 years, those 1,000 yards being just part of his repertoire, it’s the player who Gruden said would be the focal point of his offense.
“Hopefully we can put an offense in that he can play in for four or five or six years like most of the great players have a chance to do,” Gruden said. “I think continuity is important, not only for quarterbacks and football players at other positions, but also wide receivers. I think he has all the stuff you’re looking for. He has rare size. He came in here at 223 pounds. He has very good speed. He’s elusive. He’s smart. He’s a great competitor.”
Jordy Nelson, who has mentored Cooper since arriving in the Bay Area after 10 years with the Packers, insists he’s not here to be a No. 1 option. He realizes that’s Cooper’s job, one he has had since his rookie season in 2015.
Even in fewer than than five months as his teammate, Nelson sees potential in Cooper to reach their position’s penthouse. You could argue Nelson knows what it takes because he’s been there before with Aaron Rodgers throwing him the ball for a decade.
“From what I’ve seen, he has the ability. His quickness and athleticism, the way he understands the game, hands, everything. He has it all. When you get to that elite level, more than anything it’s the consistency aspect of it,” Nelson said. “When you think of the elites, you think of someone like (Larry) Fitzgerald, who are good year after year after year.
“I think that’s how you get there and sustain that. Being consistent, which I think he’s been doing a great job as far as I can tell since I’ve been here, day in and day out. That’s where it starts, out here in practice. It’ll transfer into games.”
Maybe it’s just a matter of playing as he did the first two years of his career for one or two more seasons, and he’ll be thrown into the elite discussion. But one thing’s for certain: Cooper can’t have a second straight down year if he wants to reach that peak, especially not under a coach who’ll do everything possible to ensure he’s not the 2017 Amari Cooper again.
More than anything, Cooper is healthy. He missed games last year with a concussion and high-ankle sprain, separately, and Carr told SiriusXM’s Adam Schein after the season, “He will never tell you, and he’ll never even talk about it, but that man was out there playing on one foot.”
Cooper entered training camp this year, again, with more muscle, more speed, more miles on his 24-year-old legs.
“I feel like he came into his rookie year like 16 years old, so he comes back bigger and faster every year,” Carr said. “It’s like ‘Coop, hey man, chill out a little bit.’ Don’t get too big, we’ll move you to running back or something ... He’s healthy, he looks great, he feels great.”
Cooper, in typical Cooper fashion, remained nondescript when asked about his feelings playing for an offensive-minded head coach with a proven track record of extracting results from receivers. “Exciting” and “cool” were his words of choice, but it wouldn’t seem he really felt either if you listened.
Don’t let that fool you. Cooper might not act the part of an Antonio Brown, Odell Beckham Jr. or even Julio Jones, and he might not even play the part this season. This year, at the very least, offers a chance to climb closer to their lofty perch.
All the pieces are in place for Cooper to enter the elite discussion, and there’s one certain aspect of his pending rise: He’ll allow his play to speak for itself.
“I think he’s going to be incredible, man,” Tim Brown said. “Obviously, the guy has all the talent in the world, all the ability in the world, and if he buys into what that Z position calls for him to do, it’s going to be incredible.”