Amari Cooper: Prospect Breakdown (with GIFs)
Pros, Cons, and a Summary of Amari Cooper
Nov 8, 2014; Baton Rouge, LA, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide wide receiver Amari Cooper (9) celebrates after a touchdown against the LSU Tigers during the second quarter of a game at Tiger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports
Pros:
- Polished route runner
- Excellent release off line of scrimmage
- Smooth in and out of breaks
- Double move is deadly
- Top end-speed, 4.4 or better
- Elusive in the open field, racks up yards after the catch
Cons:
- Hands are good, not great. Too many easy drops
- Doesn’t consistently win at the catch-point
- Average run blocker, but is willing
- Adequate size, marginal strength
Amari Cooper is very good in many areas, and is elite in a few of them.
He’s one of the best route-runners to come out of the draft in several years. His routes are extremely fluid with almost no wasted movement, which is a skill that should translate very well to the next level.
It’s rumored that Cooper has ran a 40-yard dash time as high as 4.31, but if he can get anywhere in the 4.3 range, this is another area where he can be considered elite.
As you saw in many of the clips, Amari is very smooth in and out of his breaks. His quickness with his cuts creates separation consistently and easily.
His double move in particular is top notch, and he sets it up very well.
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Coopers hands leave something to be desired, though. Too many times he dropped what should have been a sure catch. Sometimes it seemed like a lack of focus or just turning his head up field too early, but a few of them were simply just bad drops.
Along these same lines, Amari doesn’t win 50/50 balls consistently. He struggled with it more in his fist two seasons, and did start to win these more often during his Junior season, but it’s not a strength of his.
He’s an average run blocker, which is okay because not many wide receivers are great in this area, but he did seem to be a willing blocker for the most part.
Cooper has adequate size, so don’t expect him to win many physical battles for the ball. Though, this seems to be less of a concern in today’s NFL, with all of the wide receivers of similar or lesser size having success.
Many comparisons have been thrown around for Amari. To me, the closest comparison is Jeremy Maclin. They are have similar physical attributes and they win in similar ways.
If he’s available at pick number four, if Leonard Williams is gone, who are you taking? I’d love to get everyone’s thoughts on this.