Oakland Raiders sign 7th overall pick from 2013 NFL Draft

The Oakland Raiders will be without Richie Incognito for the first two games in 2019, so they decided to bring in more depth on Monday.

Richie Incognito is supposed to solve all problems at left guard for the Oakland Raiders after they traded away pro-bowler Kelechi Osemele earlier this year. However, Incognito was suspended 2 games last week by the league for an incident that happened last August inside a funeral home.

Jon Gruden is clearly not comfortable with his backup guards to fill in at the left guard spot for Weeks 1 and 2, so he went out and signed former first-round pick Jonathan Cooper on Monday.

Cooper was picked 7th overall by the Arizona Cardinals, but unfortunately, he had an injury that many believe ruined his career. In his rookie season with Arizona in 2013, Cooper broke his left fibula in the teams third preseason game which landed him on the IR that season.

The following year he was having issues again with an injury.  He battled through a turf toe and knee injury in training camp and he ended up not starting at offensive guard due to this injury. He didn’t get to play until Week 14, but by then the season was pretty much over.

Although he played pretty well in these final weeks, he still missed most of his first 2 seasons.

Finally healthy in 2015, he was asked to move from left to right guard due to the team signing All-Pro Mike Lupati, and Cooper started for 10 weeks, and played really well before eventually getting hurt again. Prior to his injury in 2015, he allowed 1 sack and 2 QB hits, which ranked in the top 12 for offensive guards.

In 2016, Cooper was traded, along with a 2nd round pick for Chandler Jones, to the New England Patriots. A right foot injury in training camp eventually led the Patriots to cut him.

In 2017, Cooper signed a 1-year deal with the Dallas Cowboys and an injury to Chaz Green in Week 3 allowed Cooper to come in and start. He played really well for the rest of the season in Dallas.

Cooper was ranked right under Kelechi Osemele in 2017 by Pro Football Focus as the 13th best guard in the NFL during the weeks he started.

In 2018, he signed with the San Francisco 49ers, and he ended up being cut. The Redskins then picked him up, and he ended up tearing his bicep, which once again ended his season.

I don’t think I know of any player who has been hurt more and given as many opportunities as Cooper. Although he is now in Oakland, I don’t think he will be reliable. It seems like everywhere he’s been, he’s ended up not playing due to injury.

Even if he does outperform rookie Lester Cotton and Denzelle Good, will he make it through 2 straight weeks?

I believe the Raiders are best with Cooper starting at LG, but that’s contingent on if he is actually healthy and is able to get through those two weeks. At the very least, he will help out some of the younger players.