"You know what you're getting."
Who doesn't love knowing what to expect? Rightfully so, the quote above is generally the consensus opinion on Amari Cooper. The 20-year-old Alabama product seems to be the most "NFL ready" wide receiver prospect in this year's class among draft circles, and for the most part he's considered to have more transferable traits than anyone on the draft board.
All of the hype comes with a seal of production, too. Cooper went off in his junior season for the Crimson Tide, leading the NCAA in receptions (124) and finishing second in both yards (1,727) and touchdowns (16). Across Alabama's schedule, opposing defenses could not figure out a way to stop or slow down Cooper last year, as he posted at least eight receptions in 12 of 14 games.
As it may seem, few wide receivers come near Amari Cooper's resume, so let's get to the question at hand: is he the best wide receiver prospect in this year's class?
Sizing Him Up
The combine was back in February, but it's generally nice and important to have a refresher on how athletic certain players are. Below are Amari Cooper's combine metrics via Mockdraftable.com. Overall percentile rankings are denoted in parenthesis.
Name | Height | Weight | 40-yd dash | Vertical | 3-cone | 20-yd shuttle |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
A. Cooper | 6' 1" | 211 | 4.42 (82nd) | 33 inches (16th) | 6.71 (84th) | 3.98 (94th) |
Unlike a lot of prospects who enter the draft, it isn't that hard to figure Amari Cooper out. What's especially nice is that his combine was virtually a direct representation of his on-field product everyone saw at Alabama.
What you're looking at above is an incredibly agile player. Cooper finished in the top 16% of all wide receiver prospects in the 3-cone agility drill and in the top 6% in the 20-yard short shuttle. Plus, his 4.4 speed definitely doesn't hurt his cause.
Furthermore, per RotoUnderworld's useful Player Profiler tool, Cooper finished in the 95th percentile according to their "Agility Score" metric and came in the 88th percentile in their height-adjusted "Speed Score."
For an on the field example, Cooper is lined up outside here and shows off his 95th percentile agility to create separation from the cornerback and burst off of the line of scrimmage.
The only real Combine knock you could muster against Cooper -- and it isn't even his fault -- is his height. Granted, he isn't 5-foot-10-inches like Matt Harmon's "Reception Perception" article on Cooper based on a five-game sample size, he lined up everywhere on the field in 2014 -- showing up as the right wide receiver 37.9% of the time, the left wide receiver on 47.0% of alignments, and even poked around in the slot on 13.6% of snaps.
Here is a great example of Cooper's versatility and maneuverability across formations where Cooper lines up in a quasi-slot role off of the line of scrimmage, and breaks open on an underneath in-route displaying solid yards after the catch ability, as well.
As a prospect, Cooper checks out almost all the way across the board. He's a fantastically agile athlete who saw monster volume in college, can move all over the field, carried an offense on his back, and is still only 20 years old. What is there not to like?
Cooper's NFL Outlook
As referenced above, the only semi-knock we can find right now on Amari Cooper is his height. While he may not have the physicality of players such as In this play against Florida, Cooper goes up and gets one of his 16 receiving touchdowns winning the ball from the cornerback and beating the safety who was too late to help.
Ultimately, Cooper's evaluation comes down to if whether or not a team looks past his slight height deficiency and they see him as their offense's technician wide receiver who can command 125-plus targets per season. Or, perhaps he's more of a "1B" option who plays off of the primary for his first few seasons. Frankly, he can thrive in either role.
As it stands right now, Amari Cooper is easily the most polished wide receiver entering this year's draft and likely has the safest "floor" as a prospect. That doesn't mean he doesn't have upside though, as he turns 21-years-old on June 17th this year -- he just may not possess the astronomic ceiling of West Virginia's Kevin White or the touchdown making prowess of Dorial Green-Beckham.
But Cooper doesn't really need to have all of that upside. A team is going to spend significant draft capital on him this April, and he has the ability to come in and contribute immediately.