Amari Cooper vs Trae Waynes

Jan 1, 2015; Arlington, TX, USA; Michigan State Spartans cornerback Trae Waynes (15) during the game against the Baylor Bears in the 2015 Cotton Bowl Classic at AT&T Stadium. The Spartans defeated the Bears 42-41. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

How They Stack up

With all the numbers he put up, Cooper was without a doubt the best receiver in the 2015 NFL Draft. Waynes wasn’t a no-doubter as Marcus Peters was known as the best corner until Waynes ran a 4.31 at the combine. Cooper won the Biletnicoff Award for the nation’s best receiver and Waynes didn’t wine the Thorpe Award.

Waynes wasn’t even first-team All-American as Cooper’s dominance in 2014 couldn’t be denied. As you see from the scouting reports Cooper has great acceleration and is a great route-runner. And Waynes was found to be “tight through hips, tending to play upright, struggling to mirror and match against quickness.”

He’s also known to be penalized for grabbing receivers because of his struggles with quickness. But two things that are absolutes with him is that he can jam receivers at the line and has recovery speed. From the scouting reports, it looks an awful lot like it plays into his hands because Cooper is good at beat press coverage, Waynes strength.

From there, Cooper may enter the NFL as the best route-runner so Waynes is going to have to really jam him at the line. And he can forget about make-up with Cooper because 4.42 40 time NFL Network report is his official time. His official time, the one that the NFL teams got, had him at 4.35 with the first 10 not being his strength so he won’t be caught.

Next: Bottom Line