Jun 9, 2015; Oakland, CA, USA; Oakland Raiders receiver Amari Cooper (89) at minicamp at the Raiders practice facility. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
From the Oakland Raiders’ OTAs to minicamp, quarterback Derek Carr has dominated the headlines. There was so much concern over his minor right ring finger injury, it embarrassed Carr. But now that we know he’s okay, let’s focus on another important player, like who he’ll throw the ball to.
And that would be No. 4 overall in the 2015 in the NFL Draft Amari Cooper who has come as advertised. It looks an awful lot like the Raiders have hit on top-5 overall picks two years in a row. You may be saying, “You can’t tell right now because the Raiders aren’t even in pads yet.”
But you can tell if a receiver is good because getting open and catching the ball can be displayed without pads. The only things the receivers and secondaries aren’t doing right now is tackling. And Carr’s brother David, (Carr) has been thoroughly impressed with Cooper in minicamp.
He told 120 Sports, “If you are an Amari Cooper fan, go out and buy the jersey because I’m seeing some routes this kid’s running, and it’s unbelievable the separation he’s getting. I understand it’s OTAs and it’s early, but he is so crisp in and out of his cuts… you gotta see this guy on film. He’s an unbelievable player. I can’t wait until August.
“It’s not even necessarily, ‘I’m just going to go up here and run a slant, or I’m going to go up here and run a corner route.’ It’s the understanding of the coverage, an understanding of the leverage the defender has on you and able to make a move. There’s ten yards of separation on some of these routes, which is unheard of in the NFL.”
That’s not much differnent from what he did in college.