Is Dallas Cowboys WR Amari Cooper an elite WR?

Is Amari Cooper an elite WR?

By David Shinn II

                  Last Tuesday, October 22^nd, was the one-year anniversary of the Dallas Cowboys shipping a first-round pick to the Oakland Raiders for WR Amari Cooper. I will be the first to admit that at the time, I thought it was a HORRIBLE trade. Amari Cooper had a couple of good years in Oakland but really had not shown anything the season before. Look at Cooper’s stats over the last 16 games that he played for Oakland: 58 receptions for 844 yards and 7 TD’s. That kind of production is far from elite and is not what you want from a former first round pick. Some tight ends produce numbers on that level! 

Here is where it gets interesting though. Cooper has now played 16 games for the Dallas Cowboys. These are his numbers in those games: 91 receptions for 1346 yards and 11 TD’s. With those numbers, he would rank near the top of the league. Don’t believe me? Let’s look at Deandre Hopkins and Julio Jones numbers (arguably the #1 and #2 WR in the league) over the last 16 games. 

Julio Jones: 103 receptions for 1456 yards and 11 TD’s

                  Deandre Hopkins: 122 receptions for 1400 yards and 8 TD’s

                  As I said, the numbers are very comparable. Pump the brakes though, I am not saying Cooper is elite or that he is on that level. His route running skills are elite, there is no denying that. The guy has one of the smoothest releases from the line of scrimmage that I have seen. Not to mention the way he gets in and out of breaks with ease. Cooper still must continue to produce at this level for the rest of the season and into next. It is still impressive what he has done since being traded to Dallas. We have already seen Cooper have 200+ receiving yards in 3 different games. I am very interested to see what his future holds in Dallas! It is very possible he is in the discussion as one of the top WR in the league in the next two years!