The Oakland Raiders have two franchise cornerstones in Derek Carr and Khalil Mack, making them one of the most exciting young teams in the NFL. With the two at the helm, the Raiders have a serious shot to win a Super Bowl in the near future.
However, while Carr and Mack get most of the spotlight, Oakland also has Amari Cooper as one of their go-to receivers. Cooper has proven to be one of the best receivers in the league but has shown a tendency to fade in the latter parts of a season. According to Jerry McDonald of Mercury News, Cooper is confident he can buck this trend:
“Of course it’s been on my mind, but it’s a good thing to me because I feel like I can go nowhere but up,” Cooper said Tuesday following a Raiders OTA practice. “I know that I can have a lot more production than I’ve had in the past two seasons, so we’ll just see.”
Cooper believes working on his fundamentals will lead to better on-field production:
“It’s easy to forget the small things like high-pointing the ball, looking the ball all the way through and not trying to run before you catch the ball,” Cooper said. “Overall, (I’m) just working hard in the offseason so that you can come back and you can be dominant.”
Listed at 6’1″ and 210 pounds, Cooper’s size and agility allow him to make plays down the field and he should only improve with more reps. Along with fellow receivers Michael Crabtree and Cordarrelle Patterson, the Raiders have a solid corps heading into the 2017 NFL season.
Cooper managed 83 receptions for 1,153 yards in his sophomore season.
