I see that the Raiders are picking up the fifth-year option on Amari Cooper. Not a huge surprise, but he was pretty mediocre last year, triggering the discussion.
Cooper hasn’t been a big scorer thus far, largely because the Raiders haven’t been able to get him going in the red zone. They haven’t used him that much in that part of the field, and he hasn’t been all that effective when they have gone his way. Michael Crabtree consistently was better around the goal line over the past few years.
But I think Cooper has above-average talent, and I expect his numbers will zoom upwards with Jon Gruden overseeing the offense.
Gruden tends to build his offenses around getting the ball to that featured wide receiver, and he says Cooper will be that guy. They’ve also got Jordy Nelson, but Cooper is their No. 1 option. More so than other coaches, Gruden figures out ways to get the ball in the hands of his top guy (rather than using him as a decoy).
Of Gruden’s last 13 offenses, all of them had a 1,000-yard receiver, and a lot of those players weren’t as good as Cooper. A lot of older guys who had been castoffs from other teams – all seven of those receivers (who combined for those 13 seasons) had their last career 1,000-yard season with Gruden.
Of those 13 wide receivers, all but two also caught more than 75 passes. That's looking at Gruden's work as a head coach in Oakland and Tampa Bay, and his stint as an offensive coordinator in Philadelphia.
Definitely sign me up for Cooper.
| GRUDEN'S LEADING WIDE RECEIVERS | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Player | No | Yards | Avg | TD |
| 1995 | Calvin Williams, Phil. | 63 | 768 | 12.2 | 2 |
| 1996 | Irving Fryar, Phil. | 88 | 1,195 | 13.6 | 11 |
| 1997 | Irving Fryar, Phil. | 86 | 1,316 | 15.3 | 6 |
| 1998 | Tim Brown, Oak. | 81 | 1,012 | 12.5 | 9 |
| 1999 | Tim Brown, Oak. | 90 | 1,344 | 14.9 | 6 |
| 2000 | Tim Brown, Oak. | 76 | 1,128 | 14.8 | 11 |
| 2001 | Tim Brown, Oak. | 91 | 1,165 | 12.8 | 10 |
| 2002 | Keyshawn Johnson, T.B. | 76 | 1,088 | 14.3 | 5 |
| 2003 | Keenan McCardell, T.B. | 84 | 1,174 | 14.0 | 9 |
| 2004 | Michael Clayton, T.B. | 80 | 1,193 | 14.9 | 7 |
| 2005 | Joey Galloway, T.B. | 83 | 1,287 | 15.5 | 10 |
| 2006 | Joey Galloway, T.B. | 62 | 1,057 | 17.0 | 7 |
| 2007 | Joey Galloway, T.B. | 57 | 1,014 | 17.8 | 6 |
| 2008 | Antonio Bryant, T.B. | 83 | 1,248 | 15.0 | 7 |
—Ian Allan