Double moves are very common elements of the pro-system wide receiver route. Wide receivers like T.Y. Hilton and Odell Beckham Jr. are excellent at shifting their body and stepping in the correct location to pull the cornerback to the wrong side before they accelerate for a long pass. In this play, Cooper executes a beautiful double move (corner-post) to get wide-open over the midle. Pay close attention to Cooper’s change in acceleration and head shifting to turn cornerback away from the intended direction of the play.
Cooper runs a zig route which forces the cornerback to bite on the slant portion. The cornerback knows he is beaten and tries to hold onto Cooper to stop him from gaining separation underneath the goalline.
Overall, Cooper is an extremely polished route-runner. He consistently uses his shiftiness and change of pace to get wide-open on simple routes and plays. In this sluggo-seam route, he gains separation instantly, but the quarterback misses him on what could have been a big opportunity.
3. Yards-After-Catch Ability
Coming from Lane Kiffin’s west coast offense, Alabama’s bread-and-butter was the ability for their wide receivers to gain yards after the catch. Cooper is exceptional in this role. He shows his vision and natural running ability to effortlessly gain yards and see the running lanes.
Some cited Cooper’s struggles against press coverage earlier in his career, but through his final season at Alabama, Cooper seemed to overcome that. In this play, Cooper uses hand fighting and sudden head movements to beat press coverage off of the line of scrimmage and to get open for the catch.
Fade route where Cooper takes an excellent first step off of the line to fool cornerback into thinking it’s a slant route over the middle to get wide open in the endzone.
4. Run Blocking
Run blocking will never be a make-or-break reason a wide receiver is drafted into the league, but it’s one of those things that coaches will love you for the effort you put into your craft and how willing you are to help the team. Jordan Matthews (Philidelphia Eagles) was the best run-blocker of the 2014 class and it helped him gain playing time early on especially in the redzone.
Cooper’s technique and ability is definitely not the best and needs to improve on that aspect if he wants to make an impact in the running game and in redzone situations so he isn’t pulled. He does show the willingness to attempt the block, however, but sometimes he misses completely on his assignment.
In this play, Cooper gets caught watching the backfield play when he should be focused on sealing the edge and waiting to stop blocking until the whistle is blown.
In another instance, Cooper whiffs on his blocking assignment. Either lack of concentration or not understanding proper blocking technique he will sometimes not be a factor in the run game at all.
Pro Comparison and Draft Projection
Pro Comparison: Roddy White. Roughly the same size (6’0″ 211 lbs) as White, Cooper is a complete receiver who uses excellent route running to gain separation. Both struggled with drops due to occasional lapses in concentration. White is also a high volume possession wide receiver able to take over a game due to his consistency in the short and intermediate routes. Cooper’s deep speed won’t wow you like a Sammy Watkins or Odell Beckham Jr. but Cooper’s efficient and polished skill-set makes him a very solid wide receiver going into the NFL that should be able to put up decent numbers early in his career. Run blocking needs to improve, but is willing at the very least to help in that department.
Projected Round: Early 1st Round
1 Comment
thanks for doing these scouting reports, i’m very excited to read them all!