“I don’t think they think Amari Cooper has got great passion for the sport,” former general manager Michael Lombardi said on Tuesday. “I don’t think they think he loves football. That’s what I’m hearing coming out of that building. I think they’re worried about his contract moving forward. It doesn’t sound like they are interested in giving him that kind of deal so they’re going to tear this thing down.”
Whatever is going on with Cooper, or perhaps the Raiders offense in general, it has inspired Cooper to put up just 70 receptions in his last 20 games and 960 receiving yards in the same stretch – numbers that aren’t even up to the level of the Giants’ Sterling Shepard in that timespan (17 games, 90 receptions, 1,072 yards).
What is unfortunate is that Cooper has the talent to be an elite receiver in the league, but because of his lack of production, there’s little chance the Raiders will get any remarkable compensation for him. Maybe a 2nd round pick if they are lucky?
For what it’s worth, Gruden (or McKenzie, or whoever is working the phone lines in Alameda) is rumored to be looking for a first-round pick for Cooper.
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If Cooper is traded, it’ll likely be to a team, that wants him, and use him properly. If he’s not showing passion, it’s because he’s not receiving targets, even when he’s open. Watch the film; Cooper is routinely open. He is a wonderful route runner. For whatever reason, Carr doesn’t like to wait for longer routes to develop. If Amari is traded, he’ll blossom elsewhere
He has more drops that anyone in the league since he came into the league I believe. He is too inconsistent and not reliable that’s why he doesn’t get the targets
No one on offence is playing as well as they did in 2016. There seems to be myriad problems, from coaches down to the players. GO FIGURE!!!!
Remember when we had Moss and he wasn’t “showing passion?” What happened after we got a 4th rd pick for him?
offensive line a big disappointment last 2 years as well
Maybe if he had a quarterback who was worth a ****, he would have passion for the game
I guess the quarterback is responsible for the guy’s lack of effort in that Miami game huh?
Oh I was blinded by the light…I couldn’t see the ball.
Even after the pick Amari could care less about tackling the guy.
Cooper is in the same situation Carr is in. They don’t design plays for him, they don’t make a concerted effort to get him the ball in space. Downing/ Del Rio didn’t design an offense that illuminated Carr’s strengths and Gruden hasn’t done so either. Gruden is trying to bend Carr to a specific system instead of tweaking that system to fit what Carr does best. Plenty of coaches have done that. When you’re trying to fit a square peg into a round hole, you can’t expect that fit to happen immediately (6 games) and must exercise patience. If Gruden wanted to win now, he shouldn’t have come in and did what he did with the roster. With Crabtree gone, Cooper is now ” the guy” and that’s not something he’s used to. They’re expecting too much out of him for the limited opportunities he gets.
Every team that has an elite receiver forces the issue when it comes to getting the ball into their hands. Antonio Bryant, Julio Jones and even OBJ are all targeted ad nauseam which forces coverages to adjust,which,in turn, opens up opportunities for the other receivers. The bottom line is that Gruden doesn’t use Cooper properly and if they do unload him, things won’t be any better for anyone they bring in, if Gruden doesn’t change his approach to getting the ball to his stars.
I knew this guy was gutless and passive and weak when Pac-Man pushed his face into the coliseum turf and did NOTHING about it. Shameful. Give me an OBJ, Dez, Ocho, give me a diva receiver that gets mad. Cooper is a female dog for sure.