Is Amari Cooper the best WR in the draft?

[Fountain City Blues]

It's not as good as last year, but it is far from a bad wr draft. It's a bad draft for QB and a number of other positions IMO, but WR is not one.

I'd say WR is very strong. Odds are obviously against it having the impact last year's class had, but it's a very strong and diverse class, don't kid yourself.

QB and Safety, however. Now, that's a pretty weak group. Warming up to the CB group a little more after seeing what Darby and Waynes did, but not too high on that group either. I don't see a legit LT prospect in this draft, either; but lot's of solid Guard or RT options.

 

[TexasExes98]

Jaelen Strong

^^^^^THIS

 

[TexasExes98]

The real question is: Who has the rights to claim DGB? OU or MIZZOU?

 

[ducky]

While I still think this is a below average draft, I'm going to roll back the hate on the WRs.

Yeah I think the combine is going to have a lot of people rolling back their hate of this class overall but specifically the WR's. This is a DAMN good year for WR's.

I've yet to see anyone cover Cooper 1 on 1. And he has played against future NFL talent a good bit in doing that as well.

He really is a beast at the position. He is just so quick and combine with his route running ability, it makes him near impossible to stick with. Most people don't realize it but Cooper is probably one of the quickest top prospect WR's we have seen in years. He easily is as quick as a guy like Tavon Austin who so many people fell in love with a couple years ago (but unlike Austin, he isn't a midget and can run routes). It's all a lethal combination to try and cover.

 

[Clayton]

He really is a beast at the position. He is just so quick and combine with his route running ability, it makes him near impossible to stick with. Most people don't realize it but Cooper is probably one of the quickest top prospect WR's we have seen in years. He easily is as quick as a guy like Tavon Austin who so many people fell in love with a couple years ago (but unlike Austin, he isn't a midget and can run routes). It's all a lethal combination to try and cover.

Austin is a cautionary tale about how little WRs matter when QB play is bad, oline play is bad and your offensive coordinator is Brian Schottenheimer.

If you were to compliment Cooper then the comparison is Odell Beckham Jr.

 

[RaidaDave]

Dorial Green-Beckham is an athletic freak of nature, and minus his character issues, I believe he's the best prospect in the draft. His skill set is incredible, and he does what seems to be virtually impossible at times.

At the same time, Kevin White may be a better player than Cooper in every part of his game other than his speed and explosiveness. The more film I watch, the more I'm tempted to call White a better WR than Cooper. Mayock recently bumped White up to his #1 WR.



What are your guys thoughts?

I was really impressed with Kevin White at the combine. His 4.35 second 40 was very impressive for a guy with his size.

 

[ducky]

I was really impressed with Kevin White at the combine. His 4.35 second 40 was very impressive for a guy with his size.

And don't forget his bench press and vertical either.

The combine on this group of WR's I bet has all the internet draftniks scrambling to change their prospect profiles. I saw numerous guys questioning the top end speed of a lot of these WR's and most of them blazed.

 

[cdumler7]

I was really impressed with Kevin White at the combine. His 4.35 second 40 was very impressive for a guy with his size.

That is going to be the tough part right there of deciding who is top dog of the WR between White and Cooper. White has the physical skills that just jump right off the page and make you say wow! At the same time the production is good in college but not to the level of Cooper. So this is one of those decent production with ridiculous potential or high production with high potential type argument. I am usually a guy that loves production over potential but to me White has shown enough production for me to put him as the top guy. His ceiling is honestly just off the charts.

 

[RaidaDave]

That is going to be the tough part right there of deciding who is top dog of the WR between White and Cooper. White has the physical skills that just jump right off the page and make you say wow! At the same time the production is good in college but not to the level of Cooper. So this is one of those decent production with ridiculous potential or high production with high potential type argument. I am usually a guy that loves production over potential but to me White has shown enough production for me to put him as the top guy. His ceiling is honestly just off the charts.

I have to agree with you. Being a Raider fan, I am used to them picking the fastest guy even though the production wasn't there in college. Kevin White is a different animal all together. I think the Raiders would do good to pick either one. But right now, I'm leaning towards Kevin White.

 

[cdumler7]

I have to agree with you. Being a Raider fan, I am used to them picking the fastest guy even though the production wasn't there in college. Kevin White is a different animal all together. I think the Raiders would do good to pick either one. But right now, I'm leaning towards Kevin White.

I think Cooper is the safer of the two as you know he has the skills and the production matches the skills. I don't see Cooper though being that possible top-3 WR in the NFL where with White I think you have a chance that he is that type of guy.

 

[purguy12]

He is one of them. I think its a tight race with White and Parker right behind.

 

[ducky]

I don't see Cooper though being that possible top-3 WR in the NFL where with White I think you have a chance that he is that type of guy.

The WR position is so stacked in the NFL right now I am not sure you can realistically project anyone as a top 3 player at that position anymore.

But at the same time, no one would look at the physical traits of Antonio Brown and think top 3 WR either and he most certainly is in that category. He has been the best WR in the league two years running (if you take out players that are no longer in the league at least .... Josh Gordon ).

Obviously being 6'4" and able to jump out of the building is extremely desirable trait. But in the modern passing game with most defenses looking to press, quickness might be just as important moving forward in order to be able to create separation in the short time a QB has to get rid of the ball. And Cooper has that in spades.

 

[cdumler7]

The WR position is so stacked in the NFL right now I am not sure you can realistically project anyone as a top 3 player at that position anymore.

But at the same time, no one would look at the physical traits of Antonio Brown and think top 3 WR either and he most certainly is in that category. He has been the best WR in the league two years running (if you take out players that are no longer in the league at least .... Josh Gordon ).

Obviously being 6'4" and able to jump out of the building is extremely desirable trait. But in the modern passing game with most defenses looking to press, quickness might be just as important moving forward in order to be able to create separation in the short time a QB has to get rid of the ball. And Cooper has that in spades.

I don't think there is a certain mold out there that shows this is what a top-3 WR looks like. And maybe Cooper can get to that level I just think that with White he has only began to scratch the surface of his ability. He played with a terrible quarterback in college yet still put up decent numbers. Most of his work was either through screens or running the fly route. I just think that if he actually gets to work with an NFL coaching staff that teaches him to run routes that he can finally maximize his freak athleticism. Again this is not me saying Cooper is a terrible WR. I think he is great and whatever team he goes to will love having him. He is a guy that will stick in the league for years and have many productive seasons. Heck if I was a team picking in the top-5 I would really have to go back and forth on which one I would take of Cooper or White. Obviously I don't have the interview opportunity that these other teams do so can't get to know the player personally. Just me personally though just looking at what they have done on the field then add in the freak athleticism I just lean towards White at this time. It wouldn't take much to sway me the other way though.

 

[ducky]

Heck if I was a team picking in the top-5 I would really have to go back and forth on which one I would take of Cooper or White.

It's actually kind of crazy but with the way the draft sets up, it is entirely possible that a WR isn't drafted in the top 9 of the draft.

Look at the top 9:

Tampa : No chance at a WR with Evans last year.
Tennesse: They have a big need. But they also have big needs at DE and QB and will likely pull the trigger on one of those two spots instead of WR.
Jacksonville: IMO they will go OL or DL.
Oakland: This is the only spot where I think that a 1st round WR is over 50% in the top 9.
Washington: Have bigger needs elsewhere.
Jets: No chance with Harvin and Decker there.
Bears: Ho chance.
Atlanta: A slight chance with an eye towards White leaving/retiring in the next couple of years but really slim.
NYG: No chance.

So out of the top 9 team's only Oakland has a real need. But they also really need pass rushers and OL and.....hell they need virtually every position (least talented future team in the NFL....by a mile). With the depth of the WR class, I could see them going with a more impact DE/OT pick in the 1st and follow up with a WR in the 2nd.

But I am a Viking fan and hoping they go WR this year (Teddy needs a weapon) so maybe I am looking at this as wishful thinking and hoping there is a chance we can walk with one the top 2 guys.

 

[cdumler7]

It's actually kind of crazy but with the way the draft sets up, it is entirely possible that a WR isn't drafted in the top 9 of the draft.

Look at the top 9:

Tampa : No chance at a WR with Evans last year.
Tennesse: They have a big need. But they also have big needs at DE and QB and will likely pull the trigger on one of those two spots instead of WR.
Jacksonville: IMO they will go OL or DL.
Oakland: This is the only spot where I think that a 1st round WR is over 50% in the top 9.
Washington: Have bigger needs elsewhere.
Jets: No chance with Harvin and Decker there.
Bears: Ho chance.
Atlanta: A slight chance with an eye towards White leaving/retiring in the next couple of years but really slim.
NYG: No chance.

So out of the top 9 team's only Oakland has a real need. But they also really need pass rushers and OL and.....hell they need virtually every position (least talented future team in the NFL....by a mile). With the depth of the WR class, I could see them going with a more impact DE/OT pick in the 1st and follow up with a WR in the 2nd.

But I am a Viking fan and hoping they go WR this year (Teddy needs a weapon) so maybe I am looking at this as wishful thinking and hoping there is a chance we can walk with one the top 2 guys.

Hard to tell right now how this is all going to play out. I could see those top-10 teams looking at the depth of this draft and seeing that 1st round talent at the WR position will probably fall to the 2nd round and decide that drafting another need at a less deep position makes more sense. At the same time guys like Cooper and White are just pretty special talents so I could see it going both ways.

Me personally I only use a 1st round pick on a WR or a RB if I feel like they are just above and beyond amazing. Otherwise I would always be working to build all other positions especially the trenches as teams can get away with mediocre talent at the WR position and still find success (Seattle and New England this past year are great examples). So again hard to tell.

I do though think there are more teams in the top-10 that could be looking. I agree that none of the top-3 will draft a WR. Oakland is the first spot that will really think about it with having a young quarterback they want to build around. I could see Washington thinking about it just a bit to give RGIII one of the strongest WR cores in the NFL with Garcon and Jackson in the mix. Probably won't as they have way too many other big needs that probably trump it. Bears are another I could see. There is talk that Brandon Marshall is on his way out so whatever young quarterback they bring in they will want to give them a weapon. Most likely by that point the top-2 quarterbacks are gone so they could go WR in the 1st then QB in the 2nd with a guy like Hundley.

Anyway hard to tell right now. The top-10 can go so many different ways. I'm hoping we do see some of these WR's taken off the board early and often though as that means players of other positions fall more towards the Broncos at the end of the draft. I'm hoping the OL players get pushed down a bit as the Broncos need some help on the OL in a big way.

 

[night]

It's actually kind of crazy but with the way the draft sets up, it is entirely possible that a WR isn't drafted in the top 9 of the draft.

Look at the top 9:

Tampa : No chance at a WR with Evans last year.
Tennesse: They have a big need. But they also have big needs at DE and QB and will likely pull the trigger on one of those two spots instead of WR.
Jacksonville: IMO they will go OL or DL.
Oakland: This is the only spot where I think that a 1st round WR is over 50% in the top 9.
Washington: Have bigger needs elsewhere.
Jets: No chance with Harvin and Decker there.
Bears: Ho chance.
Atlanta: A slight chance with an eye towards White leaving/retiring in the next couple of years but really slim.
NYG: No chance.

So out of the top 9 team's only Oakland has a real need. But they also really need pass rushers and OL and.....hell they need virtually every position (least talented future team in the NFL....by a mile). With the depth of the WR class, I could see them going with a more impact DE/OT pick in the 1st and follow up with a WR in the 2nd.

But I am a Viking fan and hoping they go WR this year (Teddy needs a weapon) so maybe I am looking at this as wishful thinking and hoping there is a chance we can walk with one the top 2 guys.

Atlanta should be a no chance too. I'd say there is a 99% chance they go DE with that pick.

 

[Clayton]

Look at the top 9:

Tampa : No chance at a WR with Evans last year.
Tennesse: They have a big need. But they also have big needs at DE and QB and will likely pull the trigger on one of those two spots instead of WR.
Jacksonville: IMO they will go OL or DL.
Oakland: This is the only spot where I think that a 1st round WR is over 50% in the top 9.
Washington: Have bigger needs elsewhere.
Jets: No chance with Harvin and Decker there.
Bears: Ho chance.
Atlanta: A slight chance with an eye towards White leaving/retiring in the next couple of years but really slim.
NYG: No chance.

So out of the top 9 team's only Oakland has a real need.

Raiders and Jets are the 2 teams Im looking at. Harvin has a good chance of getting cut. Not exactly a guy you rely on moving forward. I think if the Rams let Britt walk then WR is likely for them at 10. Browns could be looking to move up, too. So Cooper's range is pick 4 to pick 12.

 

[ducky]

So Cooper's range is pick 4 to pick 12.

If he gets by my Vikings at pick #11, I will be pretty disappointed. Him dropping far enough for us to move up for him (give a 4th to the GMen to move up to #9) is the move I have been eyeing since the draft order was finalized.

Obviously a long way to go to the draft a lot of perceptions might change. But to me right now it is the WR's, kind of like Sammy Watkins last year, that could cause some trades in the top 10.

 

[Clayton]

If he gets by my Vikings at pick #11, I will be pretty disappointed. Him dropping far enough for us to move up for him (give a 4th to the GMen to move up to #9) is the move I have been eyeing since the draft order was finalized.

You know everyone is going to be mocking Parker there at 11. The team that is primed to move up is Cleveland because they'll want to jump the Rams and Vikings.

 

[ducky]

You know everyone is going to be mocking Parker there at 11. The team that is primed to move up is Cleveland because they'll want to jump the Rams and Vikings.

Yeah I've kind of thought Cleveland, especially with that extra 1st round pick later on in the round, could be serious movers. And yes, jumping the Ram's and Vikes would be wise if they want one of the top 2 WR's and both those guys slide to #7 or so.

But Cleveland have a serious amount of change in their pockets too. I could see them being the team that goes out and really puts out a serious offer out to some of the top FA WR's as a safer way to move on from Gordon and get more of a sure thing.

This is a really good draft at WR IMO. But it also is a really good FA class of WR's too. A great year to have WR as your primary need. There is just about every flavor of WR you can imagine in one form or the other that team's can get their hands on.