Oakland Raiders Made The Right Choice In Drafting Amari Cooper

The first sound you heard tonight was half of the Oakland Raiders fan base screaming in pure joy, while the other half groaned in disappointment.

The second sound you heard tonight was Stephen A. Smith, ESPN’s noted blowhard and pot stirrer, screaming, pounding his fist on his desk, and rambling incoherently – which was quickly followed by the sound of his head actually exploding, like that scene from that cinematic masterpiece, Scanners.

Despite all of the rumor and speculation about who the Raiders would wind up drafting at number four – and even more rumor and speculation about them trading down to accumulate some picks – in the end, Oakland selected Alabama superstar wideout Amari Cooper.

And in taking Cooper, the Raiders absolutely made the right choice.

It likely wasn’t an easy decision to make. With the coaching staff reportedly on board with Cooper, and the front office execs in love with USC defensive standout Leonard Williams, as the draft approached, you almost got the sense that Oakland would have loved for the teams drafting ahead of them to take either Cooper or Williams so they could avoid having to make a decision at all.

But the top three picks in the draft played out exactly as a lot of mocks had projected they would – Jameis Winston to Tampa Bay, Marcus Mariota going to Tennessee, and Dante Fowler Jr., headed for Jacksonville.

Which left Williams on the board, and the Raiders with a huge decision to make. And rather than punting by trading down, Reggie McKenzie and Jack Del Rio set a tone for the Raiders by taking the standout receiver – much to the chagrin of muckraker, Stephen A. Smith. It was Smith, if you remember correctly, who back in January, had this to say about the prospect of Oakland drafting Cooper:

"“This dude, as far as I’m concerned, is the best wideout in football. He does not deserve to be contaminated by being an Oakland Raider. I pray that he is not subjected to such a thing.”"

Because Smith likes to keep it classy and all.

The presence of Cooper is going to instantly elevate the Raiders’ passing attack. While a receiver group of Rod Streater, James Jones, Michael Crabtree, Andre Holmes, and Brice Butler would likely have been productive, and perhaps even fairly good, it still wouldn’t have been anything to write home about. Adding Cooper to the mix gives the Oakland passing game an explosive and dynamic element that it was sorely lacking.

Live Feed

Arrowhead Addict

And more importantly, having a receiver of Cooper’s caliber will allow second year quarterback Derek Carr to continue developing. It will help him take the next step in his own evolution that he needs to make if he wants to reach the upper echelons of NFL quarterbacks. And if you’ve ever listened to Carr speak, you know how badly he wants to reach those upper echelons.

Cooper’s presence in that receiver group is going to elevate the play of everybody around him. One thing that NFL scouts, executives, and even analysts around the country have remarked upon is his polish, his maturity, his steadiness, and his absolute readiness for the pro game.

ESPN draft analyst Todd McShay recently said this about Cooper:

"“From getting off of the press, to the precision of his routes, to getting his head turned around immediately as he’s coming out of his break, to knowing where the sticks are on third downs and making sure he gets beyond them, he is just a really polished receiver. That’s rare to see in college football right now, given the spread offense frenzy. When I studied Cooper’s tape it felt like I was watching a five-or six-year NFL veteran.”"

Former Raiders coach and ESPN analyst Jon Gruden was even more effusive in his praise:

"“Cooper reminds me of a young Tim Brown coming out of Notre Dame. Tim was “The Natural” and so is Cooper. He will line up to the left, he will line up to the right, he will go in motion, and he will be in the slot. He runs a large inventory of routes. If the coverage rotates, he knows how to adjust the pattern. He can get in and out of his breaks. He has savvy and he is elusive after the catch. We talk about how some players are high maintenance and some are low maintenance. There is no maintenance with Cooper. He just wants to be great and he goes up and gets it. He’s got good length, good height, good vertical, and the way he competes when the ball is in the air separates him.”"

The praise of Cooper’s abilities are seemingly endless. And the fact that Oakland took him at four even had some of the Raider legends pumped up. Moments after the pick was announced, Hall of Famer Tim Brown Tweeted out:

It’s understandable that some of the Raider faithful, who salivated at the thought of pairing Williams with Khalil Mack along Oakland’s defensive front, would be disappointed that McKenzie and Del Rio passed on the big man. But they shouldn’t fret too much.

More from Golden Gate Sports

• Raiders: Rookie stock report following Week 3 performance
• 49ers sign new long snapper amidst a flurry of roster moves
• Oakland Athletics win Game 2 of Wild Card round with late-inning drama
• 49ers: George Kittle and Deebo Samuel cleared to return to practice
• 49ers expected to place DE Dee Ford on injured reserve

The consolation in not taking Williams should be that pairing Cooper with Carr, allowing two young, soon to be stars in this league, to develop together is going to be a tremendous asset for the franchise. It is a connection that can help turn the Raiders offense into a legitimate threat on every single play, and one that can help revitalize the entire franchise.

Though it was a big decision, and one that left man a Raider fan disappointed, the truth of the matter is that Oakland wouldn’t have gone wrong had they gone with either Cooper or Williams. It was a matter of immediate value. And the organization believed that given the defense’s offseason upgrades, improving the league’s worst offense last season was a bigger priority than adding another defensive tackle, given the presence of Dan Williams and Justin Ellis.

It was a tough decision to make, but in the end, they made the right call. Reggie McKenzie and the Raiders came into this draft needing to knock it out of the park. And if night one is an indication of how the rest of the rest of the draft is going to play out, the Raider faithful will likely be as happy with this year’s rookie class as they are with last year’s.

And they’ll be even happier with how the team plays on the field come this fall.

Next: Did the Offseason Turn Oakland Into Contenders?