Oakland Raiders: For Amari Cooper, the future is right now

The Oakland Raiders have a very interesting decision to make in the not too distant future regarding their former first-round draft pick.

When the Oakland Raiders made Amari Cooper the fourth overall pick in the 2015 Draft, it was with the expectation that he would be the number one receiver they’d long been searching for. It was also with the expectation that he’d be a cornerstone of this Oakland offense for a long, long time to come – think Tim Brown-type longevity.

But, here we are, Cooper is entering the fourth-year of his rookie deal, and we really still don’t know yet, how he fits into the future plans of this Oakland offense.

The short answer, of course, is to say that since they picked up the fifth-year option on his rookie deal and head coach Jon Gruden announcing that he’s the focal point of Oakland’s offense, that they plan on keeping him for the long-term.

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And maybe that’s right. Maybe that really will come to pass. But, at this point, it’s anything but guaranteed.

After bursting onto the scene in his first two seasons, racking up 2,223 yards on 155 catches, and 11 touchdowns, it was hard to argue that the Raiders had found their long sought after big play receiver.

He and Michael Crabtree seemed to complement each other very well, and formed a pretty dynamic one-two punch in Oakland’s offense.

The dynamic duo took a huge step backwards in 2017 though. Although, to be fair, the entire offense – starting with quarterback Derek Carr – stumbled and flailed their way to a terrible showing. It wouldn’t be accurate or fair to put this all on Cooper’s shoulders.

However, the stat line will tell you that for the season, Cooper’s effectiveness was greatly diminished. He finished the year with a career-low 48 receptions for 680 yards, but did haul in seven touchdowns on the season.

Those numbers though, looks even worse, when you consider the fact that of those 48 total receptions, 11 came in their week seven tilt with the Chiefs – as did 210 of his total 680 yards, and two of his seven total touchdowns.

That means that of the other 13 games Cooper was a part of in 2017, he managed just 37 receptions for 470 yards, and five touchdowns.

Those are pretty pedestrian numbers for a number one receiver.

Agan though, Cooper’s numbers also reflect the ineptitude of former offensive coordinator Todd Downing. His mishandling of the offense led to regressions from players across the board. The one year drop in production from Bill Musgrave‘s final year with the team to Downing’s tenure was – stunning. To say the least.

However, the struggles with the offense only served to highlight a problem that’s plagued Cooper throughout his young career so far – drops.

In his first two seasons, his number of dropped passes was somewhat mitigated by the explosiveness of the offense overall. It was more or less masked by the way the offense was still able to move the ball. In his rookie season though, Cooper dropped an astonishing 10 passes – “good” for second in the league.

He did a better job in 2016, only dropping four passes, but last season, that number snuck back up to five, putting him back in the top-ten in the league in that dubious category. But, it was the timing of some of his drops that really seemed to put a spotlight on them.

The number of dropped passes by Cooper though, are hardly what you want to see from your number one receiver. He drops passes at a rate far higher than some of the league’s best, such as Antonio Brown, DeAndre Hopkins, Jarvis Landry, and on, and on…

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Which brings us to the here and now. When Cooper first burst onto the scene and had two monster campaigns in his rookie and sophomore seasons, it was unthinkable that the Raiders would ever consider parting with him.

As we head toward the 2018 season, the conventional wisdom seems to be that, despite a down season, Cooper will bounce back and round back into that number one form. After all, Gruden is making him the focal point of the offense, right?

Make no mistake about it though – with Gruden making that proclamation, it is as much about giving Cooper a boost of confidence, as well as issuing a challenge to him. He is essentially throwing down the gauntlet and challenging Cooper to step up and be the kind of receiver everybody thinks he can be.

Picking up the fifth-year option on Cooper’s rookie deal is a false sense of security, given that it’s guaranteed for injury only until the start of the new league year in 2019. If he doesn’t step up and perform in 2018, the team can still cut him and get out from under the near $14 million he’s scheduled to make on that option.

In what could be a move that turns out to be incredibly savvy or incredibly stupid, Gruden flipped a third-round pick for Steelers castoff/headache Martavis Bryant during the Draft.

It’s potentially savvy in that, if Cooper doesn’t perform and his problems with drops continue, if – and this is only an if – the team opts to part ways with him, the money that had been earmarked for Cooper can then be flipped toward a deal with Bryant, who – also in the final year of his deal – will be looking to get paid next season.

It could potentially be stupid, because if the team opts to keep Cooper, it seems unlikely that they’ll have the ability to keep two receivers who expect to be paid like number ones.

If that’s the case and Bryant walks after this season, Gruden will have burned that third-round pick on a one year rental. A third-round pick that could have been used on a young, talented receiver who will actually be around for a little while.

Gruden though, isn’t a guy who makes moves just to make moves. There’s usually some method to his madness, and some reason for the things he does. As maddening as it can be trying to figure it out sometimes.

In this case, it could simply be a case of giving the team some options, and cranking up the pressure on Cooper to step up and be a number one.

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After two phenomenal years to start off his pro career, Amari Cooper may possibly be at something of a crossroads. At least as far as his time with the Raiders may be concerned.

Gruden is giving him every opportunity to step up and perform. It’s up to Cooper to take that chance and run with it. It’s sink or swim time for a man many believe is a budding superstar.

For Amari Cooper, the future – his future – is very much now.