Raiders preseason: Amari Cooper impressive vs. Cardinals
If the last two draft classes are any indication, the Raiders have perhaps the next great pass rusher and pass catcher on their roster, and they were impressive yet again on Sunday night football.
Amari Cooper, the Raiders’ sensational rookie out of Alabama, showed everyone why Patrick Peterson is perceived as overrated, and also made him look flat out silly on this catch and run…
For Oakland Raiders fans, this is about as exciting as it gets going into a season. They have Cooper ready to take the NFL by storm, and he’s improving astronomically before our eyes on a week-to-week basis.
To me, Derek Carr still looks really inconsistent, but he’s only a 2nd year player. Carr attempted 34 passes on Sunday night, and completed just 18. The upside is there, especially with Cooper in the mix, but his development will determine how quickly the Raiders contend.
With Cooper catching passes, that development could come pretty quickly.
Not only is Cooper one of the best route runners in the league (in my opinion already, even as a rookie) but he’s a really underrated big play threat with speed and quickness. There’s no real hole to his game that I could see coming out of Alabama and I think the Raiders undoubtedly got the best offensive player in this draft just one year after securing the best defensive player in the draft (Khalil Mack).
Speaking of Mack, he appears to be ready to really excel in Jack Del Rio’s defense. Playing that SAM LB position that Von Miller played for Del Rio in Denver, Mack is going to be free to make a lot of plays and he will put a ton of pressure on the quarterback. the great thing about Mack is that you don’t have to just restrict him to standing up at LB, either. He can rush with his hand in the dirt, and he can also move all around the formation.
The Raiders should be ecstatic about these two future superstars, and with Cooper’s performance against a 4-time Pro Bowl player (even if he is overrated) there’s no doubt in my mind he’s going to be a stud sooner I expected.