Oakland Raiders: Predicting targets for stacked WR group

Amari Cooper

Struggling with drops and inconsistent health in 2017, Amari Cooper is a player in desperate need of a bounce-back year.

His most effective season, to no one’s surprise, came in 2016 when he played in all 16 games and was targeted 132  times in Bill Musgrave’s offense.

That Raiders offense was the most successful they’ve had in Carr’s young career, and they’d be wise to take a look at the tape from that season and implement some of what Musgrave was doing.

Cooper’s effectiveness at this point doesn’t seem to be entirely about a high volume of targets, though if he’s going to continue to drop passes at a high rate, he’s going to need a high volume of targets.

Prediction: 130 targets

130 targets would be around a career-high for Cooper, and would also mean the Raiders are devoting around half of their passing game to Nelson and Cooper alone.

So be it.

Those players are their two most talented weapons and will consistently be the top two guys on the field.

If Cooper is around 130-135 targets, we could see him set career marks in receptions and touchdowns.