Amari Cooper has private visit set up with Jaguars
By Will Osgood
Alabama wide receiver Amari Cooper already has a private visit set up with the Jacksonville Jaguars.
NFL free agency isn’t even three days old yet, and the Jacksonville Jaguars have apparently grown bored and gone back to the draft process (okay that is definitely not the correct way to read this).
The Jaguars, who possess the No. 3 overall pick on April 30–the first round of the 2015 NFL draft–have apparently secured a private visit with top prospect Amari Cooper.
Alabama wide receiver Amari Cooper has a private visit set up with the Jacksonville Jaguars
— Aaron Wilson (@AaronWilson_NFL) March 11, 2015
Cooper was one of just three players invited to New York City in December as a Heisman Trophy finalist. He finished third–behind Marcus Mariota and Wisconsin running back Melvin Gordon–after having one of the best seasons by a receiver at a big-time school in NCAA history.
Cooper caught a ridiculous 124 passes for 1,727 yards and 16 touchdowns just in 2014, his lone season in Lane Kiffin’s offense. With Kiffin calling the signals and the impressive quarterback play of first-year starter Blake Sims, Cooper was able to display an array of different skills in his final season in Tuscaloosa.
Among those, Cooper took many a quick hitch pass and made a man miss in space. But he was also a consistent deep threat who it seemed every game was catching a touchdown on a (very) deep post from Sims.
Cooper would show great tracking ability, and generally an ability to box out defenders or simply out-leap them in traffic to snag a contested catch.
The Jaguars, meanwhile, under soon-to-be third-year head coach Gus Bradley, acquired Julius Thomas, formerly of the Denver Broncos, to be a pass-catching tight end in their offense to help Blake Bortles jump start the offense.
They have been rumored to in on free agent running DeMarco Murray, though that now seems dead.
Last year they drafted Marqise Lee from Southern California and Allen Robinson from Penn State, in both instances citing advanced metrics played a major role in their evaluation of their prospective NFL careers.
When the Jaguars sort through the metrics on Cooper, they may not like what they see as much, though, as Cooper did drop a number of passes. I vividly recall Cooper dropping at least, and it may have been three, passes just in the fourth quarter at LSU this past season, and all were seemingly easy catches.
Still, there is a ton to like about Cooper. If he gets by Jacksonville at pick No. 3, he would seem to be the common sense pick for the Oakland Raiders at No. 4.