10 leading candidates for rookie of the year
By Andrew Garda
Amari Cooper, WR, Oakland Raiders
Next to quarterbacks, nobody gets more notice for awards like these than wide receivers. While they still aren’t as likely as quarterbacks to get tapped for it, they hit the marks on production and get the highlights on Sportscenter, so everyone knows their name.
Of course, it can be very hard for receivers when they enter the NFL and face much faster defenses than many of them had seen before.
Amari Cooper is already listed on the depth charts at Ourlads.com (usually very up to date) ahead of free agent Michael Crabtree. There’s no real competition for targets out in Oakland unless you want to start counting guys like Kenbrell Thompkins, Jeremy Gallon and Rod Streater, which I don’t.
There are several keys to any chance he has to win the award. Aside from how he adjusts to the pro game itself, he faces some tough corners in both the AFC West specifically and the AFC in general terms. He’s going to see guys like Chris Harris, Sean Smith, Darrelle Revis/Antonio Cromartie, Brandon Flowers, Aqib Talib and other variations of things the likes of which he has rarely seen before.
Yes, even in the fabled SEC while playing for the Crimson Tide.
Cooper also has to contend with a second-year quarterback in Derek Carr. Insofar as young quarterbacks go, Carr is pretty solid. He had some pretty bad moments in Year One, but overall he looks like the real deal under center. That’s a big thing for Raider Nation, as they’ve been searching for that since dinosaurs roamed the earth, and by dinosaurs, I mean Al Davis in the last years of his tenure.
Carr still has a ways to go, but Cooper is one of the keys to him reaching his full potential. He had too many moments where his weapons let him down. Cooper won’t do that – assuming Carr doesn’t let Cooper down instead.
Next: Kevin White, WR, Chicago Bears