dave mcbride

Joe B watched every Browns snap and here's his take on Cooper's drops this year: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5846503/2024/10/16/amari-cooper-trade-bills-analysis-receiver/ (There are some good screen shots in the piece, which is worth reading in full.) 'Through six games, Cooper has not had quite the impact that most are accustomed to during his career. He’s on pace for only 68 receptions and 708 yards, which would easily be the worst non-injury year of his career. His drops have also been widely publicized. But this is why watching the film is so beneficial: you can see the how, what, and why. And the film shows that the evaluation goes well beyond all of those issues as Cooper-only problems. There seem to be pretty distinct reasons for both his lack of production and the drops “issue.” The primary thing evident when watching Cooper is that he is still getting open at a good rate. The Browns’ passing attack is so bad that it is sucking the life out of Cooper’s weekly chances to be an impactful receiver. They badly need a quarterback change, and their stubbornness against doing so has led to the offensive situation eroding with each game. Cooper looks like he’s been on a different page with his quarterback for most of the year. The ball placement to Cooper has been horrible, and several of the drops assigned to him resulted from an off-body throw that could have been prevented with either a quicker decision, better throwing mechanics or a combination of the two. Cooper does deserve a pair of the drops because they hit him right in the hands, but it’s not as overwhelming of a problem as you might expect, and it likely gets better with an upgrade at quarterback. Through six games, Cooper has six drops. His yearly average in the previous four seasons is five drops, so there is likely some positive regression coming, especially with a massive quarterback upgrade. You can even sense a hint of frustration in Cooper’s body language on film, too, when he knows he read the defense correctly and popped open, only to see the throw sail over his head to a different area that was not as open. He’s not overly demonstrative to the point of being an issue, but target earning and separation is a skill, and for it to go without success as often as it has this season can wear thin on a player. It’s as if Cooper and the quarterback are speaking two different languages at times.'

It was a hard balancing and then he had to swivel and go. Many receivers would simply have gone out of bounds or gone down. It was a great play. Let's not diminish it.

Understood.

I always go back to the Minnesota Miracle because it's kind of an argument ender (and you simply can't leave it out), but I will say this in Cooper's favor: he had to play one game with the truly awful Connor Cook slinging it to him, and he had 2 catches for 10 yards on 10 targets. Carr had broken his leg a couple of weeks before and the 12-3 (at the time) Raiders were stuck with an absolute dog at backup QB.

He was bull rushed by Anderson in the final seconds of the Houston game -- something you specifically mentioned in your post. My point was a) Anderson is REALLY good and not some JAG and b) it's really hard to play LT in that situation given that a holding call immediately causes the Bills to lose. You can't do anything that can be construed as holding in that situation. It's not an easy spot for a lineman, especially when the opponents KNOW you're going to pass on 3rd and 10 because you have to get a first.

I know it's popular to diminish Diggs now, but he's having a very good season this year: on pace for 104 catches, 1,111 yards, 11 TDs, and a 77.1 percent catch rate.

Postseason comparison Diggs: 14 games (13 starts), 69 catches for 909 yards; 13.2 ypr, 4 TDs, one BIG 2-pt conversion (13 seconds game), 64.9 ypg average, 61.1% catch rate; 4 rushes for 21 yards; 1 fumble Cooper: 5 games; 25 catches for 304 yards; 12.2 ypr; 2 TDs; 60.8 ypg average; 58.1% catch rate; 0 rushes for 0 yards; 1 fumble And of course there's the Minnesota Miracle play by Diggs, one of the greatest NFL postseason plays of the last decade.

Um ... third overall pick of the draft last year, defensive rookie of the year, and a guy on pace for 15.5 sacks this season?

The Bills have a ridiculous amount of draft picks next year: 10 total, 6 in the first four rounds, and zero in the seventh round. Giving up the third rounder for the upgrade is a no-brainer.

Well, the Josh Allen they saw that day wasn't very good.

Hard to play LT vs Anderson when you absolutely have to avoid ANY semblance of holding. That's a really, really hard spot for a lineman to be in. Late second for a cornerstone LT is arguably far better value than a fifth round-round off-ball LB or 4th-round nickel back. Positional value matters. So many LTs go in the first.

I can't fault him for the final 3rd down play in the Bills own end zone vs Houston. He's up against an elite pass rusher and can't do anything that even remotely looks like holding because a called hold there ends the game. It's a tough position for a lineman to be in.

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/D/DawkDi00.htm He is an 8-year starter at left tackle (obviously a premium position), objectively good at it (multiple pro bowls) and has only missed two games (in 2022) in his entire career. Pretty good for a late second round pick (63rd overall). I wouldn't say he's the best LT in the league by any stretch (he's not Trent Williams), but I see him as a player who is consistently in the top 10 at his position -- a position for which it's very hard to find good players.

Yeah, seems right. Cooper is a good player, but “leader” is not a term I associate with him. That’s ok if he plays like a stud.

From Wikipedia: "Cooper is an avid chess player. He was first captivated by the game as an elementary school student in northwest Miami, and as a football player, he relates chess strategies to his play on the field. He played in Chess.com's BlitzChamps, a rapid tournament for NFL players, and came in second place behind Chidobe Awuzie."

yes he does.

In just 15 games last year, he had 1,250 yards for 17.4 ypr. The drops issue might be a product of outliers; he was not much of a pass dropper until he got to Cleveland. In Dallas in 2020, he had 92 catches and only 3 drops. https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/C/CoopAm00.htm

I recall the Bills-Cleveland game in Detroit in November 2022. The Bills couldn't cover him at all - he was just too quick and too sharp at getting in and out of breaks. He had 8 catches for 113 yards and 2 TDs.

Just saw that. I was at first a bit surprised but I think the Steelers are frauds.

I'll say this: if Pitt beats them, I'll rest a lot easier. The pathway to the division title becomes a lot if the Jets fall to 2-5, Miami loses on the road at Indy, and the Bills take care of business at home vs TN. That's a commanding lead just seven games into the season.

I'm not saying it's probable, but I do think it's plausible because if you look at it, it's an extremely easy schedule overall. But you're right, it's a week to week league and injuries happen.

I get that, but it is true that they are a talented team overall and that Adams is an elite WR. I'm not saying this is going to happen, but they should win most of these games if talent is the basis for making the prediction.

https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/aaron-rodgers-apparently-had-toxic-13-year-relationship-with-former-packers-coach-mike-mccarthy/ I think what you're seeing now is effective PR management by Rodgers, who is good at covering up his quasi-sociopathic behavior after it happens. It was an unhappy relationship in GB.

It's extremely easy for the Jets to get out of the later years with zero penalty. That $36.5 million number is funny money.

Morgan Moses is a pretty good player and his absence the last couple of games is why they were a sieve. He came back last night and played well. He's not the best RT, but he's an upgrade over their first round pick, Fashanu, at this point. Fashanu was overwhelmed vs Denver and MN.