Thoughts on Amari Cooper?

[Simon]

3 minutes ago, HappyDays said:

I'm still a bit perplexed by his usage. Over the past two games Cooper had a 54% and 31% snap share, while Hollins had a 71% and 54% snap share, and Coleman had a 66% and 90% snap share. Even going back to the Lions game Cooper was out-snapped by Hollins and Coleman. And Cooper had just 5 total targets over those three games, while catching 4 of them. I mean it's good that when we need him to make a play he's making one but I really thought he would be a key feature of the offense by now. I guess Brady's offense just doesn't use the X receiver much?

 

I'd guess it's a combination of them wanting better blockers on the field and them playing coy with him until the playoffs start.

[HappyDays]

3 minutes ago, FireChans said:

Also, odd that he was HEAVILY featured in the Rams, so much so that he got like half his Bills targets then fell out of the gameplan again. 

 

Also the Titans game. And those are the two games where we fell behind early. So it's like Brady knows he is our go-to passing weapon when we need one, but he's only funneling him the ball when absolutely necessary. I've never seen anything like it before.

[HappyDays]

 

7 minutes ago, Simon said:

 

I'd guess it's a combination of them wanting better blockers on the field and them playing coy with him until the playoffs start.

 

The run blocking thing is the only reason I can come up. It's just extremely unusual to divy up WR snap counts based on run blocking. Like I said I've never seen anything like it before.

 

And I guess it's hard to argue with the results, but the offense has been somewhat clunky the past two games. It certainly hasn't been the dominant score at will offense that I think we'll need to make a Super Bowl run. Shakir has been MIA. Coleman as we can see is still learning the technical nuances and isn't reliable as an on schedule option. So I think it's time we get our best pass catcher involved as a featured option especially in the vertical game. I mean at least put him on the field, that's the part that doesn't make sense.

[Doc]

I'm going with saving him for the playoffs. 

[BADOLBILZ]

2 minutes ago, HappyDays said:

 

Also the Titans game. And those are the two games where we fell behind early. So it's like Brady knows he is our go-to passing weapon when we need one, but he's only funneling him the ball when absolutely necessary. I've never seen anything like it before.

 

 

I think they just know that with Josh Allen playing against a defense that feels forced to defend the entire field.........low risk plays equal long drives and TD's.   Complementary football has been what McD has wanted ever since his defense sort of came apart in that London game last year.   It hasn't really been fixed since.    And when Cooper is on the field the opponents continue to roll a safety to his side.   It's kind of surprising that the Bills can still run 3 x 1 and the Jets would have a safety almost lined up right behind the CB across from Cooper on the other side.   DC's really do not want those big plays on their coaching reel.

[HappyDays]

24 minutes ago, BADOLBILZ said:

And when Cooper is on the field the opponents continue to roll a safety to his side.

 

Yeah but that's why I mentioned snap counts specifically. If he's on the field a lot and doesn't get a ton of targets because his presence opens up the rest of the passing offense, I'm good with that. The weird part is that he's been on the field significantly less than Hollins or Coleman in recent games.

[BADOLBILZ]

4 minutes ago, HappyDays said:

 

Yeah but that's why I mentioned snap counts specifically. If he's on the field a lot and doesn't get a ton of targets because his presence opens up the rest of the passing offense, I'm good with that. The weird part is that he's been on the field significantly less than Hollins or Coleman in recent games.

 

Yeah there was a point early last game where I wondered if he was just getting the majority of the day off.   His body language on the sideline was very relaxed like he knew he wasn't playing........but he was right there on the edge with his helmet on.   And then he'd come on for a play and come off again.   My guess has been that they have been protecting the wrist by not asking him to block as much but I don't have data to prove that.   

[hondo in seattle]

2 hours ago, HappyDays said:

 

 

The run blocking thing is the only reason I can come up. It's just extremely unusual to divy up WR snap counts based on run blocking. Like I said I've never seen anything like it before.

 

And I guess it's hard to argue with the results, but the offense has been somewhat clunky the past two games. It certainly hasn't been the dominant score at will offense that I think we'll need to make a Super Bowl run. Shakir has been MIA. Coleman as we can see is still learning the technical nuances and isn't reliable as an on schedule option. So I think it's time we get our best pass catcher involved as a featured option especially in the vertical game. I mean at least put him on the field, that's the part that doesn't make sense.

 

Altough I see the clunkiness too, your earlier point is valid: it's hard to argue with the results.  As it stands right now, the Bills have the second highest points per drive for a season in NFL history. 

 

In other words, this offense is more productive than the offense of nearly any Super Bowl champion in history.

 

I suppose the question is:  Is the offense productive and consistent enough to produce wins even when our medicocre defense falls on its ass?    

[Doc Brown]

2 hours ago, BADOLBILZ said:

 

Yeah there was a point early last game where I wondered if he was just getting the majority of the day off.   His body language on the sideline was very relaxed like he knew he wasn't playing........but he was right there on the edge with his helmet on.   And then he'd come on for a play and come off again.   My guess has been that they have been protecting the wrist by not asking him to block as much but I don't have data to prove that.   

His body language always seems to be like that though.  I remember a must win game for Dallas game at Philly at the end of the 2019 season where he just looked really disinterested on the sidelines.  He played horribly and that kind of soured me on him ever since.  I know Bills fans love him right now in that he fills a much needed role on this offense but I'd be really hesitant to give him a big contract this off-season.

[Aussie Joe]

28 minutes ago, Doc Brown said:

 I know Bills fans love him right now in that he fills a much needed role on this offense but I'd be really hesitant to give him a big contract this off-season.

Big contract ? Surely he only gets a two year deal, and by two years I mean 1 year guaranteed where you need to play well to see the second year 

[Doc Brown]

4 minutes ago, Aussie Joe said:

Big contract ? Surely he only gets a two year deal, and by two years I mean 1 year guaranteed where you need to play well to see the second year 

Depends what his market is.  He'll be 31 next year and this is pry his last bite at the apple contract wise.  If some teams overpays for him the Bills shouldn't match it.  And don't call me Shirley.  

[Alphadawg7]

4 hours ago, HappyDays said:

I'm still a bit perplexed by his usage. Over the past two games Cooper had a 54% and 31% snap share, while Hollins had a 71% and 54% snap share, and Coleman had a 66% and 90% snap share. Even going back to the Lions game Cooper was out-snapped by Hollins and Coleman. And Cooper had just 5 total targets over those three games, while catching 4 of them. I mean it's good that when we need him to make a play he's making one but I really thought he would be a key feature of the offense by now. I guess Brady's offense just doesn't use the X receiver much?

 

I mean I think a part of that is still time in the offense.  The offense is always going to be a bit more complicated when playing with Allen because he extends plays so much and guys need to know where to be or go when he does.  They have also have talked about how complex and big the playbook is on top of that where receivers have a lot of options.  

 

So I do think coming in midseason is probably going to see Josh feel more comfortable with the guys who he has had more time with and wouldn't surprise me at all if that was part of the reason.

 

4 hours ago, FireChans said:

are we sure he’s healthy?

 

 I get platooning Mack from their perspective because they just love Mack, but it is odd.

 

Also, odd that he was HEAVILY featured in the Rams, so much so that he got like half his Bills targets then fell out of the gameplan again. 

 

IMHO Mack snaps really isn't that odd at all, its the same as it was with Gabe Davis...which comes down to the dirty work and blocking.  They have shown a big emphasis on his high level blocking similar to Davis where Davis even got a game ball in the Dallas game with 0 targets and not a single registered stat.

 

While Cooper was heavily targeted (14 targets) in that Rams game, he only had 6 catches for a pretty bad 43% catch rate.  Its just one game, but maybe its possible they felt trying to feed him targets wasn't very efficient.  Could be that Allen and Cooper just don't yet have the same timing and mind meld that he has with guys who were here the whole offseason for the full install of the offense.   

 

For example, I remember when Josh Allen openly talked about earlier in the season (one of the games in the first 3 weeks) where he had Coleman for an easy TD on a short slat on down and goal, but he chose to tuck the ball and run it in himself.  After the game Josh said he should have trusted Coleman there and thrown him that ball.  He would also say that is why he later in that same game threw him a deep back shoulder throw where Coleman made a big catch down the sideline.  

 

So wouldn't surprise me if Allen just has a higher comfort level of guys will be on the same page more, especially with how the season as gone than he maybe has developed with Cooper so far.  

 

Alternate consideration could also be too that they are not trying to over use Cooper and show too much with him (as Allen alluded too regarding the offense in general after the last Pats game) ahead of the playoffs.  Letting Cooper and Allen just more get more reps and comfortable with each other, but not yet show the full scale of their potential.  

 

All that being said...Cooper having a relevant game then some low production ones isn't unusual per his career either.  

[Alphadawg7]

3 hours ago, HappyDays said:

 

 

The run blocking thing is the only reason I can come up. It's just extremely unusual to divy up WR snap counts based on run blocking. Like I said I've never seen anything like it before.

 

TBH its not really much different than how Brady used Davis last year.  Davis would often see the most snaps even though Diggs was our best WR and that was a function of his blocking.  In the games Brady was the OC, Davis only had 2 games over 3 targets, one of which was a 12 target game against Philly and 6 target game against Chargers.  Its coincided with a bigger emphasis on getting Cook and the ground game in general going.  

 

3 hours ago, HappyDays said:

 

And I guess it's hard to argue with the results, but the offense has been somewhat clunky the past two games. It certainly hasn't been the dominant score at will offense that I think we'll need to make a Super Bowl run. Shakir has been MIA. Coleman as we can see is still learning the technical nuances and isn't reliable as an on schedule option. So I think it's time we get our best pass catcher involved as a featured option especially in the vertical game. I mean at least put him on the field, that's the part that doesn't make sense.

 

And you are right, it is hard to argue with the results really given the Bills have scored the most points in the NFL this year and exceeded all expectations for the most part.   The Bills are 20-5 in the Brady OC era and counting at the moment (7 reg season games and 2 post season 2023, and 16 games 2024).

 

But like you, I do hope to see Cooper get more involved in the postseason.  As you said, Coleman who has had a lot of exciting and encouraging plays, still is a rookie and had his rookie moments.  It was a bummer he missed time as well.  As far as Shakir goes, I wouldn't worry about him, everyone on the offense, including Allen were a bit off against the Pats (probably a bit of a comedown after the back to back games with Rams and Lions), and in the Jets game Allen only threw for 182 yards and no one on the team had more than 3 receptions in a blow out win.  Jets made that game easy on us