Amari Cooper
Vorlage:Infobox NFL player Amari Cooper (born June 18, 1994) is an American football wide receiver for the Oakland Raiders of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Alabama. He was the Biletnikoff Award winner as the nation's top receiver and a unanimous All-American in 2014. Considered one of the top wide receiver prospects of the 2015 NFL Draft,[1] the Raiders selected him 4th overall.
Early years
Cooper attended Miami Northwestern High School in Miami, Florida, where he played as a wide receiver for coach Billy Rolle. As a junior, he missed much of the season with an injury but still managed to be one of Teddy Bridgewater's primary targets and had 16 catches for 175 yards with four scores. Cooper was dominant on the 7-on-7 circuit at various college campuses before his senior season. He had a show-out performance at Alabama's summer camp, and that quickly led to an offer from Nick Saban and the Crimson Tide. In his final year, he hauled in 33 receptions for 722 yards and 6 touchdowns. He was a first team FHSAA 8A All-State selection, as well as the No. 4 player on The Orlando Sentinel’s Florida Top 100.[2] He was also invited to play at the 2012 Under Armour All-America Game, where he had a 75-yard touchdown grab and a 93-yard punt return for a score. In addition to being a standout in football, Cooper also excelled in basketball and was a state qualifier in track & field.
Cooper was a consensus four-star prospect. He was listed as the No. 45 in the Rivals100, and was considered the No. 6 wide receiver and No. 8 player in Florida by Rivals.com.[3] ESPNU listed him as the nation's No. 7 wideout and No. 46 overall prospect in the ESPNU 150 while ranking 25th in the ESPNU Southeast Top 100 and No. 12 in Florida.[4] He was ranked as the No. 6 wide receiver and the No. 10 player in the state of Florida by 247Sports.com, while ranking him 55th in the Top247.[5] Also, Scout.com rated him as the No. 12 pass catcher in the nation and 86th overall prospect.[6] He chose Alabama over Florida State, Miami and Ohio State, among others. Cooper announced his verbal commitment to the University of Alabama on September 22, 2011.[7]
College career
Freshman season
As a freshman, Cooper played in all 14 games, including starts in the final nine games. He led Alabama with 59 receptions for 1,000 yards and 11 touchdowns.[8] The 11 touchdowns broke Alabama's 62-year-old record by Al Lary.[9] His receptions and receiving yards broke Julio Jones' Alabama freshman records. In Alabama's 2013 BCS National Championship Game victory over Notre Dame, Cooper led all Alabama receivers with 105 yards and two touchdowns.[10] Cooper earned consensus Freshman All-American honors and was selected to the SEC All-Freshman team by the league coaches.[11]
Sophomore season
As a sophomore in 2013, Cooper played in 12 games with seven starts, missing two games due to injury. He had 45 receptions for a team-high 736 yards and four touchdowns. He had his best game of the season against Auburn, recording six receptions for 178 yards, including a school record 99-yard touchdown reception.[12]
Junior season
During Cooper's junior season, he set numerous single-season and career records for Alabama.[13] Against Tennessee, he broke Alabama's single game receiving yards record, finishing with 224.[14] He would later match the record against Auburn.[15] For the season, Cooper had 124 receptions for 1,727 yards and 16 touchdowns, all school records. The 124 receptions were also an SEC record.[16] He became Alabama's all-time leader in receptions (229), receiving yards (3,463) and receiving touchdowns (31).[17][18] Cooper was a finalist for the Heisman Trophy, finishing third behind Marcus Mariota and Melvin Gordon.[19] He won the Biletnikoff Award that season and was also named a unanimous All-American.[20][21]
After the season, Cooper entered the 2015 NFL Draft.[22][23]
College career stats
Year | GP | Receiving | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Rec | Rec–Yards | Avg | TD | Long | 100+ | Avg/G | ||
2012 | 14 | 59 | 1,000 | 16.9 | 11 | 54 | 5 | 71.4 |
2013 | 12 | 45 | 736 | 16.4 | 4 | 99 | 2 | 61.3 |
2014 | 14 | 124 | 1,727 | 13.9 | 16 | 80 | 7 | 123.4 |
Total | 228 | 3,463 | 15.2 | 31 | 99 | 14 | 86.6 |
Professional career
NFL Draft
Cooper was considered one of the two best wide receivers of the 2015 class, together with Kevin White. In most mock drafts he was projected to be a top 10 pick, with some having him as high as the 4th pick in the 2015 NFL Draft.[24][25] Vorlage:Nfl predraft
Oakland Raiders
The Oakland Raiders picked Cooper 4th overall in the 2015 NFL Draft.[26][27]
References
External links
Vorlage:2012 Alabama Crimson Tide football navbox Vorlage:2014 NCAA Division I FBS College Football Consensus All-Americans Vorlage:Fred Biletnikoff Award Vorlage:Paul Warfield Trophy Vorlage:2015 NFL Draft Vorlage:RaidersFirstPick Vorlage:Raiders2015DraftPicks
- ↑ NFL Draft Scout
- ↑ http://alabama.247sports.com/Article/Road-to-Stardom-Amari-Cooper-31437959
- ↑ Rivals.com
- ↑ http://espn.go.com/college-sports/football/recruiting/playerrankings/_/class/2012/view/region/order/true/region/Southeast
- ↑ http://247sports.com/Season/2012-Football/RecruitRankings?InstitutionGroup=HighSchool
- ↑ http://recruiting.scout.com/a.z?s=73&p=8&c=1&nid=5073853
- ↑ http://www.rollbamaroll.com/2011/9/22/2443199/wr-amari-cooper-commits-to-alabama
- ↑ ESPN.com stats
- ↑ Amari Cooper continues his string of exceptional scrimmages at Alabama
- ↑ Alabama crushes Notre Dame, 42-14, for second straight BCS title
- ↑ Wide receiver/tight end preview, Alabama: Cooper a rare talent, tight end spot more uncertain for Tide
- ↑ What happened to Auburn's defense on AJ McCarron's 99-yard touchdown pass in Iron Bowl?
- ↑ Amari Cooper owns every major Alabama receiving record
- ↑ Amari Cooper's big night propels No. 4 Alabama past Tennessee
- ↑ No. 1 Alabama rides WR Amari Cooper's 3 TDs by No. 15 Auburn
- ↑ Alabama WR Amari Cooper breaks single-season SEC receptions record
- ↑ Amari Cooper sets Alabama career yards receiving record
- ↑ Charlie Potter: Cooper sets touchdown record vs. Florida. BamaOnLine, 20. September 2014, abgerufen am 24. September 2014.
- ↑ Alabama receiver Amari Cooper falls short in Heisman Trophy voting in record-breaking season
- ↑ Alabama's Amari Cooper wins Biletnikoff Award for nation's top receiver
- ↑ Alabama WR Amari Cooper makes unanimous All-American
- ↑ Bama's Cooper, Collins to enter draft
- ↑ Amari Cooper, T.J. Yeldon reportedly leaving Alabama for NFL draft
- ↑ Charles Davis: Mock Draft 4.0: Williams falls to Redskins In: NFL.com, April 15, 2015. Abgerufen im April 16, 2015
- ↑ Daniel Jeremiah: Mock draft 4.0: Bears look to future at QB In: NFL.com, March 18, 2015. Abgerufen im April 16, 2015
- ↑ Jerry McDonald: NFL Draft: Raiders take receiver Amari Cooper at No. 4. San Jose Mercury News, 30. April 2015, abgerufen am 30. April 2015.
- ↑ Bill Williamson: Raiders draft Amari Cooper at No. 4. NFL.com, 30. April 2015, abgerufen am 30. April 2015.